Fiona ORourke
7/26/2019 6:48 AM
Working with others to clean up my community gave me mixed feelings. I was definitely positive about it because there is no doubt removing litter in vast quantities was a good thing, especially as my town is on an estuary and we were cleaning up litter along the quay front that was destined for the sea otherwise.
It made me feel angry too - this wasn't my first clean up and I've noticed a pattern in the main polluters. Not only do the main polluters make up the bulk of the litter provided, but they are large companies who don't seem to making any effort to make their products more sustainable. It made me angry that goodwill of volunteers who do these clean ups for free is on the frontline of dealing with the mess made by others, who get all the profits and none of the responsibility. Ultimately cleanups will only succeed if we can turn off the plastic tap and it seems that Coca Cola, McDonalds and the large crisp manufacturers could have a huge impact if they led the way.
It made me feel angry too - this wasn't my first clean up and I've noticed a pattern in the main polluters. Not only do the main polluters make up the bulk of the litter provided, but they are large companies who don't seem to making any effort to make their products more sustainable. It made me angry that goodwill of volunteers who do these clean ups for free is on the frontline of dealing with the mess made by others, who get all the profits and none of the responsibility. Ultimately cleanups will only succeed if we can turn off the plastic tap and it seems that Coca Cola, McDonalds and the large crisp manufacturers could have a huge impact if they led the way.