Council uses death of China’s first emperor to stop people fly-tipping

'If everyone stopped fly-tipping, we could even build a Great Wall of Doncaster.'

The 2,000 year old Chinese Qin dynasty might not be the first thing that springs to mind when thinking of the coronavirus lockdown.

But Doncaster Council have somehow managed to use the accidental and painful death of China’s first emperor as a way to deter people from fly-tipping while recycling centres remain closed. The South Yorkshire town warns people could be ‘shooting themselves in the foot’ if they dump their household goods in the street rather than wait for facilities to re-open.

Having survived multiple assassination attempts and overseeing the building of the Great Wall of China and the Terracotta Army, Qin Shi Huang set himself the realistic goal of living long enough to see his dynasty last 10,000 years.

The tyrant ordered his subjects to find a way to make him live forever and he was offered a variety of elixirs, potions and spells. It is thought he ended up taking tablets made by his alchemists and court physicians which contained mercury, which unsurprisingly didn’t turn out well.

Qin Shi Huang lived over 2,000 years ago, so it’s EXTREMELY unlikely that he ever considered the possibility that a Local Authority in South Yorkshire would ever do a Twitter thread about him. Nevertheless, let’s jump in. pic.twitter.com/jvjp2ZT061

— Doncaster Council (@MyDoncaster) April 14, 2020

The ‘medicine’ drove the emperor to madness and his search for everlasting life led to his death at the age of 46, so the story goes.

Explaining what any of this has to do with Doncaster on Twitter, the council says: ‘The tale of Qin Shi Huang is one of history’s biggest examples of shooting yourself in the foot. Unintended consequences. Making things worse for no reason.

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‘One of the negatives during #coronavirus has been a rise in fly-tipping cases, not just in Doncaster but across the UK.

‘We know a lot of recycling centres are closed, but some people are using the pandemic as an excuse to dump rubbish.

‘This ridiculous action REALLY shoots yourself in the foot because, believe it or not, it costs money for us to pick up fly-tipping. It costs money for us to investigate it.’

‘The money we have to spend picking up rubbish could be spent elsewhere on the front line.

‘It can go towards MUCH more important things, and all it takes is for selfish people to stop being selfish. If everyone stopped fly-tipping, we could even build a Great Wall of Doncaster.

People from all walks of life started offering the emperor elixirs, potions, spells and tablets. You know, the usual.

In his pursuit of everlasting life, Qin Shi Huang started taking one of the tablets he’d been offered, which turned out to be mercury tablets* pic.twitter.com/PHSLuzF7qf

— Doncaster Council (@MyDoncaster) April 14, 2020

The tale of Qin Shi Huang is one of history’s biggest examples of shooting yourself in the foot. Unintended consequences. Making things worse for no reason.

— Doncaster Council (@MyDoncaster) April 14, 2020

Which brings us to our point. One of the negatives during #coronavirus has been a rise in fly-tipping cases, not just in Doncaster but across the UK.

We know a lot of recycling centres are closed, but some people are using the pandemic as an excuse to dump rubbish. pic.twitter.com/QdMlcNhut5

— Doncaster Council (@MyDoncaster) April 14, 2020

(We know what you’re thinking – is Doncaster Council REALLY invoking the memory of a 2,000 year-old Chinese emperor to make a point about fly-tipping? Yes, we are. Deal with it.) pic.twitter.com/WeHO2S9lm3

— Doncaster Council (@MyDoncaster) April 14, 2020

‘This sort of environmental crime also endangers our staff who have to KEEP going out to pick up dumped rubbish. We’re pretty sure Qin Shi Huang wouldn’t stand for it.

‘We’re not going to ask you to be inspired by Qin Shi Huang – the scholars of the world might not appreciate that. However, please take a leaf out of the emperor’s book and STOP harming yourself with your actions.’

This is not the first time Doncaster Council have used failures from history to teach a lesson about today’s coronavirus crisis.

Earlier this month they used the story of an exploding whale in Florence, Oregon, USA as a surprisingly relevant analogy to tell people to listen to expert advice and stay at home.

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