Edinburgh Meadows mayhem makes me fear for us as a species – Hayley Matthews

If young people can’t be trusted to have a beer and a sausage in the Meadows without trashing the place, what hope do we have for the future, wonders Hayley Matthews.

Crowds on the Meadows

With the wonderfully sunny weather during the week, it really isn’t any surprise that pictures of the Meadows filled the internet looking like the aftermath of Glastonbury. I’m also not surprised at the pictures of Bournemouth beach absolutely packed (below), with a major incident declared by their council. But the thing that concerns me even more than “where will all these people go for a widdle” is “where will all these people put their rubbish?”

I haven’t seen many pictures or complaints on Porty People’s Facebook page yet. However, as I sit writing this on Thursday afternoon after incredibly high temperatures I won’t be surprised if they surface soon. I’m sure the promenade will have had its share of people dumping juice bottles, leaving behind plastic packing and conveniently forgetting to take home their disposable BBQs after all the sunshine.

But seriously, how can we be trusted to come out of lockdown responsibly if we can’t even be trusted with an afternoon in the Meadows?

I do appreciate that a lot of this mess will be caused by teenagers who are frustrated at not being able to see their friends to go for sushi on a Saturday or upset that they can’t go grab a venti, skinny, triple shot, peppermint, almond milk latte when the notion takes them but come on people! Get an absolute grip of yourselves.

If we can’t be trusted to have a few beers and a sausage in the Meadows, then I doubt very much we’ll still be a species in a few decades. The animal kingdom will be thinking “good riddance!”

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