The One Show: Rats

I was quite concerned by the One Show report on rat infestations. The reporting style was overly dramatic and one sided, not giving a balanced report but instead appealing to the popular public misconception that rats are somehow evil. Frankly I felt that the report was dumbing down at it's worst. The people who seemed to be being targeted are just those to respond to such dramatic statements without a second thought to the reality of the situation. The report essentially made the suggestion that hanging out food for birds and making compost was a bad idea and bound to invite rats into your garden.

The final point being made was about the dangers of leaving rubbish out. In Southampton we do have weekly rubbish collection but I'd love to see this reduced. I live in a student house with four people living essentially separate consumer lives yet we produce less than one bin-liner of rubbish each week. Wheelie bins can contain at least three bin-liners so what could be the problem?

Of course the problem is the lack of consideration given by consumers to the amount of rubbish they purchase. I fear this is a problem of education - the less educated the less likely you are to be thinking about the rubbish you purchase. And the rubbish is of course everywhere. Companies have been allowed to be unregulated in their packaging for far too long (a problem not helped by the popular lie that individual wrapping is best).

the one show, rats, rubbish