Litter Problem on Worcester Farmland
A farmer from Worcester reports that he clears litter from his fields daily. On one occasion, his children collected five bags of rubbish in an afternoon during the half term holidays.
Tristan Bennett, who manages Bennett's farm in Lower Wick, explained that visitors using the public footpaths along the river Teme frequently leave behind towels, clothing, sweet wrappers, and bottles.
"Quite often, half eaten sweet packets... and if a cow smells the sweet sugar they'll try and eat it and then if it's stuck in the packet, they'll eat a whole packet, which can then get stuck in their guts and kill a cow,"he said.
Increased Foot Traffic and Rising Litter Since Lockdown
Bennett noted that the litter issue has worsened since the lockdown period.
"Since that hot summer, we've been a very popular destination for the local schools, for the children to come down in the summer and play by the river,"the farmer said.
"It's great people are out in the countryside and enjoying themselves, but the problem is what they leave behind... always so much rubbish and just their own possessions - they don't really seem to care about them and leave them scattered all over the riverbank."
Children Take Initiative to Clean Up
During the half term, Bennett's children were walking with their grandfather when they encountered another accumulation of discarded items and decided to clean up.
"We spent about four hours tidying up rubbish,"said Bennett's eight-year-old child.
"We found a load of towels, plastic bags, loads of alcoholic drinks, a load of socks and a pair of shoes.
"If they left their shoes, how would they even get home?"
Measures to Deter Littering
To discourage people from lingering in the most affected areas, Bennett has spread cattle slurry near those spots.
"It's now very unpleasant,"he said.
"If I'm going to have to keep going down collecting rubbish to make it safe for my cows to go out to graze, we're going to do what actions we can to deter people.
"It obviously comes with a certain aroma, it's not very nice to walk through... and then the flies are really quite appalling, [but] they'll follow it round, so it deters people from stopping in that area."
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