By Sarah Featley
The
Parks Trust, the self-funding charity that cares for Milton Keynes’ parks and
green spaces, has reported a noticeable increase in littering across the city,
with 666 bags of rubbish collected in just one week.
The
combined weight of this rubbish adds up to over three tonnes – and the figure
continues to rise across the busy summer period.
Data
was compiled on litter found across the 2,200 hectares park system, with Willen
Lake South generating the most rubbish; around three fifths of the total
amount.
Rob
Riekie, Landscape and Operations Director at The Parks Trust, commented: “It’s
great to see so many people using the beautiful green spaces we have across
Milton Keynes. Unfortunately, the increase in visitors across the summer months
has led to a considerable rise in the amount of litter generated.
“People
often don’t consider the impact of a drinks bottle here or a crisp packet
there, but clearing litter costs us over £300,000 a year – money we’d far
rather spend on improvements to parks and landscaping!”
Figures
from environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy* further identify littering as a
bad habit that most of us are guilty of, with stats revealing that 62 per cent
of people in England drop litter, but only 28 per cent of people admit to it.
Yet at the same time 62 per cent of people are concerned about the appearance
of their area and 57 per cent consider litter to be a problem.
Rob
added: “The Parks Trust is currently exploring new ways to minimise litter
dropping, but we can all work together to make a real difference. People often
ask us ‘why don’t you have more litter bins across the parks’, but the problem
for us, is to be effective we would need a lot of bins to cover 5,000 acres of
open space with all the cost of supplying and emptying those bins.
“A
large proportion of the litter going to be deposited in those bins is from
people who would have otherwise taken their litter home with them, which then
further escalates our costs. We’d ask
anyone visiting our parks to take their litter home and dispose of it there –
this will keep all the green spaces in Milton Keynes beautiful and inspiring
for all to enjoy long into the future.”
No comments:
Post a Comment