WHILE walking my dogs recently in Alderley Park I collected seven discarded glass bottles in as many minutes.

This is a park where toddlers play so you’d have to be an imbecile to leave broken glass lying around. This kind of moronic behaviour isn’t confined to Alderley. Visit any public park after a bank holiday and you will find enough trash to start your own landfill.

I was pointing this out to a mum whose kids were discarding crisp packets in a local play area. Her response was: “I blame the fast-food restaurants,” as if supplying hygienic packaging was an excuse for disposing of it wherever you happen to be standing.

I watched a group of men smoking outside a wedding venue last week who went back inside the hotel after throwing their cigarette butts into the flower bed.

It’s not just kids who have no respect for the environment around them.

Basically we have become a nation of litter-louts and ‘someone’ should clean it up.

I had no idea who this mysterious ‘someone’ was until I watched Japan beat Colombia in the World Cup and the Japanese fans stayed behind to collect their rubbish. If you don’t believe me check it out on the Internet.

Apparently they did the same when their team lost in Brazil in 2014 so their respect for others is not confined to the feel-good factor of winning.

Clearly the ‘someone’ who should do something is redundant in Japan as the Japanese people do it for themselves.

Self-reliance and respect for others are taught from nursery class upwards in Japan. Even three year-olds are expected to help clean their classroom at the end of each day.

Anyone dropping litter in the street is likely to be asked to pick it up by members of the public in Japan. A similar request made in Britain is likely to result in a punch in the face.

So what have I learned from the World Cup? Well, I’d certainly be happy to have a Japanese family living next door. I’ve learned that by respecting others they respect you (that video of Japanese fans cleaning up the stadium has been viewed by millions around the world). Most of all I’ve become aware of how much we have to learn from others.

If we can grasp that the ‘someone who should do something’ is us and take responsibility, we can stop making excuses and make our world a better place?

By Guardian columnist Vic Barlow