Tidy Our Town: Womble shares interesting observations since returning to Northampton after months in Australia

Sally Romain first started litter picking during the pandemic, and spent her allocated hour of daily exercise making a positive difference to the community.

As a member of the Northamptonshire Walks group at the time, Sally’s passion to do something stemmed from when flooding caused plastic to litter the washland close to her home.

With a passion for wildlife, this was the final straw for Sally and she reached out to the Northants Litter Wombles founder Nicola Elliott following this experience.

The dedicated Womble travelled to Australia in September last year, and returned eight months later in May.

One of her children lives down under and Sally spent most of her time in Sydney, where he lives, but also took the opportunity to explore the Northern Territory and road trips across South Australia.

Upon returning to the town, Sally says she was met with the “pleasant surprise” that Northampton is tidier since she left last year.

“The Wombles have done a wonderful job,” she told the Chronicle & Echo. “From lockdown to when I came back after eight months in Australia, I’ve noticed a difference – particularly in the roads, hedgerows and verges.

“Many pop-up bags are attached to railings and are full. The Wombles have collected so many bags that have been left on street corners. It really is a huge improvement, but we’re still not quite there yet.”

Sally described that litter is deemed a “socially offensive behaviour” in Australia and the residents are “brought up to take pride in the country” by not littering.

“There are signs of some littering but it’s very, very minor and only in cities like Sydney,” said Sally. “It’s nothing compared to what we have here.”

A ‘Deposit Return Scheme’ (DRS) is in place in all areas across Australia, meaning that people are given their deposits back when they recycle cans, bottles, tins and plastic containers into machines.

Sally explained: “The machines are often in car parks or supermarkets in community areas. You take your recyclable material and feed it into the machine. You have to download an app and register who you are.

“It weighs the material and credits your card, or gives you credits to spend in supermarkets. You choose.”

An interesting thing Sally noticed was that people were using litter pickers to fish out recyclable materials from bins, to take to a DRS vending machine and claim the credits.

“It shows you that if litter becomes a commodity, if it’s got a value, people then pick it up,” said Sally. “It’s a wonderful way of dealing with waste and there is no plastic like we see here on the streets. It’s nothing in comparison.”

Sally believes a DRS is the way forward in Northampton and hopes it will not take years to roll it out.

“When you put a price on recycling, that changes people’s behaviour,” she said. “It’s like with the seatbelt law and smoking ban, if there is legislation to support it, it happens immediately.

“The town could certainly put itself on the map by having a DRS. We absolutely know from our pop-up bins that if you provide a way to dispose of litter, people will use it.”

Sally mentioned that everyone in Australian culture appreciates the wonderful country, its diverse wildlife and wants to keep it that way.

She believes a culture shift is needed in the UK, which can only be achieved through legislation, education and the meaningful application of enforcement.

If you would like to get involved in the Tidy Our Town campaign, established in collaboration with the Northants Litter Wombles, email [email protected].

To get involved and find out more, you can join the Northants Litter Wombles Facebook page here.