Last April the government introduced the Litter Strategy for England
– a welcome move. But its main focus is behaviour change, and how to
influence “the actions of a selfish minority” who “spoil the
countryside” for the rest of us. The government’s solution is the
education of schoolchildren and citizens, better information on
packaging, and working with business to encourage waste reduction.Sherilyn MacGregor from the University of Manchester, who has studied
littering in Moss Side, thinks the problem is structural. Litter is at
the end of a process that involves production, consumption and disposal,
and “this is a chain in which the consumer (and potential litterer) is
the weakest link, with the least power”. This is why she thinks the
government emphasis on behaviour is ineffectual. Rubbish should be
tackled at source and the real solution is a zero-waste society.Not all litter is even discarded intentionally anyway. So long as nondegradable waste keeps getting produced in vast quantities it’s going to keep finding it’s way onto our streets and into the environment.
The problem isn’t individuals, the problem is capitalism. This article says that blaming individuals is wrong and that’s certainly true, but it’s more than a simple error- it’s a deliberate misdirection tactic to keep the focus off the true culprits, the corporations.
Telling litterers to change is a waste of time. Here’s another solution | Ros Coward
QueerAnarchism 