The Stigma of Picking Litter
Not the most glamorous of tasks, but noble all the same!
The stigma that surrounds litterpicking, I feel, is partly due to the fact you are plucking dirty, discarded waste from the ground. But it is also partly because it is seen as such a menial and unrewarding job. However, if you load up with the right equipment, get some positive co-pickers on board with you and take to an area you truly value, I pretty much guarantee that you'll have a gratifying experience.
Jess the litterbuster
Picker and recycling bag full of cans and bottles from the street
A fellow litterbuster in the river cole
If you are picking in an urban area like I do, the difference before and after a pick can be staggering. We pick on a Sunday morning, after the worst offenders have been out the night before. I walk down the main road that runs through Moseley to meet the group and collect the equipment, turn around and pick along the main strip. This section is notoriously bad because of the amount of pubs, take aways, ATM's (receipts are just left in a pile around them) and little nooks for litter to collect in. Oh- and the two bookies, William Hill and Coral which are recognisable by the little blue pens that seem to enjoy lying on the paving just outside. (I have a personal vendetta against little blue pens). On top of all of that, the bins, until recently, were not emptied on a Sunday. It's a recipe for litter overload. So when you do an hour of voluntary picking here, it really shows.
putting your rubbish next to a bin is still littering... moseley bins after a festival. luckily the council collected early the next morning.
my collection of little blue pens. it is now over 70. keeping little blue pens off the streets since... 2018.
So many resources potentially lost through littering
I remember on my first pick being suuuuper nervous that I would get harassed by early morning residents looking down on me for doing the work of ex-prisoners. I have been asked how much I get paid. I have been told how sorry someone was that I had to do this crappy work. I have been asked what I did to be landed community service. I have never been verbally abused. Mostly, I have been thanked. People smile. People write words of encouragement to our Facebook posts. It feels great to know that you are appreciated by the community.
Even if you don't get a thank you for your efforts, you can look at the area you've covered and see what a difference you are making to the environment. It makes you feel really good!
Having said that, we do face some differing perspectives online. I'm not sure I completely understand this point of view about Birmingham City Council's inability to pick up every piece of trash on the streets:
"Whilst I greatly admire your commitment to helping the community, isn't this precisely what we pay our council tax to BCC for?"
And, "BCC should be cleaning this up they are payed for it... Don't do there work.. This is why there are cut backs.. The public doing it for free."
I mean, I would very much like my council tax dollars to go to something other than picking up after other people. Really, there shouldn't be any litter for them to have to pick up. But as there is, and the council doesn't have a massive amount of resources to fix this problem, I for one would like to avoid living in a complete s%@thole instead of sitting around on my backside waiting for a magical solution.
And while waiting, rubbish gets torn apart by scavengers, floats down the drain to our waterways and is crushed into smaller and smaller pieces, slowly destroying the environment. Yet it seems to these online warriors, that sending a chastising tweet at those willing to go out and pick it up instead, is more worthwhile. (Frustrated face palm).
Moseley litterbusters unite!
My other favourite online comment profile is the 'moaner'. People who complain online in a group forum about the state of Moseley after a big event and how can people be so awful?! etc etc. And yet, when encouraged to join in on litterpicks, they bulk at the idea.
To be fair, we receive far more supportive comments than moans or objection. But it is clear that there is social stigma, a bit of laziness and a good dose of ignorance out there regarding litter in our streets.
I'm happy to challenge the social stigma. I'll say it: I enjoy litterpicking. It clears my head and offers a therapeutic time out to focus on one simple task. I'm outside enjoying the weather at a time when traffic is comparably little. We have a chat. And we have a coffee afterwards, often on the house. Because Moseley cafes value the work we do.
No- litterpicking isn't the solution. I agree that littering is the epitome of today's lazy and convenience based culture. A complete attitude overhaul is required. But until then (and that is gonna take a while), making the streets cleaner actually helps. The environment suffers less when rubbish is picked up. Birds and animals are less likely to be harmed. People tend to feel happier in a place that looks neat and tidy which can have positive flow on effects. So my advice to moaners and indeed everyone- get off social media and come and help out.
What I would love, is for more people to realise that it isn't a chore, it isn't socially unacceptable and it is part of the solution to ending plastic pollution.
All I can say is- 'don't knock it 'til you've tried it'!
