Interesting article by Jeremy Paxman in the Guardian:
It's the real thing, all right. That plastic jewel glinting in the verge among the emerging daffodils is a plastic bottle. Probably an empty Coke one.
An organisation called Litter Heroes (surely the most unglamorous club in Britain?) has done something rather useful. They have traced where the crud that morons in cars chuck out of their windows originally comes from. No surprise to discover that the worst-offending brand is Coca-Cola (4.9% of all litter), followed by Walkers Crisps (4.1%) and McDonald's (3.6%).
And what does Coca-Cola say by way of apology? A company spokesman "acknowledges" the report. How very gracious of him. He goes on to blather that its bottles "carry the Tidy Man and Recycle Now logos". Well, that should do it.
There is more fatuous wittering from McDonald's, which even has the nerve to attempt a tone of wronged outrage, saying that "in 2009 we spent over £2m on staff labour alone" picking up litter. That's £2m out of a turnover of more than £2bn in Britain.
Anyone who walks anywhere in this filthy country knows that what the 39 volunteers from Litter Heroes discovered is true. No one in their right mind talks any longer about a "green and pleasant land". A beautiful country is being submerged under a rising tide of rubbish.
Worst of all is the fact that whereas paper bags biodegrade, plastic bottles and confectionery wrappers last for generations. Our great-grandchildren will still be living among the gaudy wrapping of the chocolate bar we excreted last month.
The poor saps who have to act as apologists for the fizzy-drink and junk-food manufacturers never use the obvious argument because it would insult their customers. Why don't they try the tactic of US gun manufacturers, who say: "It's not guns that kill, it's people"? Of course, it's not the boss of Coke or Cadbury chucking the company products out of the car window; it's some oaf who doesn't understand that in tidying up his private space he's making the shared space filthy.
The turning of verges into rubbish tips is a symptom of the "everyone for himself" attitude that has come to dominate in the last 50 years. What can we do? Local councils are supposed to have a statutory duty to clear up litter, but are largely useless. Ditto the national government. The fault, dear Brutus, is in ourselves. At least future generations won't lack evidence of the kind of people we were.
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
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