By Emily Smith
Picture dozens of cans, plastic bottles, food wrappers and cigarette butts strewn across the floor. Sound like the aftermath of Glastonbury festival? No, just a Thursday morning at the Lido, Havre Des Pas.
The thought of leaving litter behind after a day at the beach, or chucking something out of my car window is one that makes me feel physically sick. I grew up being told littering is bad and have never felt the need to dispose of my rubbish anywhere other than a bin. Unfortunately not everyone thinks the same way as me.
I live in Havre Des Pas, regularly enjoy a swim at the Lido and attend an outside yoga class during the summer months at 7am on a Thursday. Last week, on arriving at the pool, I was met by beer cans, sweet wrappers, plastic bottles and other rubbish strewn across the floor, and picked up as much as I could.
Unfortunately, the only bin there was overflowing, so I sadly had to leave the rubbish on the floor next to the bin as my yoga class was about to start. I was so disgusted by it I even took photos and shared my thoughts on social media, and received a number of replies from people saying they had seen the same thing as the weather had improved and more people enjoyed the space.
But the Lido is not the only location with a litter problem. My partner and I like to explore our beautiful island at the weekend, and sadly regularly notice rubbish at a disused car park above Bouley Bay, on rocks where fishermen have been, stuffed in hedges, strewn in verges on country lanes and left on beaches. Wherever we can, we pick it up and either take it home or dispose of it properly, as I know many others do too. However, it is not our responsibility to pick up the rubbish left behind by those too lazy to do either.
Earlier this week, on Jersey’s hottest day ever, I popped back to the Lido for a swim. It was always going to be busy, but the absolute carnage which confronted me on arrival at the site took me by surprise. Huge groups of young people, adults and families lay across the hot stones surrounded by litter – and lots of it.
Sadly, whatever wasn’t picked up would have inevitably been washed out to sea with the incoming tide. It is this complete disrespect for the ocean that I cannot fathom.
Lots of charities, organisations, schools and even this newspaper organise litter picks and beach cleans, which are to be welcomed, but it sadly seems there is a long way to go before we can bin the problem and prevent litter from blighting our beautiful home.
Some fantastic initiatives are taking place in Jersey, including in St Brelade’s Bay, where some customers are encouraged to pick up litter in return for a free drink or similar item. But could we do more?
Pick It Up Guernsey, founded by Andew Munro, runs a litter-picker lending scheme, which allows the public to borrow litter pickers from libraries and beach kiosks around the island. They also work closely with Guernsey-based businesses to encourage them to organise a ‘wombling week’, during which time employees collect litter whenever and however they can.
Surely we all want to enjoy clean beaches. So why leave rubbish on the sand for others to deal with when they arrive? Most beaches and parks have plenty of bins, so there is no excuse, but even where there is no bin it’s not hard to carry your rubbish home and dispose of it properly. If you brought packaging and other items with you, then you can certainly carry them back.
Plastic pollution is one of the world’s most pressing environmental issues. The problem is most acute in Asian and African nations, but that doesn’t mean we should let it continue along our shores. It is thought that every year around eight million tons of plastic waste escapes into the oceans from coastal nations, with some plastics taking up to 400 years to break down. It is a huge problem and one we need to tackle now.
We’ve tried things in Jersey, such as painting blue fish next to drains to encourage Islanders not to chuck rubbish down them, but sadly this hasn’t proved enough.
The devastating impact of littering on wildlife and the environment should be highlighted throughout our schools, and businesses should be encouraged to organise their own litterpicks outside their offices and buildings. It is not solely the responsibility of our hard-working waste-collection services and binmen and women to sort this problem out.
If you’re a parent, educate your children about the issue, as mine did for me. If you’re visiting a beach, park or other site and you spot litter, pick it up. If you’re a school or business, why not organise a beach clean?
Littering is not big, clever or cool, and it’s certainly not doing our planet any favours.
