Let’s subtract litter from these streets! Maths wiz Carol Vorderman is a fine addition to Great British Spring Clean after Japanese showed her the power of volunteering to pick up trash
- Carol Voderman says Britain could do better on litter and could learn from Japan
- The former Countdown presenter is among the stars waging war on rubbish
- She spoke of her experience visiting Tokyo and seeing how clean Japan is
- Most Japanese people will take rubbish home with them rather than dispose of it
Britain needs to take a leaf out of Japan’s book and put an end to the scourge of litter, Carol Vorderman has urged
Britain needs to take a leaf out of Japan’s book and put an end to the scourge of litter, Carol Vorderman has urged.
The former Countdown presenter is among the stars waging war on rubbish after a trip to Japan for the Rugby World Cup in 2019 left a lasting impression on her.
Miss Vorderman said: ‘I travelled through Tokyo and other cities and I was astonished. Not one single piece of litter did we see. That is cultural.
‘I have never, ever thrown litter and if I see it outside my house I will go out and pick it up. I don’t think we are that bad in this country but we could be better and could learn a lot from Japan.’
Most Japanese will take rubbish home with them rather than dispose of it when outside.
A testament to that was during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, when Japanese fans were often spotted with plastic bags cleaning up their litter after a match.
Miss Vorderman, who lives in Bristol and enjoys going hiking, said: ‘When people are in parks or national parks, there is absolutely no excuse for leaving litter behind. My motto would be ‘leave no trace’.
‘I live in Clifton and earlier this month there were 150 students spread out. They were lovely, chattering, laughing and music playing. And they took all their rubbish away. The green was totally clean by morning. The students were great.’
The 60-year-old called on councils to ‘make it easy for people’ by providing more bins in cities.
She added: ‘Bristol is quite good but there are other places I have thought ‘I have this coffee cup. Where do I put it?’ Just give people enough bins.’
So far the Great British Spring Clean, backed by the Daily Mail and organised by Keep Britain Tidy, has had more than 80,000 pledges to clean 528,088 miles of Britain’s roads, riverbanks, beaches and countryside. It runs from May 28 to June 13.
Miss Vorderman gave the Spring Clean her backing, adding: ‘It is just about raising awareness that we could all do better when it comes to litter.’