Harrogate campaigners' complaints at 'irrresponsible' dog poo behaviour

The plea comes after the Harlow Greens, part of Harrogate District Green Party, held their Summer Spruce-up on Harlow Hill at the weekend.

And the group say they are also seeking clarification from North Yorkshire County on the processing of recyclable plastic at Harrogate waste centres after they visited the tip at the weekend.

Last Saturday morning's annual 'spruce-up' saw an 11-strong group from Harlow Greens clear the playing field of rubbish, collecting a total of 10 bin bags in the process - mainly beer bottles, cans, sweet wrappers and dog poo.

It's the latter which has, in particular, angered the hard-working civic-minded litter pickers.

Rebecca Maunder, Green Party Campaigner for Harlow, said “I don’t understand why people bag up their dog’s poo, and then throw it in the hedge bottom.

"Most poo bags are not even biodegradable, so it could sit there for a 100 years.

"We’re asking local people – what else can we do to incentivise people to deal with their litter responsibly?

“Many of the glass bottles we found were cracked, and lots of sweet wrappers had been shredded by the mower, making picking up the bits a slow process.

"Luckily we had Daisy the Assistance Dog to help, who very willingly got to work putting the plastic fragments into our collecting sacks."

But Harlow Greens also said they were concerned at how Harrogate's waste centres dealt with plastic waste.

“However to our dismay when we took the bags to Harrogate Waste Centre, the only option for plastic bottles was to put them to the Waste to Energy Recovery skip, rather than recycling them.

"Harlow Greens will be asking North Yorkshire County Council for clarification on the processing of recyclable plastic at their waste centres."

Rebecca finished with a plea to those who drop litter: “We’re so grateful for the brilliant residents who go unnoticed because they do take their litter home and recycle it.

"Unfortunately there remains a few that for whatever reason don’t consider the longer term impacts of littering on wildlife and other residents.

"Please try to keep this planet clean and safe."

Do get in touch on 07584 119252 [email protected] if you have any suggestions as to how we can achieve this together!”

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