Litter message has to reach the young

It was good to see so many public-spirited people going out at the weekend with their pickers, grippers, gloves and rubbish bags for a big spring clean. It is sad however that these purges are still needed, regardless or whether our councils can afford to do it it themselves. What is more depressing is this newspaper will probably still be writing about the scourge of litter for many years to come. Because put simply the message does not seem to get through. You see, the world is divided into two types of people, to put it crudely: those who create litter, nuisance, inconvenience, headaches for others and crime; and those who clean up after them.

Which one are you in? Or more importantly which one is your children in?

We have been hopeless in getting the message through to our youngsters, though. We seem to think that simply saying “don’t drop litter because it’s a bad thing to do” is enough. When they get older we threaten them with on the spot fines which are never paid.

The thing about litter is that it isn’t about the action or even the general despoiling of our streets and countryside. It isn’t even about civic pride or caring about your surroundings. It is an attitude of mind and more about pride in yourself. What kind or person are you? Because the same person who drops litter is the same person who parks in a disabled bay, the same person who queue jumps and the same person who sees a tenner on the floor of a shop and then pockets it. They are at best socially agnostic, selfish people who are either already involved in criminal behaviour, maybe not serious, or on the borderline.

Asking children about which of the two categories of people they wish to join is far more worthwhile than simple messages they will probably ignore, or even rebel against.