This is a letter to those who left the recent state on the beaches of Bournmouth.
This is written for those who have abandoned your camp chairs, fire pits and broken tents in the mountains of the Lake District.
This is for those who need to gain some perspective.
A letter for those who have bought plastic water bottles from Pen Y Pass on the flanks of Snowdon, dropped their bottle somewhere along the journey up. That bottle journeyed down the Glaslyn river, depositing micro plastics in the river water, and made its way to the sea, where it will float, steadily break up, and maybe bits will be ingested by a rare sea turtle which makes its long journey to the Irish Sea in the summer, only to find its belly full of bits that cannot be digested, and will wash up dead on a beach on the Llyn Peninsula.
I am writing to ask you to think about what you're doing. To take responsibility. To show some respect. Respect for the ground under your rubbish, where the nasties from your plastics will leach into the soil. Soil, under appreciated, but essential to life. Respect for the animals who may ingest the plastic. Respect for the people who live in these areas; people who yes, will probably tidy your mess, because they care. This land is like a big back garden for local people. If someone came and dumped a broken tent, flung some aluminium energy drink cans, some Costa coffee cups and Coca Cola bottles in your garden, wouldn't you tidy it up? Especially as whoever flung said stuff into your garden, they've gone, disappeared back into society, nameless and shameless. Show respect for the other visitors to the area, who want to appreciate the beautiful landscapes and contribute positively to the local economy. Who don't want the name "tourist" to be a negative connotation.
I live in Snowdonia, and I am holding my breath in anxiety of what is to come. Soon our park will welcoming visitors again. Local businesses will open, desperate to be able to earn their livelihood again. Park wardens and volunteers will be busy offering advice, desperate to prevent any spread of Covid in these rural places. Things will have to be run differently. People will have to listen. To heed advice.
What better time to turn over a new leaf? So here is my advice to you. Bring a refillable water bottle, or two. Use a reusable coffee cup. Bring an old plastic bag to have in your rucksack, which all your rubbish can be put in, and kept until it can be put in a bin, or sorted into recycling bins. Look around you after a picnic - would anyone know you've been there? Think about your purchases - do you really need that disposable barbecue, or can you wait until you're back in your holiday home/campsite and help prevent more burnt patches of soil in honeypots?
It's small changes, small acts of kindness. If Covid should have taught everybody anything, it's the need to be kind. Kind to people - the Warden offering advice, the local who's been asked five times that day where Snowdon is. Without a doubt, the kindness will be reciprocated. Be kind to the environment. Get behind the bigger challenge facing humanity - climate change - rally behind this, share thoughts and advice with friends, teach young people to care and don't be afraid to be taught by them too. Leave no trace. Protect what you love. For if you come to these beautiful places, surely you care about them? If not, you really do not deserve to be here.
Kind regards,
Rachael
This is for those who need to gain some perspective.
A letter for those who have bought plastic water bottles from Pen Y Pass on the flanks of Snowdon, dropped their bottle somewhere along the journey up. That bottle journeyed down the Glaslyn river, depositing micro plastics in the river water, and made its way to the sea, where it will float, steadily break up, and maybe bits will be ingested by a rare sea turtle which makes its long journey to the Irish Sea in the summer, only to find its belly full of bits that cannot be digested, and will wash up dead on a beach on the Llyn Peninsula.
I am writing to ask you to think about what you're doing. To take responsibility. To show some respect. Respect for the ground under your rubbish, where the nasties from your plastics will leach into the soil. Soil, under appreciated, but essential to life. Respect for the animals who may ingest the plastic. Respect for the people who live in these areas; people who yes, will probably tidy your mess, because they care. This land is like a big back garden for local people. If someone came and dumped a broken tent, flung some aluminium energy drink cans, some Costa coffee cups and Coca Cola bottles in your garden, wouldn't you tidy it up? Especially as whoever flung said stuff into your garden, they've gone, disappeared back into society, nameless and shameless. Show respect for the other visitors to the area, who want to appreciate the beautiful landscapes and contribute positively to the local economy. Who don't want the name "tourist" to be a negative connotation.
I live in Snowdonia, and I am holding my breath in anxiety of what is to come. Soon our park will welcoming visitors again. Local businesses will open, desperate to be able to earn their livelihood again. Park wardens and volunteers will be busy offering advice, desperate to prevent any spread of Covid in these rural places. Things will have to be run differently. People will have to listen. To heed advice.
What better time to turn over a new leaf? So here is my advice to you. Bring a refillable water bottle, or two. Use a reusable coffee cup. Bring an old plastic bag to have in your rucksack, which all your rubbish can be put in, and kept until it can be put in a bin, or sorted into recycling bins. Look around you after a picnic - would anyone know you've been there? Think about your purchases - do you really need that disposable barbecue, or can you wait until you're back in your holiday home/campsite and help prevent more burnt patches of soil in honeypots?
It's small changes, small acts of kindness. If Covid should have taught everybody anything, it's the need to be kind. Kind to people - the Warden offering advice, the local who's been asked five times that day where Snowdon is. Without a doubt, the kindness will be reciprocated. Be kind to the environment. Get behind the bigger challenge facing humanity - climate change - rally behind this, share thoughts and advice with friends, teach young people to care and don't be afraid to be taught by them too. Leave no trace. Protect what you love. For if you come to these beautiful places, surely you care about them? If not, you really do not deserve to be here.
Kind regards,
Rachael
No comments:
Post a Comment