Letters: Wombles are on the winning side

Helen Bach is right: Dumping rubbish in the countryside is an environmental crime (On Reflection, April 15).

In February 2019 the newly established Friends of the Irth collected 30 bags of litter from the Nene Park area. We picked up full nappies on our last trip up there. We were shocked.

I daresay the daffodils were also traumatised by this offensive mulch.

We frequently revisit this and other sites for more of the same, as do countless other Irthlingborough Wombles. We often see fellow litter-pickers on our travels; some alone, and others in groups. We are a growing army.

Of course, we would rather not have to gather up the ‘things that the everyday folk leave behind’, but we, at least, make use of the bins that we find.

The Wombles of Wimbledon were ahead of their time. The modern day litter criminals who hang poo bags on bushes and toss their drink cans into the long grass are stuck in the moment, with no regard for our shared future.

Is the plastic sheeting strewn in the hedgerows a shameful and appalling sight? Yes!

Is it acceptable that birds have to peck their way through a carpet of cigarette butts and tiny specks of takeaway coffee lids to reach their food source? No!

Is it the case that some people feel that they will lose their street cred if they post fast food packaging in hungry, open-mouthed bins? Do they momentarily consider doing the right thing and then promptly lose their bottle?

We, the eco-warriors of Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire and beyond have the tools and the mindset to defeat the lazy and disrespectful individuals who are intent on trashing the environment.

We are everywhere. We will lead by example. We will turn the tide.

We are on the winning side.

Caroline Cross,

Friends of the Irth