Life on Tapp: When did the tide turn and let the nation’s litterbugs in

By The Newsroom
Published 16th Mar 2023, 21:00 BST
Updated 16th Mar 2023, 21:02 BST
What sort of people throw rubbish out of the car window. Photo: AdobeStockWhat sort of people throw rubbish out of the car window. Photo: AdobeStock
What sort of people throw rubbish out of the car window. Photo: AdobeStock
​Given the fact that there cannot be a forty-something in the land who hasn’t had nightmares about a hedgehog becoming stuck in a discarded container, I continue to be staggered by the amount of rubbish that is strewn across our streets and roadsides.

Blaise Tapp writes: ​Who’s responsible for it all? We cannot easily blame an ignorant few due to the sheer amount of filth which disfigures many parts of our country, so we can assume that those endless lessons and Cub and Brownie badges dedicated to the issue haven’t had the desired impact on a significant proportion of the population.The trouble is that those responsible think that they can get away with it - unless they are caught in the act by Mrs Tapp who is fond of letting people know that they have ‘accidentally’ dropped something.There are, of course, a number of campaigning groups who do great work both educating numpties who continue to litter and actually clearing away huge amounts of rubbish.The latest such campaign seeks to clean up our motorways, which are an utter disgrace. The group Clean Up Britain has produced a 10-point action plan, which includes upping fines for littering from £150 to £1,000 and the installation of cameras on sliproads and junctions.If this all sounds a tad Draconian, then it’s worth knowing that in just two years, more than 45,000 bags of rubbish – or 451 tonnes -was cleared from the M6 motorway, which even without the unwanted litter, is 230-miles of unpleasantness.There was a time when I spent a significant chunk of my life on the M6, regularly being stuck in soul sapping tailbacks that would seem to last an eternity. Not once during those tedious episodes did I dispose of anything through the window of my trusty saloon and I just don’t understand why other motorists think they can.If I am being brutally honest, my little run around resembles a wheelie bin most of the time but I do clear it every now and again and when I do, it always goes straight into our household waste rather than some remote layby or supermarket car park.

While there are worse things for society to contend with than litter, it is a scourge that says as much about the country we live in as it does about those responsible.