AS MANY of us know, reducing our plastic consumption is a huge topic of conversation that we see all over social media at the moment.

I am a huge advocate for reducing plastic waste and minimising my impact on the environment. However, it is clear that not everyone shares the same love for our environment as I do.

I walk my dog every day around Kendal and each day I find myself picking up tin cans, coffee cups, wrappers and plastic bags, juice cartons and glass bottles that other people have simply thrown on the floor, despite there being a bin a few metres from where they left it.

This rubbish is extremely hazardous to wildlife as well as our own domestic animals as it can cut their mouths and paws.

However, my biggest shock was to find three bags' worth of rubbish in a stream near my house in Oxenholme. Glass bottles, cans and bottles, as well as packaging, were just left in the river, which ended up cutting both my dog's paws.

I ended up in the river myself picking up the rubbish that others simply can’t be bothered to take home with them or put in the bin literally seconds away from where they dropped it.

I was so upset and disappointed to see the lack of respect that some of the local residents of Kendal have for their surroundings. We live in such an incredibly beautiful area but it is being destroyed by plastic pollution.

Not only this but everything that is left in rivers or streams will end up out at sea, where it will break up into smaller pieces ,which sea creatures mistake for food.

It is estimated that by 2020 there will be more plastic than fish in our oceans and this is the fish we are eating.

It has to stop now and I plead everyone to pick up any rubbish they find as they are walking along and take it to the nearest bin.

I also plead with the local council to put out more bins so we can help prevent people littering.

This is such a huge issue which will affect every single one of us and although one plastic bottle or one crisp packet doesn’t seem that bad, if eight billion people think the same then this issue will never be resolved.

Everyone needs to play their part and if parents can show their children that leaving rubbish is harmful to not only wildlife but also to ourselves and that it is good to pick up rubbish, even if it is not their own, then we can really start to tackle the problem from a young age upwards.

I urge everyone to look at the issues the world is facing in terms of plastic pollution and I hope it will encourage everyone to think about their plastic consumption as we can all make significant sustainable swaps every day.

Sophie Labat

Kendal