Community litter pick

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Permalink Reply by Maddy on February 8, 2020 at 17:38

Thank you very much Jez - did you get down to the bottom end? Some days I could fill a carrier bag with what drifts into my front garden. I do try to keep my little patch clear, but it's a thankless task. At least tomorrow's high winds will have less rubbish to blow about!!

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Permalink Reply by Shar on February 8, 2020 at 20:53

Thank you Jez, you're an inspiration. I hope you stuck some stamps on it and sent it to Veolia's office. 

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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on February 9, 2020 at 8:15

I never thought I’d do this but I’m coming to the defence of Veolia (well, a little bit).  The sweeper who does our road is brilliant.  The problem is the day after he’s been it’s back to looking like a tip.  

On Wednesday I was at the bus stop by the defunct post office on Green Lanes and watched a parent carefully unwrap a toy for her little boy and drop everything on the pavement.  I picked up the various bits of detritus and asked if I could put them in the bin for her (about 5 meters away) and she replied  “That’s the council’s job”.

Great job Jez.  If anyone does the same on their street could they perhaps also post on here?

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Permalink Reply by Shar on February 9, 2020 at 17:20

I do agree Michael. I was being flippant but my heart sinks when I see parents encouraging their children to litter. In one case I witnessed the daughter ignore her mum's instructions and quietly drop it in a bin. 

I'm not too shy to challenge people, and frequently do, but the sheer scale required is overwhelming. There are of course some litterbugs by whom I'd be too intimidated to even ask them the time. 

Re Veolia and the Council, no complaints whatsoever against the street cleaning staff themselves whatsoever. But they don't get sent out to a particular street anywhere as frequently as I've seen in other boroughs. 

I do clear up every now and then but Jez has inspired to make a more concerted effort. The litter situation here really troubles me. I spend a lot of time pondering the potential cultural factors contributing to it,aas ultimately it's a personal choice people make. I don't mean any particular ethnic group but rather patterns of thinking that result in this. 

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Permalink Reply by Sarah on February 14, 2020 at 15:21

My mum visited last year and thought West Green Road where I live was looking much cleaner than previously - she approached a sweeper to say so!

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Permalink Reply by PeterPiper on February 9, 2020 at 0:33

Neighbourhood champion! Many thanks.

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Permalink Reply by Jackie Chambers on February 15, 2020 at 8:57

Good idea Jez .... I’m gonna get me one of those pick-a-sticks! 

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Permalink Reply by Isidoros on February 19, 2020 at 6:35

My congratulations too. Great example of community spirit and active citizenship.

There are at least a couple of regular "group" litter-picking sessions, organised by local volunteers in my ward (Tottenham Green) and hopefully more to come. I join them myself whenever possible and we all think that they are very useful.

There is however always a worry in the back of my mind, ie the danger of using well-meaning volunteers to replace what should be proper publicly-funded services, which would in my opinion be wrong.

It is fine to castigate the irresponsibility of mindless litter-dropping, to highlight the public's own responsibilities and also to help the service providers to improve the service.

What is not all right in my opinion, is to let under-performing or inadequately funded public sector service providers off the hook, nor to, unwittingly, contribute to back-door efforts to transfer the responsibility for what must be proper, publicly accountable, public services to well-meaning community volunteers.

However, what makes these kind of initiatives worthwhile is that, in addition to raising local pride, active citizenship, public education/awareness about litter-dropping etc etc, they can be (and often are) also used as a kind of "residents' audits" of the service, with the volunteers gathering more systemic issues (hot-spots, cases of inadequate performance by Veolia, novel ideas for service improvements etc) and feeding them into the service providers and to local councillors.

Isidoros

(Tottenham Green ward councillor)

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