Litter-picks can help to make people think twice

In this hectic, pressurised world, it can be very easy to get wrapped up in our own lives and what we're doing and forget about the wider community.

But for some people, there is always time to find in their lives to make their area a better place in which to live.

We’re talking about the volunteers who turn out in all weathers to help with litter-picks and clean-ups.

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On page nine today we report on how a hardy bunch of children and adults defied the wind and the rain to scour parts of Portsmouth, Fareham, Gosport and Havant over the weekend as part of the Great British Spring Clean.

On Saturday, more than 60 people were at Portchester to help clean up a section of the shoreline in an event co-ordinated by Portchester Civic Society with the Marine Conservation Society.

Somewhat depressingly, they managed to collect 30 bags of rubbish and found pieces of metal, a chandelier and a high-heeled boot, among other items.

It was a successful day and has certainly improved the environment for all to enjoy, plus helped to protect wildlife from possible danger. But the amount of discarded items they found tells us there are people out there who don’t share the volunteers’ admirable sense of collective responsibility.

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As Paul Woodman of Portchester Civic Society says: ‘Some items wash up with the tide, but generally people just dump and drop stuff. It’s such a shame.’

Andy Sharp, who was among those taking part, is right when he says that such events help to raise awareness of the problem of rubbish bespoiling the landscape.

Hopefully it will make people think twice next time they carelessly discard something.

Wouldn’t it be great to one day live in a world where such litter-picks are simply not necessary any more?