Let’s get rid of litter, one piece at a time | Letters
What can we do about litter? It spoils our streets and countryside and ends up being washed out to sea, polluting our oceans. It frustrates and saddens many of us, and no one seems to know what to do about it. As soon as it is cleared up it reappears in a never-ending cycle. So here's an idea: how about launching a positive-spirited national network to link together people who undertake to pick up just one piece of litter every time they go out (Andrew Mayers: I pick up plastic waste to save it from landfill. It's lonely but worth it, 4 July)?
Why might this work where other approaches have failed? Because it is such a small easy thing for each person to commit to, but if many people did it the cumulative results could be surprising. Being a lone litter-picker can feel like being Sisyphus, doomed to push his boulder up the hill again and again. If each person knew they were part of a network doing the same thing, results would begin to be seen.
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