Carrot and Stick approach needed to littering

Litter in the UK has soared by 500% since the 1960s! Don't we know it?

Litter costs us in the UK £500m each year and its not just residents who pay the price, firms in areas affected by litter have also been losing business.

In a recent reportby the Policy Exchange think tank and the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) , Litterbugs, an incredible 37% of respondents said littering was sometimes or always acceptable.

However, the report also complains that the battle against litter is not being fought in a co-ordinated manner. Recommendations include:

*enforcement measures such as penalty fines need to be more consistent nationwide.

* creating a national body for anti-litter initiatives as well as a deposit scheme for bottles and cans, which has proved to be successful in other countries.

* better design of public spaces, placing bins and ashtrays more thoughtfully

This all sounds like common sense and terribly familiar.

Read the full story on the BBC website here