| There’s nothing better than getting a prime television slot to put your case across – and that has been achieved by President Bill Bryson and our colleagues at National Office as they step up their anti-litter campaign. |
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Panorama, the long-running BBC programme, devoted 30 minutes to CPRE’s “Stop the Drop” campaign and Bill, who fronted the programme, took viewers on a journey through English landscapes that have been damaged by litter and are becoming a major source of concern to individuals as well as local authorities who have to clean up the mess.
Whatever happened to those old instincts of ‘clearing-up afterwards’ or putting rubbish in bins and receptacles? Well, one point highlighted by Bill was the lack of public containers or bins where we can dump our rubbish without causing offence.
Have we become an untidy, ill-disciplined nation as far as disposing of our waste? The BBC programme suggested that we have and that stronger enforcement of existing litter laws was needed to ‘stop the rot’.
Look around your village, town centre, in fields and on road verges and you would be shocked. Litter is everywhere. Essex suffers like other places in England and, ultimately, we all pay – with increased taxes – to clear up the mess.
Bill’s acclaimed publication, “Notes from a Small Island”, praised the unique and inspiring landscape of Britain but now the author is appalled by the way litter is causing so much damage. Something has to be done before the situation gets totally out of control – and Essex members can play their part in the “Stop the Drop” campaign by spreading the word in their local communities.