With the arrival of warmer weather, the Isle of Wight Council is highlighting a few simple steps we can all take to keep our garden isle green and clean while we’re out and about enjoying all it has to offer.
The advice forms part of a summer litter prevention campaign which has already seen the council unveil new measures to help ensure the Island is looking at its best during the holiday season.
Natasha Dix, the council’s strategic manager for waste and environment, said:
“We have all spent a lot more time in our local area in the past year and have come to realise just how important our environment is for our mental and physical health.
“We need to care for these spaces and do all we can to keep them free from litter that is not only unsightly, but also a threat to local wildlife and livestock, a source of pollution and a danger to public health.
“Our new task and finish group will be looking at how we can reduce litter and fly-tip through education, public engagement and enforcement and will be reporting back later in the year with a full action plan.
“In the meantime, our summer litter prevention campaign is an ideal opportunity for us all to take a small action that, collectively, will make a big difference.”
10 steps to keep our beautiful Island tidy this summer
- Packing up a picnic? Pack a rubbish bag and pick up your packaging.
- Fed up with seeing people out without a bag for their waste? Pop a few bin liners in your pocket to share.
- Disposable barbecues are a fire hazard and can cause significant harm to people and animals if left hot in the sand or countryside. If you must have one – make sure it is thoroughly out and cold before disposing of it.
- Booking a private waste collection – check you are using a licensed waste carrier, get a receipt, make a note of the carrier’s name and registration plate.
- Fancy a spot of litter picking? Some of our community libraries have litter-picks to hire.
- Spot your friends leaving litter? Remind them of the harm litter causes.
- Is the litter bin full? Take your waste to the next one or take it home.
- Dog bin full? You are allowed to put poo bags in general litter bins – or place them in the general waste at home.
- Cigarette butts don’t degrade in the environment and cause fires. Do not drop them on the floor or from your car – it is littering and illegal.
- Love our Island – We have a stunning island, let’s keep it that way together.
For more information, visit https://www.iow.gov.uk/news/Bins-to-be-emptied-more-often.
Suggest you start with the dustmen first they leave rubbish in the street thats been left out for them to take
Perhaps the IWC can do their part too? Clearing the wheelie bins from pavements in Shanklin that are there 7-days a week might discourage people piling rubbish by them every day?
less rhetoric and more action might make the council look less gelded?
They’ve had decades of people breeding who are full of entitlement, selfish “me first”, “nobody tells me what to do”, “I do as I like” types of people and anybody is surprised at their littering behaviour? Really? It needs to start early. If the parents won’t do it, (and too many parents are already like it themselves) then the schools need to teach them, from an early age, needs to be instilled into them, respect for their surroundings. Like in Japan where you just don’t see this kind of thing. The UK has been going downhill for years, in just about every way imaginable. Ill mannered and proud to be ignorant has become normal.
“Ill mannered and proud to be ignorant has become normal.”
Always been like that.
and the holiday makers you think it’s ok to drop rubbish because they don’t live here and don’t pay for someone to clean up after them
Not always the holiday maker’s tbf. It’s the overflowing sparsely found and irregular emptying of the bins that create the mass problem as well as food outlets! McDonald’s litter (Islands poor idea of a wholesome ‘meal’) add to the perpetual problem. Incidentally the council take a litter tax from businesses that they don’t reinvest into managing the problem and don’t get me started on parish councils!
Mc donalds is another one a scourge all over the world
Yes but to be honest, some of these types of people who throw their rubbish everywhere and anywhere, will do so even if there is an empty bin right next to them,because that is the type of people they are.
IOW Council are urged to do their part in keeping the Island clean
1). Replace those small litter bins with much bigger wheelie bins in areas subject to lots of litter.
2). Empty the bins more often.
3). Have the dustmen pick up what they drop in the street.
4). Clear fly tipped litter within 24 hours of it being reported.
5). Organise an all party Councillor litter clean so they are seen to do there part.
6). Think recycle with more litter recycle bins to separate glass, paper, tins, and plastics.
7).
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10).
Feel free to add to the list readers.
#7 – Have ‘proper’ operation of the ‘tips’, dawn to dusk opening and closing times like the mainland.
Stop allowing buildings on our greenfield sites.
Also start catching the littering people and fine them.
The council are too tight to employ litter wardens and the Police too lazy to enforce/remind people to pick up after themselves and that’s if you can find a police person on foot lol!!!
Why don’t the council during the summer replace these silly small bins for a smartly painted 4 wheel wheelie ninth is would look better than a over flowing small bin . Went down the duver last Saturday every bin was overflowing it was blowing about in the breeze some one who lives there said they don’t empty every day ?
Islanders “do our bit” by paying huge amounts of council tax, thanks
95% of the rubbish left on the esplanades & beaches is from tourist’s not Islanders , Disposable Barbecues the same & should be banned , every shop sells them , many islanders do more than there part in cleaning up the tourist rubbish at the end of the day & it is upsetting to a lot of islanders that these tourist have no respect to where they are visiting
The Council god bless em do not set a good example. I.E. all the decaying buildings scattered all over the island in bad states of repair. These eyesores are increasing year in year out.
The problem is that the people doing the littering are not the ones reading the advice.
Tell the damn holibobs to take there crap home too, or put it in the bins provided. It’s not always people who live here you know!!!!
We do our part, we pay tax! Employ more street cleaners. Instead of putting the money in your mates pockets what about spending it on us.
I have seen plenty of holiday makers leaving towels plastic buckets spades takeaway rubbish empty beer cans all manner of rubbish , just up & leave it on the beaches on many occasions , i have walked along Shanklin beach late in the evening picking up other peoples rubbish in shame as i do not want the tide to take it into the sea , then getting funny looks for doing so , Holiday makers are here on holiday with no home here to take there rubbish back to , bottom line they are not going to take there rubbish back to the hotels & camp sites , Also to the volume of tourists to the sizes of the bins , bins are way to small