Residents of Little Waldingfield, some of whom are pictured above, chose a beautiful morning to embark on a village-wide litter pick yesterday.
Everyone who participated received a certificate endorsed by the Radio Suffolk ‘Don’t be a Tosser’ campaign, and I understand that a surprisingly large number of sacks of debris were collected. Information about the campaign can be found on the BBC Radio Suffolk website.
A number of communities in the area are taking direct action to combat the really serious problem that littering has become. Walking around Newmans Green with Rendle I despair at the number of items, large and small, that have been carelessly thrown into ditches and hedgerows. On one occasion I actually had to duck a flying cigarette packet chucked out of the windows of a speeding car. In the end I hope that improved education will lead to better behaviour. It was certainly drilled into those of us who went to school in the 1950’s and 60’s that we took our litter home with us, and even today I am filled with a terrible feeling of guilt if I allow rubbish to fall out of my pocket and it then blows away!
Although Babergh does what it can to control flytipping (see below), local litter problems tend to fall on the shoulders of the parish councils and local activitists. In this connection I have been made aware of an ‘adopt a mile’ scheme that has been arranged by residents of Lindsey. I have got in touch with the organiser, who is keen to champion similar projects throughout the Babergh area so if you need more information I hope to be able to let you have some in due course.
Large cases of flytipping should be reported direct to Babergh, who have an above average record of dealing with them. The number to ring is 01473 825890.
