Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Challenging litterbugs - is it worth it?
Walking down the road, I see a plastic cup being thrown out of the window of a parked black Range Rover. I peered in and said 'aren't you going to throw that in a bin where it belongs?'
The youth inside said 'no', then 'you put it in the bin then'. I said 'no, of course not, I'm not your servant. I'll pick it up and put it back in your car though'.
He says 'go on then, do it' - so I pick it up, and he's ready to tip a cup of pink juice over me - so I ask 'are you really going to pour that on me?' and at this point his friend comes along and starts filming me and calling me a weirdo. Of course at this point I was so riled I instead threw the empty cup on his bonnet and marched off. He then drove along me, threw the juice at me from a distance, until I got to a crossing, at which point he made to turn into my path but waited - so I said 'I've got your licence plate number [XLG was all I had] I'll call the police if you drive into me' and the driver's girlfriend pipes up 'no I'll call the police on you! For throwing a cup on our car!'
At which point irritated drivers behind honked so much he drove off.
I really despair at the world sometimes. I see people throwing rubbish out of their cars every day. Does no one have a sense of civic responsibility anymore? Haringey looks like a dump because of selfish people like these three. If no one challenges them then things will never get better, or maybe this guy will be even more inclined to throw rubbish on the street to piss off other do-gooders like me?
God knows what they are going to do with the film clip of me...
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by ZNers on
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Hi Dan
I'm all for volunteering and all that. For example in areas that are not covered by thr council e.g. Parkland Walk there are a number of well organized events to maintain what is enjoyed and cherished by the locals. However, keeping streets clean and enforcing the rules is the responsibility of the authorities. It is the most basic of duties that it fails to perform. It's what 's we pay huge sums of tax for. If there is no evidence of a feedback loop between the people and the authority's spending then that is the foundation of corruption.
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Permalink Reply by Dan77 on
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I do agree. I have these sort of thoughts with all forms of volunteering: it just allows the state, local and central, to abdicate responsibility.
Then, on the other hand, I have to walk my daughter past teetering piles of crap that have just been dumped on the pavement, and I wonder what sort of life lessons she is absorbing.
So is a two-pronged approach - which aims to draw attention to the council's failures, as well as clearing up the borough, called for?
A bit like the way one tuts loudly while doing a housemate's washing up.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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Count me in Dan. Clean sweep an area, bag it, photograph it, tag everyone who should be doing the job in the first place, post it. Bit of shaming with a purpose.
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Permalink Reply by Shar on
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Yes maybe tweet photos tagging the council, Veolia and say the Evening Standard. Doesn't have to be anything nasty, just something on the lines of they're clearly overwhelmed so we citizens decided to do something.
Next step get the support of the local establishments.
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Permalink Reply by Sarah on
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I could get some volunteers to help but we are a group that receives council support so we couldn't be involved in any campaigning against the council.
Though I really think the focus should be on the people dropping the litter.
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You’re absolutley right Sarah but that is only going to happen with enforcement. What frustrates me is that Haringey has a street presence and needs to be exploiting it in every way it can to come down hard on individuals littering and business and households/landlords dumping.
It also all starts with the overall street scene. Walk along Turnpike Lanes and Grand Parade and the actual slabs you are walking on are filthy; stained with food waste, cooking oil, vomit, urine and goodness knows what else. Footpaths we are supposed to be able to walk on are taken over by some traders who think it’s fine to use the pavement as an extension of their shop.
What I would like to see is a concerted, coordinated assault on areas like this, with a deep clean being and a clearance of unlicensed trading and tables and chairs that block the thoroughfare. Then follow this immediately with vigorous, visible and well publicised enforcement. And do this again, and again, and again.
I’ve lived here for almost 35 years and individually and through resident groups have complained about this endlessly and it is never, ever tackled. If it takes some public action to shame Haringey into action, well that’s what will have to be done.
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Permalink Reply by Maddy on
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That makes me think of a friend who didn't put a new lightbulb in the hall for almost a year because 'it's the landlord's responsibility' - sometimes you just have to take action. I've lived in this part of Haringey for 30 years and although things have occasionally improved slightly for a while, it's never been particularly clean.
It's not just individuals - the shops and restaurants need to take responsibility as well for the take-away detritus.Perhaps they should remind people to dispose of the wrappings responsibly - starting with bloomin' MacDonalds.
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Permalink Reply by Kieran on
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Good work @ThaiDi - I always want to say something, but since I moved to London from Australia, I've just heard too many stories of violence for seemingly no reason...so usually shy away from it. I did, however, pull up outside my house with my shopping, and see a guy open his boot of a nice mercedes, and put his builders equipment in there...only then to clear out the rest of his boot. He threw old bits of pipe, paper, plastic, wires etc onto the ground, and then go to get in his car to drive off. I was fuming...so went inside to calm down, and then went out and he was gone. My plan was to go straight back out and go 'Oh let me give you a hand' and immediately start putting all his rubbish straight back in his boot until he would've stopped me haha - but instead, he had gone, so I just picked up all his rubbish and threw it in our bin. The next time I see someone do something though, I'm going to use the classic 'Oh you dropped this' line...and see what they say. If they shrug me off as they don't want it, I'll put it in a bin. I'm forever seeing people throw cigarettes out of car windows too, and just want to pick it up and flick it back in.
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