In recent months I have visited SuDS around England, and they never look their best in the Winter when the vegetation has died back. But I have also noticed some SuDS devices that have had a big build-up of litter in amongst the vegetation. Some people try to tell us that the SuDS somehow ‘attract’ all that litter, but I disagree. I think that the rubbish would be there anyway, but that it gets caught up in the SuDS so it becomes more noticeable. The SuDS themselves are not the problem; the littering in our towns and cities is. I do litter-picking in my own town, with a local litter-picking group, and we collect several bin-bags full every fortnight. So, how can we manage this problem and reduce the amount of littering? I think that the best thing to do is to have well-placed bins that are emptied frequently and kept clean; if there are bins, most people will use them. And the planned Deposit Return Scheme will help, because many people will be inclined to return their bottle/can for a small financial reward. If we provide repositories for people who don’t want to bother returning their bottles/cans to the drop-off point, other people will take them to get the reward, perhaps because they have more time, or a greater need for the money. This will significantly reduce the number of cans and bottles gathering in our SuDS. But the sticking point is always going to be crisp packets and sweet wrappers. These are plastic and they don’t degrade, so they blow around until they end up in a drain, a stream, a tree or a SuDS device. Until we can solve the problem of plastic wrappers, the only effective way to manage this is to have litter-picking taking place often. Councils do some of this work, in high priority areas, but we are going to have to rely on local volunteers for years to come. Most Councils have recognised this and provide equipment and rubbish bags to the local volunteers, and Social Media has really helped to promote this work and to create these groups. Have you noticed litter-pickers in your local area? Maybe you can join in, and make some new friends; it’s a lovely way to meet new people and to get to know your local places.
