Kent County Council have launched the Great British Spring Clean via social media. The council are hoping that they can engage with the public and get us all out to pick up litter in our areas.
They have uploaded a video with some very happy people who appear to be having a fantastic time with their litter pickers. The video explains that “organising or joining a local litter pick is good for the environment and makes you feel pretty good too”.
Another happy chap in the video says that you should start by contacting your local council, who may be able to lend you kit to pick up the litter and provide recycling bags”.
For a moment we thought it was 1st April, as anyone who has ever tried to contact the council usually finds the phone rings without getting answered. The council also used to supply recycling bags but that also stopped when the coffers ran dry.
Apparently, if you contact your local council they will collect your litter and make sure it is disposed of correctly too. Really? It’s hard enough trying to get household waste collected on the correct day, and that is only done every two weeks at best!
Now we fully support a cleaner Great Britain but do find it a little ironic that they have attempted to create a campaign to make us go out and do their dirty work! In days gone by, it used to be the council who would send out paid workers to clear up the litter along our roads and in our countryside. Now they are trying to get us to do it for them – for free – and they are trying to make it something fun too!
Sadly, it will be the same bunch of caring volunteers who will go out and spend hours picking up litter for free in their own time – bless them. Then it will be the same bunch of ‘scallywags’ that will come along and throw their litter out of their car window and we will be back to square one.
It used to be frowned upon to be seen dropping litter in the street and someone may even approach you and ask you to pick it up. People cared about their society and srurroundings. If you ask someone to pick up litter these days, you’re more likely to end up with a ‘knuckle sandwich’.
We are fully behind ‘Keeping Kent Clean’ but perhaps KCC need to do their bit first and be seen to be keeping our streets clean and emptying bins on a regular basis, before they are overflowing on to our streets.
