New neighbour is throwing litter into the stream.

[Globalti]

The house next door has been sold and a large Asian family are doing it up before moving in. There is a brook that runs through the property. Yesterday I saw the Dad hand his drink can to the small child who threw it in the stream. Just nipped out early to look and sure enough there are already two cans and a plastic garden thing in there. There's rubbish everywhere and the recycling bin is empty.

This fills me with depression. I've already seen an Asian woman throwing bags of household rubbish into the canal. How do you educate people to deal with their litter properly?

 

[Freds Dad]

What relevance does it have that they are Asian?

 

[Deleted member 26715]

What relevance does it have that they are Asian?

SMH

 

[Levo-Lon]

What relevance does it have that they are Asian?

I wondered that too.. if your from a culture that does something it can take a bit of time to change a habit.

Hope this helps you understand the point @Globalti is making.

I hate littering , I'd ask parents to tell kids not to throw rubbish in the brook as you get a massive fine, that will do the trick


https://theaseanpost.com/article/southeast-asias-stream-polluted-rivers

 

[Drago]

I'd collect it up and chuck it back in their garden.

 

[sleuthey]

What relevance does it have that they are Asian?

It has the same relevance that they are new, Large, A family, Doing up the house and that the house is next door.

@Globalti was trying to set the scene for us.

 

[biggs682]

It's a tough one but got to be worth trying the knock at door from a distance and talk to them before any other action is taken , can you prove it's there rubbish ?

 

[Dec66]

It's a tough one but got to be worth trying the knock at door from a distance and talk to them before any other action is taken , can you prove it's there rubbish ?

I was about to say: "go and have a word with them".

Seems pretty straightforward, to be honest.

 

[biggs682]

I was about to say: "go and have a word with them".

Seems pretty straightforward, to be honest.

It's more annoying then anything else , but people do need educating and to take pride

 

[Globalti]

Wow, it wasn't long before the PC Police arrived was it? I thought long and hard about using the description. It's relevant because litter is a massive problem in developing countries and many times I've visited Lahore, from where this family originates and been shocked at the litter choking up the many canals in the Garden City.

So back to the subject, any suggestions on how to deal with this irritation and better, subtly educate our new neighbours and their children in keeping the area tidy?

 

[alicat]

it's a tricky one when the brook is on their land. I'd work with getting to know them and having some self-empathy for the pain that it is causing you.

 

[Globalti]

After crossing their land it flows in a culvert under our house so it could affect us. When the previous owners were putting food out for birds we began to see rats.

 

[alicat]

^^^ Get to know them and then tell them the impact it could have on you. Be careful not to conflate other issues (e.g. the bird food/rats) or it could come across that you're trying to control everything round you. I'm sure you're not but stick to the issue and the impact on you. Good luck.

 

[Freds Dad]

Wow, it wasn't long before the PC Police arrived was it? I thought long and hard about using the description. It's relevant because litter is a massive problem in developing countries and many times I've visited Lahore, from where this family originates and been shocked at the litter choking up the many canals in the Garden City.

So back to the subject, any suggestions on how to deal with this irritation and better, subtly educate our new neighbours and their children in keeping the area tidy?

Its not about the PC police its about whether you saying that they were Asian is relevant. Had it been a middle class white family would you have described them as such?

On dealing with the matter maybe an explanation about the dangers that blocking the stream may cause to the culvert under your house.

 

[Moodyman]

The fact that the OP described the family as Asian is very relevant. There's a common trait many Asians have. Their homes will be immaculate (no outdoor footwear worn indoors), but they regard anything outside their gates public wasteland.

It's a cultural thing and they most likely, won't view they're doing wrong.

We've got a similar problem in our area. It's a mixed community neighbourhood with above average income. Very green and leafy. But a handful of families (Asian) let it down. Crisp packets, cans of pop, fag packets, etc.

Another neighbour and I, both of us Asian and both in white collar professions (*), will periodically walk the street donning nitrile gloves picking up bits of rubbish and putting into plastic bags.

* In the Asian community somebody in a respectable profession is held in high esteem. So, to see them picking up street rubbish is seen as beneath them. Hence, the intention is that when our neighbours see this, they think that discarding rubbish must be a bad thing. We think it must be working as we're picking up less and less as time goes on.