Jayne Dowle: Time to get tough and come clean on litter

That’s why my handbag is full of receipts I need to throw away and my car is a receptacle on wheels for banana skins and empty drinks cartons. It’s the way I was brought up. My grandad wouldn’t so much as let a sweet wrapper blow off on the breeze. His pockets were stuffed with them.

And it’s also the memory of a trip I took to the Blue Mountains in Australia about 15 years ago. The ranger was so careful, so concerned, so respectful about protecting the eco-system. His quiet mantra “leave no trace” made such an impression on me that it has literally never left.

I recognise that the Blue Mountains are a long way from Barnsley, in more ways than one. Like Paxman though, who vented his spleen against litter louts in this week’s Panorama progamme, Our Dirty Nation, I regularly confront those who ruin our surroundings. The veteran Newsnight presenter is definitely scary, but I suspect I’m not quite as polite as he is.

Sometimes a glare or a loud tut will do the trick. There’s not much point in niceties, though, when some thoughtless youth drops the remains of his fried chicken/kebab/pasty in front of you on Cheapside.

I usually find that “Oi, are you going to pick that up?” works well. I also find that the older I get, the less fear I have. I treat the matter as if facing down a particularly fierce dog; look the miscreant in the eyes and assume dominance. The people who wantonly foul our environment are actually worse than animals. At least dogs have the grace to bury their bones.

I’m sure I’m going to get a black eye for my trouble on one of these days. So far though, I’ve had a pretty much 100 per cent success rate. The offender is usually so shocked at being confronted that they pick up the discarded item and scurry off to find the nearest bin.

My method is upfront, but it seems to have more impact than the alternative, which is to shift uncomfortably from foot to foot and politely enquire if it would be OK and not too much trouble to remove the detritus from the pavement. Why should you respect the feelings of someone who has no respect for the world they live in?

Tough times call for a tough approach. The programme informed us that already-stretched local councils are spending billions – not millions – on dealing with the disgusting consequences of people’s thoughtlessness every year. That’s billions which could be spent on many other things; care for the elderly and infirm, child protection services, mending the roads.

Take a walk through any town centre and you see where the money goes. It goes on clearing the streets of all that food, empty cans, cigarette butts and some other things too disgusting to even mention. And still, it seems like a colossal waste of money. That’s because those who drop their debris know that someone from street cleaning will be along shortly to pick it up. This perpetuates the cycle, and absolves the individual of any personal responsibility for their surroundings.

Anti-litter campaigns? A nice idea, but expensive to implement and ignored by those they are aimed at. Fines don’t work either. The simple act of tidying up after yourself shouldn’t be a matter of right or wrong. It should be a natural action and reaction.

I’m sure it never used to be as bad. Indeed, I’m old enough to remember when it was virtually a criminal offence to even eat in the street, never mind chuck the remains on the ground. My children find this endearingly quaint. They find it mortally embarrassing however, when I bring our shopping expedition to a crashing halt and ask someone to pick up their chicken bones.

Embarrassing mother or not, I bet in 30 years they will be telling their own children to find a bin.

What makes me even angrier though is the despoliation of our green open spaces and countryside. Even a control freak like me accepts that people will make a bit of a mess in an urban environment.

However, there is simply no excuse for dumping old sofas in country lanes, or leaving litter strewn all over a park after a picnic. How can anyone look back at what they have done and feel proud to be a member of the human race?

Are people so disconnected and disenchanted with their lives and where they live that it simply doesn’t matter any more? I don’t think they are, to be honest. I just think they need reminding. And it is the duty of every decent citizen to do so.