IN THE PILLORY

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22343, 5 March 1938, Page 16

IN THE PILLORY

Rubbish Dumps Are in the Streets [By COMMENTATOR] The 'criticism made of the City Council's proposal to establish rubbish dumps in some of the suburbs is the more interesting because it emanates from a city many of whose residents just drop their rubbish in the streets, or wherever they happen to be at the time. Workmen for a seaside borough council are recently reported to have picked up no fewer than 150 sacks of litter from the foreshore; and the amount that could be picked up in city streets in a day's search might be almost as big. In some parts of the world —Germany, notably—it is a punishable offence to drop rubbish indiscriminately in the towns; but in Christchurch those tidy people who wait until they reach a rubbish receptacle before disposing of any unwanted articles appear to be very much in a minority. Cigarette packets when empty seem naturally to gravitate to the footpaths, and so do matches and cigarette butts. And smokers are by no means the only offenders. A big proportion of tram and bus users seem to hold the view that the logical thing to do with a tram ticket after alighting is to drop it on the street. Persons who purchase parcels in shops, and open them in the streets, usually drop the wrapping paper where they stand, and their bad example is followed in similar ways by hundreds of others. The results are seen in the streets. In the city there are a number of rubbish bins, widely spaced out, and their presence saves the street from at least some of the debris; but in the suburbs there are no receptacles, save the street channels, and the result is an untidiness that most Christchurch people—and most New Zealanders—take for granted, but which would shock some overseas visitors. The provision of more rubbish receptacles might help, but public education seems what is needed. Many of the best beaches in Canterbury have little sheltered spots that are almost in themselves rubbish dumps, parks and reserves suffer likewise, and some citizens even consider the Botanic Gardens a fit dump for minor rubbish.