Litter Rant

[Venod]

While on a ride yesterday, I pulled up behind a white van at a railway crossing, a drinks can was thrown from the drivers side into the hedgerow followed by sandwich wrappings onto the road, I now have a dilemma, do I say something, pick it up and return it to the driver, (risking abuse and violence) or do I bite my lip and ignore it, I am ashamed to say I bit my lip.
Then as the train was passing a yoghurt pot was thrown onto the road from the passenger side, this was getting ridicules, so I pulled alongside, it was full of workmen in orange gear, I asked why they were littering the road, they denied it, I asked if they worked for Railtrack, they said yes (may have been lying) I told them I had their vehicle number and would be reporting them, they drove off.
I didn't memorise the number so it wasn't reported, but I hope it made them feel uncomfortable and reflect on their actions, (I doubt it}
What is wrong with people, why didn't one of the people in the van speak up and stop the others from littering the countryside, I despair.

 

[Oldhippy]

Sadly a huge number of people just don't give a sh*t. I live by the sea, warm weather and it looks like a rubbish site. Many not even attempt to put crap in one of the many bins.

 

[Moodyman]

Would you say it's a socio-economic issue? i.e. people of certain backgrounds being more inclined to behave in a certain way.

When I commuted by bike I travelled through less salubrious neighbourhoods of Bradford and Leeds as well as the more affluent. It was always the former that were littered by takeaway boxes, soft drinks cans and crisp packets.

 

[PeteXXX]

I would think it's best to report rather than engage. Some people can get aggressive if confronted.

A bike camera would be useful proof, as would noting the name of the company if its on the vehicle.

 

[Venod]

Would you say it's a socio-economic issue? i.e. people of certain backgrounds being more inclined to behave in a certain way.

When I commuted by bike I travelled through less salubrious neighbourhoods of Bradford and Leeds as well as the more affluent. It was always the former that were littered by takeaway boxes, soft drinks cans and crisp packets.

Sadly I think that there is an element of truth to this, but why that should be I don't know.
Everybody is educated not to drop litter (aren't they?) it doesn't seem to register with some people.

 

[Illaveago]

The fines and policing aren't strict enough.
Some of the lanes that I ride are full of litter . A lot of it comes from a nearby takeaway as the advertising clearly shows. It must be s regular route for some people .

 

[Blue Hills]

I agree some folk aren't fit to be out of a zoo cage.

Cycling in Catford, south east London once I saw the driver of a car in front chuck some junk out of the window. I pulled up alongside her at the lights and sweetly told her that I had seen something drop off the back of her car. Looked very concerned she did and thanked me profusely. Don't know if she twigged after she'd pulled over, had a good ferret and found nowt.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

https://www.bigissue.com/latest/env...lds-plastic-pollution-dominates-uk-coastline/

Seems the folks with (probably) rubbish diets are also to blame.

 

[Ridgeway]

Whilst sat at a service station on the M40 a couple of years back i saw the driver chucking his waste out of the window as he consumed his lunch. First a sandwich carton, then a crisp packet, then a PET bottle. All came out of his passenger window which was left down. I walked over and picked up the rubbish and lightly dropped it onto his passenger seat, he wasn't amused and he shouted something but i couldn't give a xxxxx

His car was about 5m away from a rubbish bin as well, i assume (hoped) that's where his rubbish eventually ended up.

 

[slowmotion]

Would you say it's a socio-economic issue? i.e. people of certain backgrounds being more inclined to behave in a certain way.

When I commuted by bike I travelled through less salubrious neighbourhoods of Bradford and Leeds as well as the more affluent. It was always the former that were littered by takeaway boxes, soft drinks cans and crisp packets.

I'm not sure it's anything to do with affluence. I was in a McD drivethru car park once and watched as a café racer hatchback (bucket sized exhausts etc) parked up with four noisy youths. They all chucked their cartons, cups and bags onto the tarmac after a few minutes and roared off. The next car was a brand new BMW with a well dressed couple and a kid in the back seat. Sure enough, all three chucked their rubbish onto the tarmac a foot from their windows. There was a litter bin that the driver could have reached without even fully extending his arm.

That's slightly depressing.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

A sad state of affairs
One bonus to the first COVID 'lockdowns' was that the streets were a lot cleaner

When my daughter was old enough to walk around with me, I'd not let her drop any packaging/fruit-cores/anything, & to hold onto it till she saw a litter-bin

A few times, she shouted "Daddy, why is that mister/lady/girl/boy, dropping their rubbish!"

Sometimes they'd look guilty & pick it up, other times, I'd tell her that their mummies/daddies didn't teach them to be tidy
(loud enough for them to hear)

She's 20 now, & she still carries something till she sees a bin!

 

[Badger_Boom]

I’ve never understood how it’s possible to be so mindbendingly lazy.

 

[KnittyNorah]

I’ve never understood how it’s possible to be so mindbendingly lazy.

It's not lazy - it's something far different from mere laziness. I'm lazy - very lazy. Always have been. But I don't litter - never have done, never could.
Seeing people litter always puzzles me - if the litterer were as lazy as me, they would surely realise that it is MORE effort to throw it out of the window than to drop it in the footwell of the back of the car and empty the car out at home. It is more effort - a lot more effort - to drive down remote country lanes and find a gateway in which to fly-tip, than it is to phone up the council and pay them a tenner to collect the rubbish.
I've come to the conclusion that it's something far worse than laziness - I think it 's showing very high levels of scorn, disdain and arrogance towards one's surroundings, one's fellow humans and the earth as a whole.

 

[DRHysted]

I’ve thought it was part of the “someone else will deal with that” nature that appears to be so common nowadays.

 

[Zimbob]

It annoys me beyond all reason, it's the deliberately wilful nature of littering that I find so despicable.
We wandered back from a charity fundraising coffee and cake type thing last weekend, this was our 'haul' in a little bit over a mile on a country lane :