The population seems to be divided over litter. There are some who apparently see nothing wrong in throwing discarded fast-food cartons down on to the pavement or jettisoning an old mattress in a lay-by, and there are others who find such behaviour deeply offensive.

Countless initiatives have been pursued over the years to try to get the message across to the thoughtless minority that dropping litter and dumping household items is simply not acceptable to the majority of the population. Yet still rubbish adorns shrubberies and grass verges. Still old armchairs continue to be abandoned in roadside bushes and builders' waste is left in heaps at the side of lay-bys.

There is clearly a lot more hard work needed if the litter louts are to be persuaded to mend their ways. So the more effort is put into the campaign, the better - particularly if it is aimed at young people, who need to be encouraged to adopt a tidy approach early if it is to become a lifelong habit.

The Trash Cam competition launched by the Bradford Environmental Action Trust is an imaginative way of pursuing this goal. It is aimed at all age groups, but the emphasis is rightly on encouraging children and young people to look around them, find eye-catching examples of "waste mismanagement", and photograph them.

BEAT's development officer says they want to get people talking about the things they feel passionate about. Hopefully the result will be that more people are made to feel passionate about the need to create a society in which all waste is dealt with responsibly and disposed of properly.