I AM full of admiration for the excellent efforts of the Tidy Tavi Group, who meet every month to help clear up huge amounts of litter dropped by fellow human beings who sadly lack some basic education and assume that their actions are perfectly reasonable. However, are we really tackling the root of the problem?

On my morning walks, I notice that within 24 hours of a Tidy Tavi day, one witnesses more rubbish in the areas dealt with by the group on the previous day.

I am amazed to find that on Monday mornings, Tavistock College employ the services of at least two men to pick up litter around the college grounds! Surely, in these days of austerity and budget cuts, these chaps could be more gainfully employed within the college premises.

There is a very simple solution to this particular litter problem. Each day, the college designates a particular class/year group to pick up litter within the college grounds during their break time. Within a few weeks, the problem will disappear. Sadly, I suspect that for health and safety reasons,  this will not be possible and I suppose the students will be able to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights!

In the mid '50s, when I was at senior school, one never witnessed litter within the school grounds. Why? If caught in the act, one was either caned by a master or beaten with a plimsoll by one of the prefects.

I do not advocate going back to those extreme measures, but at the moment, we seem to be bringing up a generation of youngsters who assume that dropping litter is the norm as we have wonderful people such as the Tidy Tavi Group and men employed at the college to pick up all our rubbish.

Daniel

Leonard-Williams

Tavistock

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