Southampton is a beautiful city. However, we have a litter problem that too often detracts from that, and makes a place feel unsafe and uncared for. So, I’m really happy to see these new smart bins popping up all around the city, and most recently at Riverside Park. They have a bigger capacity, are solar powered, automatically crush rubbish to take up less space, and alert the waste teams when they’re approaching capacity.
We can all make the city a better place to live if we pick up a piece of litter on our walks. Only do this if you can do it safely – don’t directly touch litter (even a sturdy leaf might offer enough protection), and generally avoid certain rubbish such as glass, Covid waste, tissues etc unless you have specialist equipment, and as always remember not to touch your mouth or face until you get home and clean your hands.
Even if you don’t feel able to pick up litter in general, the presence of these new bins means the litter we do need to dispose of ourselves means we can do so more safely and easily (using the foot pedal), and be more certain that a strong gust of wind or a curious seagull won’t undo all your good work later in the day.