People Are Literally Trashing Their Local Parks Now Lockdown Has Eased

Ever since the lockdown measures began to ease a couple of weeks ago, people have been flocking to their local outdoor spaces for socially distanced picnics and barbecues.

It's been sooo nice to see friends and family again after what has felt like a lifetime indoors.

However, with *everyone* descending onto parks, playing fields and other outdoor areas, a huge litter problem has started - and people are, rightly, not happy.

While the amount of litter in our parks is obviously a reflection of the sheer number of people making use out of them, there is a really simple solution (even if the bin is full) - take your rubbish with you.

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Instead, people are leaving it, piling it up next to the bin (which, by the time everyone has done the same, ends up being half a mile away) or in other people's case, simply leaving it strewn on the ground for someone else to clear up.

With everything going on, nobody wants to be touching other people's dirty litter and nor should they have to.

It seems to be an issue across the country, with Twitter flooded with images of littered parks, alongside very angry tweets.

Mark Camley, Executive Director for Park and Venues at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London tweeted: "Quite a depressing weekend for park professionals - we kept the Parks open because they are important for everyone's physical and mental health, and general wellbeing.

"We didn't expect any reward but the litter, fights and fires we experienced are far less than we deserved."

Another person tweeted several images of their litter-filled local park, with empty pizza boxes, beer bottles and plastic bags scattered all over the grass.

"I've gone for an early walk before it gets busy. I've never seen so much litter on my local park. It's absolutely disgusting. What sort of lazy, entitled b*****d does this? Just take it with you," they wrote.

Another person who visited Chatsworth House in Derbyshire posted shocking images of singed grass patches where people had been enjoying disposable barbecues.

"To everyone who had bbqs that scorched the grass, who left scraps of litter, glass bottles, cans, cigarette butts everywhere - you are disgusting," they wrote.

"We picked up three dog poo bags worth of litter, (using copious amounts of hand sanitiser): plastic cigarette filter covers, bottle tops, plastic sweet wrappers but also wine bottles, a large pink broken water bottle, drink cans and four pairs of socks."

Another person posting about a park in Wales said: "It's SO depressing when you're wading through rubbish on your daily exercise in the park.

"SO much better ten minutes later when the rubbish has gone. If everyone gave just a few minutes a day to clearing litter we would be a happier society."

At Hampstead Heath in London, one person even reported to finding human waste, tampons tissues and broken glass on one of their daily walks.

But it's not just the parks, it's beaches too. One shocking image shows Formby Beach in Liverpool flooded with litter and even plastic cooler boxes.

Please, if you are spending time at parks, beaches or other outdoor spaces, it's so important to take your rubbish with you!

Topics: Life News, lockdown, Coronavirus

Lucy Devine

Lucy is a journalist working for Tyla. After graduating with a master's degree in journalism, she has worked in both print and online and is particularly interested in fashion, food, health and women's issues. Northerner, coffee addict, says hun a lot. Get in touch at [email protected].

@lucedevine