Some of you already know how I feel about litter in our beautiful countryside, so this litter rant won’t come as too much of a surprise to you. I went out for a quick walk in the Lee Valley Park this lunchtime and the litter was appalling.

It was only a short walk, out and back; So on the way out I saw all the litter and when I turned around I decided I’d do something about it. As I’ve said in the past, the new addition to my kit is a bin bag, so out it came.

Within twenty minutes, my bag was half full. Discarded gloves, cans, bottles, crisp packets, energy bar wrappers, and finally… Bags of dog mess! Really? You can be bothered putting it in a bag, but you can’t be bothered taking it to one of the many bins provided? Also, all of this was collected from within a foot of the path; I didn’t even have to stray very far for any of this.

I spoke to a Lee Valley ranger who happened to be in the car park, and apparently they have considered litter bins; But unfortunately this leads to overflowing bins which they can’t keep up with.

Litter rant proposal

My proposal would be that if everyone who visits collects 2 pieces of litter while they’re there, it’ll soon all be under control. What do you think?