I know, this is a little off the point of a gardening blog, but I would like to expand the way in which we see our garden, by consider the greater garden; the Great British countryside. Okay, I’m not suggesting you start adding cultivated flowers to hedgerows and meadows (that’s I’m sure illegal), but I would like to ask any reader of this article to consider putting a little time aside to collect a bag or two of litter this weekend.
Today, I did just that. Although I happen to be very busy with work at the moment, I used the ‘walk the dog’ time to collect the many plastic bags, bottle, cans and other litter along my daily route. I walked a 1.5 miles around Church Lane and Fir Tree Lane, just outside of my home village of New Arley, North Warwickshire. It is a very pretty circular route, but has been neglected lately and has become the subjected to plenty of littering. I was tired of see such a mess (sure to give me a sinking feeling every time I see the smallest item).
I managed to collect an entire black bin bag full of the stuff. It only added about 10 minutes to my usual 45 minute walk. Finley, my dog wasn’t too happy with all of the stopping, starting and jumping into hedgerows to get at the more elusive pieces of detritus, but he coped.
The results of my tidy up are quite astonishing. The lane is now pretty much clean and tidy. It is amazing how such a little bit of litter can bring you down.
I am not writing this to seek out any form of praise or recognition, but as a way of encouraging others to follow suit. We are always ready to complain about littering, but how many of us do any thing about it? You can get such an excellent sense of well being from doing this; doing your bit for the planet and improving your neighbourhood for not only yourself, but also for others.
I’m sure plenty of readers are thinking that I should be saying something of the individuals who cause the litter in the first place, but I see no point. If somebody is ignorant enough to pollute our beautiful country, then I don’t think they would take the time to read a blog like this. The sad reality is that it is up to us to sort this problem out.
Make a stand, take a bin bag with you on your next walk. You will really be glad you did.