Let’s address this rubbishy attitude

NEVER let it be said that I don’t have my finger on the pulse of the nation, regularly pinpointing issues which others have failed to spot – and kicking up such a stink that something gets done.

Well, that’s what I like to tell myself in the still small hours when doubt creeps in, and enough of you are kind enough to grunt approvingly every now and then to keep my nose to the grindstone for another week.

A regular hobby horse of mine has been the blockheads who think they’re helping but who cause nothing but headaches when they dump donations outside charity shops.

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I just don’t understand their thinking – their hearts are clearly in the right place, they go to all the trouble of sorting out spare stuff and sticking it in bin liners, and making the trip to the shop of their choice.

But when they get there and the doors are shut, why do they instantly revert to selfish so and sos who just want to wipe their hands of a problem and dump it on someone else?

I’m not claiming that it’s all down to me – that’s for others to decide, and perhaps history will vindicate me – but these days I am far less likely to have my blood pressure boosted by the sight of piles of donations dumped in charity shop doorways.

So it looks as if the message is getting through. There are lots of other possibilities, of course – those concerned might just be chucking the stuff in a ditch, or disposing of it in their bin, or times are so tight that they’ve decided to see what they can make at a boot sale with stuff they would previously have given away. Whatever is behind it, it’s much less of an issue these days.

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Let us, then, move on to what some may consider to be a related issue.

Recycling is a subject guaranteed to irritate the sort of person who believes that paying a bit of council tax gives them the right to have all their rubbish picked up in one pile from their doorstep and dealt with by someone else, but that’s not the world we are living in any more.

It can be irksome to have to sort your crud into categories and remember which day which bin man is coming, but there are handy recycling stations all over the place for your convenience.

The one down the bottom of my road will take plastics, tins, bottles, old clothes, shoes, and paper – not all in the same skip, of course, but there are plenty of options.

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But they’re very popular, and they fill up quite quickly. When I say fill up, you can easily get more stuff in there if you’re prepared to work at it a bit – but some people don’t like getting their hands dirty.

So instead of being good citizens and sticking their recycling in the right place, they’re quite happy to drop a sack full of assorted waste on the floor of the recycling station.

That, people, is littering. It looks unsightly, makes work for other people, and could be a health hazard. Well, there’s my blood pressure to consider for a start.

You only do it because you think nobody is watching, but I’ve got news for you – we are, and we’re fed up with it. We play the game and you should, too.

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