Concerns raised over rubbish at Sussex beauty spots

Letter from: Samuel Barberini, Ashacre Lane, Worthing
Scenic Sussex by Steve RobardsScenic Sussex by Steve Robards
Scenic Sussex by Steve Robards

The rise of outdoor activities has been noticeable over the coronavirus period.

This is fantastic as it shows the general public have a real eagerness to generally connect with the stunning environment we have around us.

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On my walks across Cissbury Ring and Patching Wood, I’ve noticed lots of happy families discovering the joys of walking across the fields, through woods, copses and brush.

However, with more people comes more complacency, and more complacency leads to a disregard of our environment.

Recently, I saw a photo of a man picking up other people’s litter as they looked on. Disappointed and dejected, I thought something is really wrong here.

Then, after walking across Cissbury Ring today, it took me past three separate scorched, blackened remnants of camp fires and BBQs along with the detritus of a heavy night of drinking and eating.

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While it is wonderful that people can enjoy these beautiful natural environments, it is absolutely unreasonable that the lack of responsibility has led to the degradation of not only our public spaces, but of a social consciousness for being stewards of our environment.

Honestly, ask yourself, how hard is it to pick up litter and put it in a bin? I’m absolutely appalled by the apparent rise in the volume of rubbish, in streets, on pavements, in parks and areas of natural beauty. It’s simply not good enough.

For those dog walkers (on Cissbury, Highdown and Patching) who have gone so far as to pick up their dog’s waste, only to throw the black plastic bag into the bushes, hanging like an all season bauble, what are you thinking? You’ve gone to the effort of picking up the waste, but it’s too difficult to take it with you to a bin?

I suspect that it’s not always ‘cool’ to take responsibility for litter, but this must change. And I feel it’s those who litter are ironically the ones who are supposedly ‘concerned’ about our environment, and in social exchanges offer a few virtue signals that will successfully hide their real activities of littering.

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To address this, taking responsibility for litter needs to unfortunately become ‘cool’. But where do we start?

The coronavirus period has shown us the impact of humans on the environment. Writing a letter will reach a certain amount of people, with a varied audience, but it’s not enough.

If you care about our environment, please, please, take some responsibility for your litter. How we present ourselves in society, is how we want society to see us.

Lastly, to those who do pick up other people’s litter, you’re doing a fine job, and you need recognition. We need to create a positive culture of taking responsibility for litter. Your work does not go unnoticed.

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