The countryside is lovely all year round, but especially this time of year. It is spoilt by people dumping their rubbish on the grass verges. and all over the countryside
Here is a poem written sometime in the 1920’s or before that date
PICNICS
If you go a-picnicking and throw your scraps about
You’ll never see the little folk go running in and out;
And if you leave your orange-peel all littered on the grass
You’ll never go to Fairy Land or see the Fairies pass.
For empty tins and tangled strings
And paper bage are not the things
To scatter where a linnet sings.So if you go a-picnicking remember you’re a guest
Of all the tiny people, and you’ll really find it best
To leave their ballroom tidy and to clear away the mess,
And perhaps you’ll see a fairy in her newest dancing dress.But paper bags and broken combs
Will really wreck the pixie homes
And frighten all the tiny gnomes.But if you go a-picnicking and you are elfin wise
You’ll maybe hear with fairy ears and see with goblin eyes;The little folk will welcome you, and they will open wide
The hidden doors of Fairy Land and you will pass inside,
And maybe see a baby fay
White cradled in a cherry spray,
Although it is Bank Holiday-0-0-0-0-0-
Isn’t that a lovely poem? I wish it was as easy as that to stop fly tipping.
We are such a consumer society. A throw away society. It wasn’t like this when I was young. For instance we had milk bottles that were recycled for ages. One milk bottle would be re-used again and again and again. Now we use one plastic container every time we buy a pint of milk. Ridiculous when you think about the millions of people who buy milk. Why have we gone in this direction? That is just one instance , but there are many more.
Here’s hoping in the future the countryside is left neat and tidy for wildlife. Rubbish in the countryside can and does harm wild animals and birds. We don’t have a right to thoughtlessly tip rubbish, harm wildlife and damage this countryside. But we do – well some of us do.