As a dog owner I visit a lot of local parks and often marvel at the amount of work needed to make them such a welcome relief from the expanding urban environment. What's more astounding is the small number of staff employed to carry out this maintenance.
They must work like Trojans to keep pace with the changing seasons. I know many of the staff have dedicated most of their working lives to Cheshire East parks and gardens.
So it must be extremely demoralising for them to find the mountain of cans, cartons and general trash dumped in the parks every weekend. I counted 16 bottles left within ten paces of a waste bin today. Why anyone would throw something as dangerous as a glass bottle into long grass near a child's play area is beyond my comprehension.
I've seen dozens of canisters of what police refer to as 'legal-highs' discarded in The Carrs along with the remnants of picnic barbecues and wine bottles. As the urban sprawl intensifies our parks will be the only retreat for an increasing number of residents and unless we change our ways they'll be awash with broken glass and toxic waste.
It isn't just dog owners who leave waste behind, as any playing field will testify. The day after a football match you will find enough plastic bottles and rubbish to fill an entire lorry.
Seems like everyone expects someone else to clear their rubbish. 'They' should do something about it,' is a common complaint. I doubt anyone stops to consider that the 'they', to which they refer, are council grounds men who spend months draining and mowing the grass now used to dump trash.
The lack of respect for their endeavours must be soul destroying.
Over the summer holidays I've seen kids' play areas so festooned with broken glass, crisp packets, plastic bottles and cans I wouldn't allow my dogs near them let alone children.
Why are we desecrating our own environment? Are we too lazy to clean up our own mess or have we created a society where no one is responsible for anything and everything is someone else's fault?
I did notice on a TV programme that Chinese schools expect students to clean their own classrooms. I thought it quite a good idea until one of our park rangers told me they used to have teams of children volunteering to help litter-pick but it was considered "too demeaning".
Sometimes I do believe we have lost the plot.
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of wilmslow.co.uk.
Comments
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It may not stop idiots chucking stuff into hedgerows, etc but at least there will be somewhere to put recyclable items.
It includes the land both sides of the River Bollin from approx. Adlington Road bridge through The Carrs park to the National Trust boundary at the River Dean.
You might well laugh at this, but I'm weeping for our future in the hands of those who do not care. Will CEC listen to us, even our own WTC? Seems that they are doing everything possible not to have any consultation.
With no reports in the Library and no means of getting comments to either CEC or the Inspector being considered, then who can be content?
If you have not seen it it is definitely worth viewing on Catch Up or I Player
At age 14 our schoolchildren are THREE years behind the Chinese. This documentary explains why.
Here's the link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06565zm
When I'm doing my little bit to help, I often think that those people who chuck stuff out of car windows, only for it to be washed down to the Bollin and then off to sea are in the same Venn diagram overlap with people who get into a bit of a tizz about cuddly dolphins and seals choking on plastic - but that's all several thousand miles away so nothing to do with me/them.
If anyone would like to join Wilmslow Clean Team please look at the website - wilmslowcleanteam.org.uk Our volunteers aren't committed to regular days every month; they turn up when they can. Every bit of help is appreciated. So, it's not a "thankless task"!
There is a BIG education programme needed.
We need to make it a social taboo.
I like the idea of students cleaning their own schools.
If, as you claim on the Alderley Edge website, you take out extra bags to clean up other dog-owner's mess; I suggest that you take a couple of bin bags if you plan to visit Lindow Common.