“Heroes” for readers of a certain age will almost definitely conjure up images of muscle-laden, Spandex-wearing, cape-donning and block-busting antics of the Marvel universe and the likes of.
To other readers who are particularly Christmas minded and possess a sweet tooth ‘Heroes’ might stir up hunger as it’s associated with Cadbury’s assembled favourites. To others like us here at CommunityAd Heroes is a term deployed for anyone who attempts to better the lives of others within their community.
Locally, there’s a group of heroes who have swapped Spandex and capes for hi-vis vests, the back of which read Bramley Litter Heroes in fine font along the top and beneath that it reads in bold typeface ‘Don’t be a Tosser’. A sentiment we can all get behind.
The phrase ‘don’t be a tosser’ is borrowed by the brilliant Keep Britain tidy campaign of the same name.
This campaign, aimed at the ‘tossers’ who chuck their rubbish out of car windows, our research shows a third of people don’t know the law. A third of people (33%) do not know that the registered keeper of a vehicle can now be fined if someone in their car or van throws rubbish out of it.
‘Don’t be a Tosser’ has been designed to send a hard-hitting message to drivers and their passengers that our roads are not one giant litter bin and that the owner of a vehicle can be fined up to £150 if rubbish is seen being thrown out of a car window.
New rules came into force in April to allow local authorities to fine the registered keeper of a vehicle if litter is seen being thrown from the vehicle. This means they no longer have to prove who threw the rubbish.
Keep Britain Tidy Chief Executive Allison Ogden-Newton said: “The mindless act of tossing plastic bottles and fast-food wrappers out of car windows is doing damage to our environment and our wildlife.
“Research published recently in Keep Britain Tidy’s Journal of Local Environmental Quality showed that millions of small mammals – voles and shrews – were dying after being enticed into bottles and cans thrown on to grass verges.
“We need to get the message out there that being a tosser is socially unacceptable and, regardless of who throws the rubbish, if it comes out of your vehicle you are responsible.”
Although the Bramley Litter Heroes are not taking the law into their own hands and dishing out fines, they are helping to spread the word that this disgusting behaviour of littering is far from acceptable in any community. The Bramley Litter Heroes are made up of regular folk and CommunityAd had the pleasure of sitting down with one of the heroes Debbie Grey.
Debbie answered the call if you like and joined the Bramley Litter Heroes when the group was first set up by Wendy Castle. The catalyst for Debbie’s partaking like many was the fact she had grown “fed up with seeing litter on the roadside and verges during my daily walks. As well as being concerned about the impact litter can have on wildlife.”
It’s widely known that there’s a need to recycle the masses of waste we produce given the state of the earth but still rubbish is disregarded irresponsibly. The pandemic has sadly brought with it a huge amount plastic and disposable items, with many face masks damaging the welfare of animals. That’s why Debbie says readers should if they can join the Litter Heroes: “Yes, the more the merrier, there are lots of people littering, it needs lots of people to combat the rubbish.”
We posed the question to Debbie that as well as the environmental difference there must be a nice social element?
She said: “I actually did most of my litter picking on my own but it was nice to be able to post on the group page and get support that way. It was helpful to be able to coordinate areas done too. The one day I did go out with others was nice, we had lots of laughs and cleared a big area of lots of litter.”
Debbie moved to this heavenly slice of earth known as Bramley in the summer of 2006 and has fallen in love with the place ever since. “I love the wonderful walks that can be accessed easily from the village and the surrounding countryside. I am very interested in saving our fields and open spaces from development and the proposed solar farm. The woodland at this time of year is amazing, the number and variety of fungi has been exceptional this autumn.”