Arnish Lighthouse

And I'm not talking about the ubiquitous blue monsters that sit scattered through the Western Isles countryside. It's actually the local highway system. My post on public transport elicited someone's comment that there is a drink problem. That is not unique to the Western Isles, every town of some size sees drink related problems in its streets. But what struck me from the first time I visited Harris in 1995 was the quantity of empties that line the roads. Found the same along the Pentland Road, when walking to Breascleit and Carloway last spring. It's one thing that a lot of alcohol is consumed. It's quite another that people chuck the bottles out of the windows of their cars as they drive along, suggesting they might be imbibing whilst at the wheel. It's not just the odd bottle: on average, it's one bottle every 50 yards or so.

More positively, why can't we walk the island's roads and pick up the empties from the roadsides? I'd imagine thousands upon thousands of bottles would be turned up.