Clean up - for the Queen or otherwise

You may have heard of the campaign this year to "Clean for the Queen". I know some people object strongly to the idea of cleaning for a monarch who they never see in person; others simply object to the idea of cleaning without payment!

Well, this morning I followed a truck most of the way to work. The wind was gusting to 70mph, according to the BBC, and the truck, although sheeted, was not sheeted well enough. Large plastic sheets and bags flew out from under the sheeting at regular intervals and caught in trees and hedges or blew out across farmland.

Although the truck was heading for a recycling plant, it passed a household waste tip. At that point, the flying plastic roughly doubled as refuse blew off the tip. The remaining bit of road into town was a disaster site, carpeted on either side with plastic.

So what I want to know is, as the Earth warms up and the weather patterns intensify, why can't we have rules that say if you're dealing with something light-weight such as plastic sheets and bags, you MUST stop work when the wind gusts at more than, say, 50 or 60mph? Tips could be regulated to cover their waste when strong winds are forecast, and trucks delivering waste could be made to tie down their sheeting more firmly or just not transport waste in high winds. Yes, it might slow down the economy, but the economy is going to have to slow down soon before it burns out entirely.

What do you think? If you agree, comment on this blog or tweet your opinion. Let's get this place tidied up! (Lorries first, litterbugs next!)