MOST of us, despite discomforting events in the news and the determined efforts of ill-intentioned governments, maintain a gut feeling that things are improving and that human behaviour is getting better.

But, sometimes, we’re forced to confront the fact that some things are not getting better and, while it may not rate highly on the scale of human enormity, a case in point is the litter problem on Scotland’s beaches which is worse than it was a year ago.

A major part of the problem is material discarded down the toilet, rather than in the bin where it belongs. Apparently, there is sometimes confusion about what can and can’t go down the loo – if so, a campaign of public advice is called for. Less forgivable is the 20 per cent of beach detritus made up of food and drinks packaging wantonly discarded.

This personally irresponsible behaviour might be changed with a fingers-crossed campaign of persuasion and education, but might also more directly be tackled by placing a levy on single-use plastics, as suggested by the Marine Conservation Society.

Recently, Scotland has made much play of leading the world, particularly in environmental matters. That approach might appear pawky at times, but it’s right to try and set the pace. On beach litter, though, we are falling behind, and that isn’t acceptable. Scotland is better than this.