The head ghillie at a Perthshire fishery has slammed the thoughtless drivers destroying the countryside by throwing rubbish out of their windows.
Calum McRoberts, of Meikleour Fishings near Coupar Angus, has been picking up litter on the roads near the River Tay for almost a decade.
Recently, Calum has seen more litter than ever on Perthshire’s roads.
“It has absolutely gotten worse,” he said, “without a shadow of a doubt.”
So we joined Calum and fellow ghillie, Ian Jones, on a litter pick, to see for ourselves how bad the problem is.
‘Concerning’ amount of litter found
Last week marked the start of salmon fishing season at the River Tay.
Calum is out on the water six days a week, but goes out whenever he can to collect litter.
He found a concerning amount of litter at this important time in the Perthshire fishing season.
“Energy drinks cans are the biggest culprit, and coffee cups, crisp packets. But you can find all sorts,” he said.
There were also plastic milk bottles, gas cannisters and full tubs of unused cleansing wipes scattered at the side of the road.
‘Bad people’ are behind the River Tay rubbish
“A lot of people come back to me and say ‘you have to educate people,'” Callum explained.
“But this isn’t about educating people, this is about badness. It is about bad people.”
Calum said that the amount of litter increases around bends and within the trees, because drivers believe that their littering will not be seen by the cars behind them.
“It is just badness and laziness,” he said, “people know what they are doing.”
The “most frustrating” part for Calum is that the beautiful surroundings by the River Tay are being spoiled.
“It’s beautiful here.
“People always bang on about the pride we have for Scotland, but when you drive around, that’s not the evidence you see at the roadside.”
800 bits of rubbish from three short litter picks
Over three days, Calum said he collected around 800 items of rubbish on short litter picks like this one.
On a one hundred yard stretch, Calum and Ian found more than fifty pieces of litter.
“It’s just such a shame that it’s like that,” Calum continued.
“What I don’t get is: People see it, so why don’t more people get actively involved in getting rid of it?
“How do you make them aware that it is a problem and what can be done to solve the problem?”
Litter costs the council over £2million a year
Calum called upon staff at Perth and Kinross Council to hand out fines to littering drivers.
“I would like to see people getting fined. Or people in jail picking up litter off the streets,” he said.
Ghillie Ian Jones questioned: Without fines, “where is the incentive not to litter?”
A spokesperson for Perth and Kinross Council admitted fines for littering are difficult to enforce.
Littering costs the council over £2 million a year. People can report litter problems to the council here.
Conversation