Get behind us and put litter in the bin
Harlow Council is getting behind Keep Britain
Tidy’s campaign to clean up England’s streets and save the country
more than £3/4 billion pounds a year.
Keith Merritt and Councillor Tony Hall with
some of the litter collected from Harlow's streets in just three
days.
Every year, it costs £858 million to pick up
the litter that doesn’t make it into a bin.
That’s £2.3 million a day, 365 days a year –
and some of that money could be used for services for the people of
Harlow is instead being used to clear up discarded cigarette ends
and fast-food wrappers!
In Harlow, the Council has to spend over
£800,000 each year on cleaning the streets, which includes picking
up after the people who can’t be bothered to bin their litter.
Keep Britain Tidy’s latest campaign is calling
on everyone to ‘Get behind’ its rallying cry to clean up England’s
streets.
The charity’s message is that the fact that we
have to spend £858 million on cleaning up litter is a national
disgrace – and the solution lies in our own hands.
Keep Britain Tidy’s chief executive Phil
Barton said: ‘It is ridiculous that councils have to spend so much
money on cleaning up their residents’ litter.
‘If everyone would just put their litter in a
bin, instead of mindlessly dropping it on the floor, we could save
millions of pounds a year – and that money could be used to fund
vital services for the whole community.
‘It is time for the silent majority to stand
up and say “enough is enough”, get behind Keep Britain Tidy and
Harlow Council and show those who think it’s OK to throw their
rubbish on the floor – at a cost to the country of £858 million a
year – that there is a better way.”
Backing Keep Britain Tidy’s rallying call,
Councillor Tony Hall, Executive Committee Member and Chairman of
Harlow Council’s Environment Policy Working Group, said: “Every
piece of litter dropped in the street and open spaces costs Harlow
Council taxpayers money to pick up. Litterbugs might as well throw
their money on the floor! Street cleaning operations which includes
litter picking, costs more than £800,000 a year in Harlow. This is
money we could spend on providing other services in the town.
“There is no excuse not to put litter in the
bin and litterbugs need to be aware of the huge cost of their
actions.
“In Harlow we put lots of effort into keeping
the streets clean, we also take action against people seen spoiling
the town but we need residents to do more and take pride in
Harlow.
“Now is the time for everyone to get behind us
and put their litter in the bin.”
Harlow Council is supporting the campaign by
distributing badges, car stickers and posters. For more information
on the campaign visit http://www.keepbritaintidy.org/