Tag: waste
Danny lambasts litter apathy
Posted on September 1, 2018 March 19, 2020 by andrew in People and Places
THE Kent businessman who invented a pioneering new app to tackle the country's litter crisis admits it's been a long, uphill struggle to get people to take his idea seriously.
Launched in a blaze of publicity back in 2015, the idea was a simple one, as Danny Lucas explains: "I decided to tackle the UK litter crisis in a way that had never been done before.
"As a child of the 70s I remembered public information films at school and Keep Britain Tidy logos on every crisp packet and sweet wrapper.
"Whilst that worked back then, it was clear that it had no effect today and I knew a new approach was needed."
His solution was a simple, free app for smartphone users that allows individuals to tip off their local council with information about litter, dog fouling and fly-tipping. It was accompanied by a two-minute animated education film that could be shown to the kids at school assembly.
By August 2016 Danny was picking up an environmental champions award from the Mayor of Tonbridge in recognition of the contribution LitterGram had had on improving conditions in the borough.
But although he tries to remain positive, two years on he is the first to admit that the scheme hasn't grown the way he had hoped when he first wrote about the idea of making "hating litter cool" and getting all of the UK's 433 local councils involved.
"Councils are just not interested," he says. "Behind closed doors they see us as a pain in the arse."
Having invested £300,000 of his own money in the project, it's clear that the lukewarm response has been the source of considerable anger and frustration. As the boss of a multi-million pound business in the construction industry, employing hundreds of staff, this is a man who's clearly accustomed to getting things done.
The company he owns is the same family-run business he joined as a teenager of 15, and for most of his life he has lived in Kent– the so-called 'Garden of England'.
"I am proud to be British however when I look around Britain I can't see what's great about it any more. Littering has increased by 500% since the 1960s and 48% of the population admit to dropping litter.
"We now spend £1bn per year tackling the problem which clearly does nothing as we are now officially the third most littered nation globally behind countries in the developing world."
"This is a shocking statistic and purely down to a lack of education and awareness. This has in turn created a culture and attitude across the UK of not caring and has affected the very authorities whose duty it is to maintain standards and set examples. Effectively they now broadcast a message that says "we don't care" and this fuels the problem."
Danny was disappointed to find that relatively few head teachers were keen to take up the baton, some insisting that it was parents' job to teach children about such matters.
Coupled with poor enforcement in many areas of the country, the apathy means that many people become "litter blind", he believes – because the country is being so trashed and neglected that this is becoming the norm.
Not all council clear-up teams are as efficient as they could be, he believes. That is another waste of money and a cause for complacency, particularly if councils really don't want to be told about the scale of the problem.
"Councils have to set standards but no one really cares," he says. "I saw it as a great way to get the kids on board and I thought councils would embrace it."
The LitterGram Live message of "Snap It. Share It. Sort It" was envisaged as a dynamic and fast-changing service which would include details of the most littered brands, the most active users and the most responsive councils, with enthusiastic litter spotters able to keep up with latest developments on Twitter @LitterGram.
But it hasn't quite gone according to plan – even though there are dozens of litter-picking groups up and down the country doing their bit to help, and millions of nature and animal lovers doing their bit to highlight the scale of the crisis.
There's been plenty of publicity in the press and on TV and radio, but that has not translated into LitterGram becoming the "fifth emergency service" as Danny might have wished.
Perhaps even more radical solutions are needed? "Take it off the councils. You could halve the costs and keep Britain spotless," says Danny. And he's not exactly joking. But nor is he despondent that the battle has been lost.
"I get phoned up all the time about it, so we are obviously getting the attention of a lot of people," he says. "One way or another we will get there. The problem is now an epidemic that has a grip on the nation like cancer. If nothing is done, the problem will worsen and our children and their children will be swimming in filth."
It's an apocalyptic warning, but even a cursory glance along the average English roadside is enough to demonstrate that this is not empty rhetoric. The problem is there for all to see – and while LitterGram may not have become the quick-fix solution Danny Lucas might have wished for, you get the impression this is one campaigner who isn't giving up the fight just yet.
Tagged campaigns, litter, littergram, wasteLeave a comment
High cost of waste crime
Posted on July 17, 2018 March 20, 2020 by andrew in News
NEVER pay a man in cash to take your household rubbish away – it could cost you a fortune (and a criminal record).
That's the message from Buckinghamshire waste enforcement officer David Rounding after an upsurge in fly-tipping incidents across the county.
COSTLY CRIME: David Rounding probes a dumping incident near Burnham
He believes many householders still don't realise the consequences of allowing rogue waste collectors to dispose of their rubbish.
More than a third of those prosecuted in the county over fly-tipped waste are people who claim to have paid someone else to get rid of their unwanted household items. But David warns that cash payments to strangers are a recipe for disaster.
It's a trend that has been fuelled in the past couple of years by so-called "Facebook fly- tippers" offering cheap waste collection services.
"People don't seem to realise they could face a substantial fine and end up with a criminal record because they have allowed someone to get rid of their waste without checking them out," he said.
WASTE DETECTIVE: enforcement officer David Rounding
The legislation makes it a crime not only to actually dump waste but also to fail to show a "duty of care" in arranging for waste to be disposed of.
So if your property ends up being dumped in a country layby and can be traced back to you, it's you who could end up in court.
The surge in rubbish dumping across the country cost taxpayers £57m in 2017-18, a rise of 13 per cent on the previous year.
Local authorities in England deal with a million fly-tipping incidents a year – and in Buckinghamshire that translates to six a day on average, costing £500,000 in clean-up costs.
Much of the rubbish comes from households in nearby London boroughs like Hillingdon or local conurbations like Slough and Uxbridge – and since 2015, there has been a growing industry of criminal rubbish collectors advertising their services via social media sites like Facebook.
In May the Local Government Association highlighted the problem was on the increase. A spokesman said: "Small-scale criminals are attempting to undercut legitimate services by offering to take household rubbish away cheaply. But often they are just dumping items on other people's land or in public. People should avoid using these services as they are driving the problem."
David Rounding says a further irony is that many of the criminals are not even charging "cheap" rates.
"We have seen householders being charged hundreds of pounds for someone to take their rubbish away – sometimes two or three times the market rate. But in Buckinghamshire the ten recycling centres are free to use for household waste," he said.
Families moving to new-build homes may be easy targets if they don't know the area or how easy it is to dispose of their rubbish. They can also be targeted by fly-tippers on the look-out for bulkier items like sofas or beds which can be easily loaded into a Transit-style van or pick-up.
As many as half of local residents are thought to be unaware that they have a duty of care to dispose of their unwanted stuff correctly and can be fined or prosecuted if their rubbish is subsequently fly-tipped.
Cllr Martin Tett, the LGA's environment spokesman, told the Telegraph in May: "Fly-tipping is unsightly and unacceptable environmental vandalism. It's an absolute disgrace for anyone to think that they can use the environments in which our residents live as a repository for litter."
David Rounding believes a simple ban on cash payments would go a long way to solving the problem and keeping law-abiding residents out of trouble: "If your rubbish ends up in a layby in Buckinghamshire, we will be asking you how it got there. We suffer from more fly-tipping than many councils and we will prosecute."
He points out that the council has saved £3m over the past decade through its zero-tolerance approach, because the cost of clearing fly-tipped waste is so high.
"People using someone they have only met through Facebook face a much greater risk," he warned. "Don't pay cash – pay online or with a cheque. Ask to see the firm's waste carrier permit. Legitimate companies won't mind giving you're their name or registration number."
What is fly-tipping?
Fly-tipping is the illegal disposal of household, industrial, commercial or other 'controlled' waste without a waste management licence. The waste includes garden refuse and larger domestic items such as fridges and mattresses.
What are the penalties?
Fly-tipping is a criminal offence punishable by a fine of up to £50,000 or 12 months' imprisonment if convicted in a magistrates' court. The offence can attract an unlimited fine and up to five years' imprisonment if convicted in a crown court. There are also a number of other possible penalties, including fixed penalty notices of up to £400 and seizing a vehicle and/or its contents because of suspected involvement in fly-tipping.
To report a fly-tipping incident to David and his colleagues, visit the county council's web page or the Fix My Street website.
Tagged buckinghamshire, campaigns, crime, dumping, fly-tipping, wasteLeave a comment
Waging war on plastic
Posted on June 24, 2018 March 20, 2020 by andrew in Beyonder Blog
GOING GREEN: vegetables without plastic wrapping [PICTURE: Scott Warman, Unsplash]
IT WAS a health scare that started Kathryn Kellogg first thinking about what she was putting in and on her body.
"I had never considered it before; I just assumed everything I was consuming was safe," she says. "There's very little regulation and testing for the products we buy. Cleaning companies don't even have to release the ingredients they use."
After starting to cook from scratch and starting to make her own cleaning and beauty products, the aspiring actress moved to California as was shocked to see all the litter and plastic in the ocean.
"I knew I had to do something; so, I decided to be the change I wanted to see. I stopped buying plastic and wanted to create a sustainable life. It felt like a really natural progression," she recalls.
Living in the Bay area and spending her free time hiking and cooking, she worked a 9-5 job and is one of a number of young millennial women responsible for promoting a zero-waste lifestyle revolution that has taken off in a big way.
Kathryn's blog, Going Zero Waste, was launched in March 2015 and by the time she was profiled in The Guardian a year later, was attracting 10,000 page views a month and had 800 subscribers.
The focus of her Instagram, Facebook and Twitter posts is all about homemade products and simple shopping tips that can help avoid unnecessary waste. The goal is to ensure her trash for the past year – anything that hasn't been composted or recycled – fits in an 8oz jar.
She's not alone – over in Chicago, Celia Ristow of Litterless espouses a similar zero waste vibe.
And it's got to make sense. One of the best things about her blog is her desire to make things accessible and attainable: so that for anyone starting out on the zero waste journey or just wanting to be a little more eco-friendly, her first suggestion is always the 'Big Four' simple, easy swaps popularised by Plastic Free July, an initiative which originated in Western Australia but which now involves participants around the world.
Kathryn advises that these four items – plastic bags, straws, single use water bottles and takeaway coffee cups – are easy to avoid and make-up a huge portion of waste in landfills and the ocean.
It's a great starting point for reducing litter at the point of consumption – and just one of a series of straightforward tips on Kathryn's website.
LESS IS BEST: steering clear of plastic [PICTURE: Heder Neves, Unsplash]
In fact, this is just one of more than 300 blog posts full of zero waste tips. For anyone starting out on the journey, Kathryn's Beginners' Guide is as good a place as anywhere to start.
Tagged campaigns, litter, waste, zero wasteLeave a comment