Six-year-old Pippa cleans Telford streets
"It's simple, you put rubbish in the bin," so says six-year-old Pippa Plim.
But litterbugs do not seem to be getting the message, despite Telford & Wrekin Council's widespread poster campaign spread across the borough.
This led Pippa, a pupil at Barrow 1618 Church of England Free School near Broseley, to take part in a community litter pick while visiting her grandparents in New Works, near Lawley.
A 20-minute litter pick around the popular Trundle walking route, which takes in New Works Lane, Blacksmiths Lane and Dawley Road, resulted in a black bin bag full of sweet wrappers, drinks cans and bottles, takeaway trays and even a large cardboard pizza holder being collected – all dumped down country lanes, grass verges and pathways.
New Works resident Elaine Adams organised the litter pick which Pippa took part in and said the amount of rubbish had increased, despite posters urging people to take their litter home.
Elaine said: "We've been picking up litter around our country lanes for more than 30 years and in the last year I've noticed it has vastly increased due to more visitors.
"One male cyclist deliberately drops his water bottle every time he rides through, walkers chuck their crisp packets and drinks cans everyday without a thought, despite there being waste bins and now the anti-litter signs."
Elaine urged fellow residents to follow Pippa's perfect example and put their rubbish in the bin.
Pippa's father, Tom, headteacher at Highley Community Primary School, added: "At school we try to raise awareness about the impact our behaviour has on the environment, so it is disappointing when children see that people are deliberately littering our beautiful countryside. It's not a good example to set them."
