Clean England, Green England

The weather in UK is different- naturally so for us who come from a tropical region .The people in UK seem to be very eco-friendly.There is a lot of greenery around. The local and highway roads have different kinds of floral and fruit bearing trees lining the pavement. The trees here are colored differently by their flowers. Only after seeing some of the colors of the flowers here, we are reminded of what we normally refer in our part of the world as 'English colors'. They are thrilling and refreshing.

People here do not disturb nature at all- meaning, they do not tamper with it, by plucking the flowers and fruits from the trees which are grown in public places. I am told the fruits are mostly feed for the birds and fall down after they are ripe enough. What a wonderful behavioral trait these people have acquired with their development. We do not normally see bare earth on the payments or in the area left unutilised. Such patches are normally covered with a velvety green turf of grass. The grass on the pavements also is mowed to a minimum height periodically without fail by the council/ public authorities.

Household waste disposal is taken care with an elaborate system. Waste is classified as kitchen waste, plastic and paper waste and green waste . Every household is provided with three containers for collecting the above three kinds of waste once in a week.These containers, in separate colors, are placed outside the house.Kitchen waste from daily use in the kitchen is filled in small pvc carrybags and placed in covered containers. All plastic and paper waste coming as milk containers, tooth paste tube shells, other consumables are filled in another and garden waste such as clippings from home grown plants and mowed grass from the lawn etc are placed in the third. All the containers are placed outside the house for emptying by the council staff into their trucks which come on a given date to collect them separately. Residents having extra garbage can go and drop them at stipulated garbage dumps. Plastic and paper wastes are processed for recycling and other wastes may go for land filling and making manure.Containers are generally placed in public places ensuring clean surroundings. In places where litter like cigarette butts and pieces of paper are thrown around as on streets or malls, a person is positioned to collect them. You should see the way he does it. A long pair of tongs is the closest that he gets to the rubbish. No handling , and no bending.