Our waste culture

16 March 2021

By Becks Treharne, Biophilic Urbanism Consultant

Did you know, the RSPCA receives around 5,000 calls every year for incidents related to animals hurt or killed by litter? That fly-tipping can contaminate land, causing invasive species such as Japanese knotweed to thrive? That a littered space creates a self-perpetuating cycle of more littering and crime? Or that millions of taxpayer’s money is spent annually on cleaning up litter and removing gum from pavements?

This is the harsh reality of our littering problem. The act of dropping that used cigarette butt on the floor, or throwing the used plastic bottle out of the car window, or spitting the gum onto the pavement is just the beginning of the torturous impact these discarded items have on our planet, and subsequently us.

And when hundreds or thousands of people are doing this across the country, the impact adds up. “It’s only one straw”, said 1 billion people.

But I think the problem for us in the UK goes even further back than this act of littering. It stems from a disconnection from the natural world and lack of understanding that we are in fact a part of it, and the actions we take have ripple effects that ultimately come back to impact us. Littering is symptomatic of this disconnection. And so, we cannot begin to address the problem of littering without also addressing the problem of disconnection from nature.

For the purposes of this article though, I will focus on the former.

It may come as a surprise to some that litter is one of the biggest hazards affecting our wildlife today. From hedgehogs getting their heads stuck in take away coffee cups to sea birds feeding their young plastic particles, the litter we subconsciously discard can have lasting impacts on our wildlife and the ecosystems they feed into. Even the smallest piece of plastic can have disastrous consequences that are still felt years later.

Take the lifecycle of a discarded cigarette butt, for example. Once used and thrown to the ground, the cigarette takes anywhere from 18 months to 10 years to degrade. And unfortunately, it degrades into the toxic chemicals and plastics it’s composed of, which can then leach into our soils, our water systems and even our farmland; that is if something doesn’t consume it beforehand.

There’s no such thing as ‘out of sight, out of mind’ when it comes to litter, because we’re all part of the same system. The ground we contaminate when we throw that cigarette butt down or leave behind our used BBQ’s or bury our dog’s litter bags is linked to the same ground that filters our drinking water and fertilises our crops and feeds our cattle. It’s also the same ground that our children play on, that filters the air we breathe and that supports the ecosystems which we rely on in order to survive.

And these are the important lessons that need to be taught. Sure, schools teach us the basics like throw litter in the bin, take empty food containers home with you, don’t stick your gum to the underside of the table. But these only tend to the ‘what’ when we simultaneously need to be teaching the ‘why’.

This lack of education on littering is a systematic problem. But one that, if considered as an integral part of our education system, could have hugely positive outcomes. By teaching our children why they shouldn’t litter, we are in turn nurturing the next generation of stewards who will have the knowledge and skills to hold themselves and other people accountable for their actions.

In places such as Australia and the Netherlands children are educated and engaged with from a young age, as part of a strategic approach to reduce littering. They grow up understanding the consequences of littering and their responsibility to protecting and respecting the environment.

In Japan, littering is referred to as “illegal dumping” and carries a heavy penalty of up to five years in prison or a fine of up to £75,100. While not something I recommend for the UK, the 5p charge on plastic bags has certainly shifted the consumer mindset on usage. Per person in England, plastic bag usage reduced by 86% between 2017 – 2018 . This equated to a reduction from 140 bags annually to just 19 per person - or 300 million bags across the whole of England . Another study revealed that between 2015 and 2018, 9 billion plastic bags were taken out of circulation, resulting in a 50% reduction in plastic bag marine litter.

With government scientists predicting a trebling in ocean plastic waste in a decade – leading to over 100,000 sea mammal fatalities – this 5p charge on plastic bags seems to have made a good start to mitigating the problem.

But while this is all very important, it is only one side of the coin. This 5p charge has certainly made an impact on plastic bag usage but why is this a cost to the consumer? Surely, we should be pointing the finger at the large corporations who are supplying us with all these wasteful and environmentally damaging materials that we subsequently are left to deal with.

According to Planet Patrol, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Budweiser, Cadbury and Walkers are the top five polluting brands. This is based on the fact that their products are most commonly found having been discarded improperly. While there is certainly a level of individual responsibility here, we should demand more from these companies who have the capability to bring about real and purposeful change in this world, but whose profit margins – and those who benefit from them – are obviously more important than the damage their products are currently causing.

Ends

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/plastic-bag-sales-in-big-seven-supermarkets-down-86-since-5p-charge

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/plastic-bag-sales-in-big-seven-supermarkets-down-86-since-5p-charge