Is it time to bring back Mrs Baggit to combat Britain’s roadside litter problem? I believe it is.
It’s more than 30 years since a Cornish school girl won a competition to invent a character to encourage people to take their little home. The result was a face so bloodcurdling, it has been giving children nightmares ever since.
The result was Mrs Baggit.
Look at her. Creepier than Billy the Puppet. More menacing than Chucky. As nightmarish as the Pale Man.
Stick Mrs Baggit in a Guillermo del Toro film and the BBFC will be reaching for an 18 certificate faster than you can say ‘Keep Britain Tidy’. Just imagine the effect she’d have on the kind of person who doesn’t think twice about leaving a discarded Greggs wrapper in a lay-by.
Statistics* show that no child who holidayed in Devon or Cornwall in the late 80s and 1990s has dropped litter on the roads of Britain. That’s the impact of Baggit. She haunted the dreams of young children – some were known to wake up screaming for Dusty Bin in the dead of night.
According to Keep Britain Tidy, roadside litter is a ‘national disgrace’. Who better than Mrs Baggit to help clean up Britain’s act? Put it this way: you’re hardly going to mess with Mrs Baggit on a cold night in Camborne.
You know those pointless ‘no fly-tipping’ signs? Is a fly-tipper really going to take any notice of them? They would if Mrs Baggit was present. What about those ‘no dog fouling’ messages – the dog owners would be rushing for their poo bags if Mrs Baggit was barking the orders.
Baggit and Tidyup
The fact that she’s a Mrs and not a Miss suggests there could be a Mr Baggit patrolling the lay-bys of the West Country. After three decades, there’s even the potential for some Baby Baggits.
Faced with an army of Baggits, no lay-by dweller would dare drop a carton of Capri-Sun or an empty packet of Space Raiders. Maybe Cornish Family Baggit could be deployed to stop a number of roadside misdemeanours.
‘Mrs Baggit says take your litter home.’ ’Mr Baggit says stop fly-tipping.’ ’Baby Baggit says stop your dog fouling.’ ’Uncle Baggit says no dogging.’ That kind of thing. The possibilities are endless.
As I recently discovered, the say-no-to-littering lady is still active in Devon and Cornwall, lurking behind brambles and weeds, waiting to spook unsuspecting litter louts. It’s time she was rebooted for 2020. Hashtag #BringBackBaggit. Or something.
Stay tidy.
*Probably.