What a load of rubbish!

SARVAT JABEEN KHAN reports on one Council's battle to get the message home and how we as a community can help.

Eighteen inch Sony stereo TV, no remote, no stand and the screen is smashed to smithereens - any takers?

I am not visiting one of the electrical giants on the retail estate but scouring our local back alleys. John Logie Baird's invention can be found alongside a well used and urine stained orthopaedic mattress.

On a grass verge chapatti (Asian bread like food) has been dumped. Now, do you honestly think the birds will appreciate 'suki' (dry) chapatti and if you are discarding them in this manner at least have the decency to provide some curry to go with it! Having said this I hear from a reliable source that rice and curry have been found in my local park.

Poor pigeons flying around with upset stomachs no wonder they leave their trade mark on your freshly washed laundry, hanging out to dry. Remember the leaflet that was delivered written in Urdu and Gujurati highlighting the problems of food thrown in back streets. So what did you do with it? Don't tell me, glanced at it and threw it in the bin. Did you pass it on to the rest of the family; translate it for the ones who could not read it? Why is the council so determined to try to eradicate this menace, you may be thinking?

Apart from infection of the lungs, kidney, prostate, bone and liver it is thought that they may even cause chronic meningitis. Evidence of salmonella has also been found. This weapon of mass destruction is pigeon droppings, not too keen to feed them now are you? Pigeons are scavengers and will eat almost anything put out for them so in effect we are sustaining the increasing population of the feathery variety.

Rats are also partial to a dinner of chapatti, rice, chips and anything they can get their teeth into. Our furry friends are also responsible for Weil's disease, a mild form of the plague, septicaemia..... Also why do we feel we have to furnish the back streets with our unwanted household items thus creating an eyesore and inconvenience for our neighbours?

Is it a case of 'my house is clean and that's all that matters'? Carl Bradbury, Operations Manager from Blackburn with Darwen council wanted to know if putting boards up written in Urdu would help. What do you think? - I seriously doubt it. Did you know it costs the council £60,000 a year on top of the cost of providing a weekly refuse collection service to clean up the back streets? So what's the answer?

The council provide a service where they will collect any bulky household items (anything you would take with you if you were to move) within five working days and by the summer they will be able to give you an accurate day as to when a collection will take place (in your area). The number is 01254 585921 and guess what? It's FREE!

The next time Mr Patel, Choudry, Mr Adams discard an item in this manner let's not name call like five year olds. Instead knock on his door greet him with a smile and through gritted teeth say "I notice you've thrown a three piece suite in the back alley - why?" There will be a combination of looks on his face both Baistee (complete all consuming embarrassment) and 'Haramee teri yeh jurat' (production of an unmarried mother you really have a nerve)!

He may be cheeky and say, "Why did you want it?" Refuse to rise to the bait, tell him that you have a few items to discard, inform him of the collection service number asking, "Do you want to call or shall I?"

One more thing lads, wise up.

The next time you want to take a spin in your car with the boys, offer to take the old suitcases full of your brother's clothes - the ones he wore when he was sixteen (he is now thirty four and mother is convinced some relative will wear and appreciate them!) to the local clothes bank.

As for the food, only make what you need. I know in our culture it is rude to ask someone how many chapatti's he or she would like to eat but come on what's more important culture or religion?

Surely throwing chapatti in the back alley only to have boy racers drive over them is not achieving our parents respect for good food that should not be wasted, as animals may benefit. The moulvi (Islamic cleric) on ARY digital was speaking of a Muslim's duty to first clean his inside, then his outside and then his environment.

For a Muslim to create litter and inconvenience is frowned upon in Islam, it is your duty to practise your faith openly (Tableek) - one should take into consideration ones environment.

If you must feed the birds hang a bag of nuts in the garden as a token gesture and throw away any bread and chapattis in a brown bin, which is specifically for garden waste to be recycled through an external contractor.

Alternatively you could request a composting kit where you would recycle your bread and chapatti to feed your rose bush in the garden.

Stuart Hammond (Recycling Officer at Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council) and his team will be happy to help point you in the right direction.

If you are aware of rats or mice, feeding on unwanted food pick up the phone and call your local council. You'll be put through to pest control where an officer will take details and send out a member of the team. So come on folks let's clean up our act. We can work together as a team. Surely the money spent cleaning up the back streets can be better spent on, education, health etc.

If we all take responsibility for the litter we create by discarding it in the appropriate fashion (taking full use of the recycling facilities) then we will not only do ourselves a favour by controlling the vermin and all health risks that go with it. But we will create a clean and safe environment for our children.

Those of you who continue to throw scraps of food are on par with the person who avoids driving past the police station without a seat belt. You know full well who you are and the only person you are kidding is - yourself!

So the next time I see the back streets, will I be greeted with a mountain of electrical equipment or will you take on board what you have read and make a conscious effort to take responsibility in respecting the environment?