Absolute Rubbish

The Tarn

Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global garbage cans.” ~ Jacques Cousteau

Yesterday morning my walk was once again enjoyed at one of the local beauty spots, a lake known as the Tarn. When I arrived at the Tarn, I noticed the rubbish bin in the carpark was full, and while walking around the edge of the lake, I noticed a number of other bins overflowing with litter.  The only thought to cross my mind at that point was that the bins were full because it was a bank holiday weekend (a national holiday).

SONY DSCI passed a nesting swan, fenced off but not far from the footpath, so I backed away and took my photo with the telephoto lens.

I was almost at the end of my walk when I reached the shallow water near the wetlands; suddenly a lone coot spotted a piece of yellow plastic floating in the water and in a rapid response to what he thought was food he swooped to pick it up. I managed to get a shot of this but not as clear as I would have liked. Thankfully, on this occasion, the bird let go of his find.SONY DSC

As I walked away, I began to think about the overflowing bins and pondered on why the general public on seeing the bins packed to capacity, hadn’t taken their rubbish home with them. All it takes is a light wind to waft the bottles, cans, plastic bags and such into the water, thereby rendering the lake hazardous and a potential death trap to these beautiful water birds that we come here to visit. Why cannot people see this?

© SueW-nansfarm.net May 2018 – In response to the word-prompt rapid

14 thoughts on “Absolute Rubbish

  1. Sadly this was repeated across the whole country with parks, beaches, stately homes, SSSI’s, footpaths, mountains, all reporting a vast amount of rubbish left behind with the assumption that “somebody” will clean it up, with a “it’s not my job” mentality, “I pay my taxes” mentality.

    This is an adjunct to my feelings yesterday!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Given the recent publicity about the amount of plastic waste I really do think it’s time local councils erected signs in public places, beauty spots and especially where wildlife can be found. A reminder and a way of keeping it to the forefront. Perhaps I should send the picture to the local newspaper maybe they might begin a campaign.


  2. In fact, behaving like a troop of marauding monkeys with all the intelligence and responsibility of such. A comment like this in South Africa might get one prosecuted for racism, whereas it is merely an accurate reflection of Modern Man. Some groupings of the latter seem to do it more than others, though. In England, what distinguishes the perpetrators from those showing any concern for the environment?

    Liked by 1 person

  3. gc

    People my love too easily become deaf, blind and dumb when it comes to their own litter while they are out and about.

    To their way of thinking it would be too much of a personal imposition to have a litter bag in their cars. Trash is trash and the sight of garbage in their own vehicles would be an embarrassment.

    It would be wonderful if the manufacturers of all this litter and glitter would put something in the packaging which would react with water and cause it to instantly combust into nothing more than a wisp of smoke.

    But as we all know dear heart, environmentalists would complain that such a chemical reaction would not fare well with the ecosystem.

    Thank you for sharing Susan. A good read with a message.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. You are right of course but I also think people simply don’t think 🤔 first. A dedicated publicity campaign designed to both shock and educate is what is really needed. Thank you for your comments love, always appreciated 😊

      Liked by 1 person

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