I 'hate' litter, says Oldham Council Leader Jean Stretton

Oldham Council Leader, Jean Stretton

I rarely use the word ‘hate’, but I make an exception when it comes to street litter.

I hate how litter looks. I hate how it smells and, worst of all, I hate what it says about the place to anyone living there or visiting it.

Whether it is cigarette butts, empty cans or bottles, carrier bags, chewing gum or fast food cartons, it is all anti-social.

Most people and businesses take pride in our community, living and operating here without making any mess, but some do not.

I often wonder what it is that makes a person feel it is okay to just drop something from their hands, to not be bothered to keep hold of rubbish for just a few seconds more, and there’s a lot of research around the psychology of this.

People probably do it because they simply do not feel responsible for public areas, like streets and parks and they often do it away from their own ‘patch', so that their mess simply becomes “someone else’s problem”.

Some people also litter because they believe or know that someone – a local street cleaner or even a good-hearted neighbour – will get it sorted out.

The big problem, of course, is that it you are in an area where there is already lots of visible litter, then the temptation to do the same is too much for some.

We know that is true because if you are somewhere that looks pristine and litter-free we know you are far less likely to toss unwanted items to the kerb for sheer fear of embarrassment.

There is some fantastic work being done around what can be done to tackle littering.

Some looks at how we can ‘nudge’ people to change their behaviour and it is getting some interesting results.

Hubbub, a charity that creates environmental campaigns with a difference, is one good example.

They set up on a busy London street and tested a whole raft of things to see how it affected littering behaviour. They used ‘voting bins’ for cigarette butts, for example, or chalked around chewing gum litter highlighting the cost of removing each piece (£1.50 as it happens) and had some very encouraging results.

We are looking at ideas like this too and are also throwing our weight behind another campaign thanks to a very persistent and inspiring local lady.

Ruth Major is retired but is certainly not a person to rest on her laurels.

She has been an ‘anti-littering’ activist for a long time and posts updates as ‘Rubbish Ruth’s Rambles’ online.

Wherever she goes – and believe me, she seems to get everywhere up and and down the country – Ruth encourages people to join a national campaign asking each resident to pick up at least one piece of rubbish a day.

Just think about that.

The population of Oldham is more than 230,000 people, so if each resident did that each day it could make a huge difference.

To get things started this month we are running a 'One Piece of Rubbish' competition.

http://www.oldhamtimes.co.uk/news-features/139/main-news/112643/one-piece-of-rubbish-campaign

Anyone who picks up a piece of litter in Oldham and follows the entry guidelines will be entered into a prize draw and the winner gets a three-month premium all-inclusive membership to Oldham Community Leisure (OCL). 

There is no limit on how many times you can enter this competition because we want everyone to pick up as many pieces of rubbish as possible.

This campaign is not finishing at the end of October either, we are committed to 'One Piece of Rubbish' for the long haul.

If, like me, you love where you live then you will hate litter too; please get involved and do  your bit.

Councillor Jean Stretton
Oldham Council Leader