Dirty pigs says Lib Dem MEP!
July 15, 2008 12:00 AM
In a random sample of the problem, in just one hour Chris Davies collected 4 bags of rubbish from the verge of a stretch of road, all of it hurled from the windows of passing vehicles.
The Liberal Democrat expressed his disgust at the behaviour of the drivers and their passengers.
He said: "Once out of sight of passers-by some car users seem to lose all inhibitions. Maybe these people would have trouble using the lavatory in their own homes, or maybe they just don't care a damn for the countryside and the environment that belongs to us all.
"To call them filthy, dirty pigs is an insult to pigs! Is it really so difficult for civilised people to keep hold of their litter until they can find a bin in which to put it?"
A recent poll of motorists carried out by www.motorinsurance.co.uk found two out of five drivers questioned admitted throwing litter from the car window and one in six said they emptied their ashtray on to the road or verge.
The most recent Government study on local cleanliness showed there has been a significant increase in roadside litter moving it to the 'unsatisfactory' category for the first time in the six years the survey has been conducted. Around 1.3 million pieces of rubbish are dropped on Highway Agency roads alone every weekend and over a year this adds up to a whopping 67.2 million pieces of litter.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England has launched a 3-year 'Stop the Drop' campaign to clean up the country. Resources to organise a litter pick can be found on the organisation's website (www.cpre.org.uk).
The amount of litter dropped yearly in the UK has increased by 500% since the 1960s and clearing up litter and fly-tipping costs over £600 million each year.
According to the government the number of on-the-spot fines and prosecutions have increased. Last year there were 700 court cases, and 17,000 £80 fines, a 30% increase on 2006.
In the recent Local Environmental Quality Survey of England the North West had the unwelcome accolade of being the region most blighted by litter, a dubious honour it shared jointly with the North East.
Any type of litter takes a long time to disappear naturally, so whatever the material the right thing to do is not to drop it in the first place. Degradability depends on climate and circumstances, but under favourable conditions estimated time spans are:
· Orange peels and banana skins - up to 2 years
· Cigarette butts - up to 2 years
· Plastic bags - 10 to 20 years
· Tin cans - 50 years
· Aluminium cans - 80 to 100 years
· Plastic bottles - indefinitely
· Glass bottles - indefinitely
(Figures courtesy of www.cpre.org.uk)
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