00:00Since last month, it's not just books you can pick up from Medway Libraries. You can
00:06try out a new hobby, litter picking. All you have to do is sign up for a library card,
00:11head down to one of 15 Medway Libraries and ask for litter picking equipment. But would
00:16you have a go for yourself?
00:18Would you use one of these?
00:19Absolutely I would.
00:21Why would you opt in?
00:23Well you know it makes the place look a little bit more tidy doesn't it?
00:26Medway Council are handing out these. Would you go and get them?
00:29Yeah, most likely.
00:31No, you're not going to carry it around just to pick up a bit of litter occasionally when you see
00:35it.
00:35If you're going to pick up litter you're going to bend down and pick it up. That won't make any
00:39difference at all.
00:40It wasn't just people on Chatham High Street with a mixed opinion though. We asked readers of the
00:45Medway Messenger what they thought about the scheme. This is what some of the comments said.
00:50Now let me think, do I pay council tax? Oh yes I do and it's supposed to cover this.
00:55Nasa said, here's an idea, just take your litter home.
00:58Lisa White said, I already litter pick several times a week, it'd be useful to be given bags.
01:03There are several comments here, many of them echoing the same opinion of, well litter picking,
01:07that's the council's job. But there are others who are keen, for example Nikki, she said I just need
01:13to sort out getting a library card, then I'll be arranging a pick. So other people also say they do
01:17it
01:17weekly already.
01:18I decided I needed to have a go for myself, so I signed up for a card and collected the
01:23gear from Chatham Community Centre. There I met up with one of the councillors behind the scheme.
01:28This is a new thing for the library thing, we're 15 libraries all together,
01:32so but we have had a litter picking sort of campaign going for many years actually with
01:36loads of brilliant volunteers and we've been providing them with equipment. But this is now
01:41sort of growing the scheme if you like, making it better and making it more accessible and available to
01:45as many people as possible.
01:47Medway is one of the area's worst hit for fly tipping in Kent, and while sofas and commercial
01:52goods wouldn't fit in one purple sack, Simon says it's about attitude and community responsibility.
01:59Some of the comments online under the post about the litter picking, people saying it's not my job
02:04to clean up litter, it's the council's job, what's your thoughts on that?
02:07I don't disagree in principle, however it's not the council's job to pick up litter that people are
02:13throwing on the ground, that's the annoying thing. I wish people would just stop throwing it on the
02:16ground. Every month we collect well over 100 tonnes of litter off the streets with our contractors,
02:21that's two things, that's not acceptable, we shouldn't be picking up that much, but also it's
02:25expensive and it all comes from our taxes. If you do decide to have a go, Medway Council says you
02:30should leave the bags next to an on-street litter bin for collection and also be mindful not to litter
02:35pick
02:35next to busy roads. All the information on the scheme is on their website. Chloe Brewster for KMTV
02:42in Chatham.
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