Just a little rant for this afternoon’ posting, not my usual style put needs must when the devil drives as they say (yet to find out whom ‘they’ are!). Ok to the point, I’d arranged this morning to pick up a new buoyancy aid for the forthcoming winter series that I’m crewing in over November this year from the near by town of Yr Wyddgrug. I had a couple of hours to kill so I decided to get my body systems ticking over a bit faster than usual by covering a few miles around Moel Famau taking advantage of yet another beautiful autumnal morning. I have not been on the trials up there for the last few months so I thought that it would make a pleasant change whilst also stretching my muscles more than usual on the steeper gradients.
Unfortunately it wasn’t the hike which affected my heart rate but more the amount of discarded litter on the early stages of the trial, the majority of which was less than a quarter of a mile from the car park. This area is very popular with many people who never really get to taste the outdoors, as well as the usual mountain bikers, horse riders and generally outdoors type, with out having to go far from the beaten track. What I find difficult to understand is that the people who discard this litter are going there to experience the outdoors in some form or another with out any thought or apparent care for the people who follow or the wildlife it affects. And the real laughable point is that all the litter was empty packaging of some sort or other meaning that it was heavier to cart up there for these wonderful folks than what it would be to bring back! I mean for heavens sake, a few hundred yards of carrying your empty soft drinks bottle is not really going to kill you, is it? But what it could kill is a whole host of smaller vertebrates and invertebrates perhaps affecting the food chain within the area as well as making it look like the local refuse tip. The struggle for wildlife survival is hard enough in this country with ever diminishing areas of ‘wild’ country side succumbing to the increasing over population without the selfishness of these uncaring people putting even more pressure upon it. I don’t claim to know the answers to this problem (well I know one answer involving an upgraded cattle prod and a bucket of water!), but surely some of the problem is down to people being uneducated over this issue and its affects upon nature?
Funny thing is if these people spoke to me most of them would probably be appalled that I’ll shoot a couple of fluffy bunny rabbits for the pot or take great pleasure in applying the priest to a fresh river trout to go straight onto the grill! But I stand by my belief that I care for nature far more than any idiot who carelessly throws away a wrapper or used drinks container just because they cannot be arsed to carry it a few yards back too their urban runaround. Maybe I’m generalizing a bit about these Muppets, but I think that the majority of people who seem to enjoy this blog would share my sentiments, in that something should be done to persuade people to appreciate and care for what they’ve got before it’s ruined for us all. Oh god I’m starting to sound like a home made hat wearing activist…..time to stop ranting and chill with some cider me thinks.
5 comments:
Murphy - there are some actions that transcend the boundaries of contries and continents. Unfortunately, littering in the wilderness is one of them. I've never understood how people can make an effort to put themselves in a beautiful place, then leave their garbage there.
I have a feeling we'll just keep picking up after them - my feeling is that "Their Kind" don't learn very quickly.
Wolfy
John - I couldn't agree with you more! Great post.
Thank you for the comments gentlemen, It saddens me that you have a similar problem over there Wolfy, perhaps your right, some people are just past caring or educating, perhaps the cattle prod should be standard issue for those of us who find their behavior repulsive?
This is a major concern for me. I have always said the answer is for people to value the outdoors so much that they would conserve it (not litter) out of self-interest. Here is one of my first blogs and a similar experience I had. Thanks for the rant.
http://envirocapitalist.blogspot.com/2007/12/litter-bug.html
Hi Gabe, Just caught up with your ‘litterbug’ posting from way back, seems to me that where ever people seem to ‘enjoy’ the outdoors littering just seems to follow – beautiful places visited by idiots who then leave them like cess pits. I sometimes feel resigned to the fact that to change peoples perceptions of there own behavior is perhaps one mountain that may be just too steep to overcome, guess we’ll just have to keep trying though.
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