Rubbish thrown from cars

[gary r]

It doesn't help when you see pro cyclists on the big stage tours chucking bottles and gel wrappers into the roadside. I see quite a lot of discarded gel wrappers and they can only of been chucked by cyclists so we need to look at ourselves before pointinng our fingers at others.

most bottles are picked up by spectators,but i agree,ive cycled in the alps and the roadside is littered with discarded jel wrappers etc.i would never discard rubbish by the road side,so im quite happy pointing my finger at others

 

[PK99]

Generalising the point being made.

In early july my wife and i went up to the Soho theatre, walking across the millennium bridge and across the strand, past the big McDonalds, where we quite literally were ankle deep in discarded McD wrappers and containers.

A few weeks late we were in Boston, Cape Cod & Manhattan and all of us remarked from the very first day in Boston on the complete absence of litter on the streets.

It is not motorists who are the problem it is people in general and the slovenly lack of pride and social responsibility that infects the UK.

 

[Seigi]

The apple core throwers are essentially sanctioning the deposition of similar items in their own gardens by total strangers. After all it's feeding the fauna that share the spaceso it must be good all round. Or is it a 'not in my back yard' situation?

Well we have a compost bin which everything goes into if that counts? I've also seen my parents throwing apple cores into bushes in our garden or throwing them on the ground; granted we have a lot of birds which come to our garden which gnaw on it and it disappears in no time.

 

[swee'pea99]

I have no qualms about chucking an apple core into the undergrowth - nor would I worry about a passerby dropping one into my hedge. To equate that with dropping plastic or cans is just silly. One is inoffensive, and will be gone soon; the other is an eyesore with a half life of 600 years.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

[quote name='swee'pea99' timestamp='1315221838' post='1826985']
I have no qualms about chucking an apple core into the undergrowth - nor would I worry about a passerby dropping one into my hedge. To equate that with dropping plastic or cans is just silly. One is inoffensive, and will be gone soon; the other is an eyesore with a half life of 600 years.
[/quote]

 

[MontyVeda]

there's a big difference between dropping a banana skin in a hedge and leaving it on the top of a mountain... a; not enough acid in the soil on mountains which means things don't really biodegrade and b; banana skins are the most slippery thing known to man and pose a significant hazard on mountains.

Fag ends annoy me too, especially outside pubs. In these cases I feel it's up to the landlord to make sure the pavements are swept at closing time and failure to do so should mean the landlord gets fined for not tidying up.

 

[Globalti]

banana skins are the most slippery thing known to man and pose a significant hazard on mountains.

Are you for real? I carried my mountain bike up a 3000ft mountain yesterday and rode it 28 miles off and round a lake but didn't skid on a single banana skin. However I did bash my knee painfully when my SPD cleat skidded on a rock, my ankle bone got smacked with a pedal a couple of times, I went over the bars when my front wheel washed out in a gully and I got three nasty lacerations of my upper arm from a bramble.

Not a single banana related accident though.

 

[Lucheni]

I don't like littering either but I find it's very difficult to get people to stop doing it. I went hiking and camping with a few friends a couple of years back and we shared all the kit out amongst ourselves. When we left, my three friends fully intended to leave all our rubbish behind in a black bag. I tried to explain that wasn't right with the selfish viewpoint of "how would you like it if we'd turned up here last night and somebody else had dumped their rubbish here?" but I still ended up carrying every scrap of rubbish back to civilisation by myself.

I don't really mind edible rubbish being left in countryside hedges but the amount of people who do this around the park in town is astonishing. They don't seem to realise that they're encouraging rats and seagulls to lurk around the kids play area. There are signs all over a nearby town stating "Please don't feed the seagulls" because they've gotten quite aggressive yet people still leave food lying around.

Some of the worst littering due to laziness I've ever witnessed was from a family who'd driven to McDonald's, parked up near the beach and ate their meal while admiring the gorgeous view. They then placed all their rubbish beside their car and drove off. There was a massive wheelie bin not ten feet away, thoughtfully provided by the council.

Another thing that seems to be getting worse is people being reluctant to pick up someone else's rubbish. An example from this morning, I had coffee with my mum and her friends. The wind blew our some of our rubbish off the table and my mum's friend leapt after it. A few moments later somebody else's receipt whipped across and landed almost at my feet. I reached down to pick it up and the same friend said, "That's not one of ours. Leave it." Even if it's original owner was inclined to chase her receipt, it wasn't likely that she'd catch it. It was inches away from us, no hassle at all to pick it up. I don't understand that attitude.

 

[DiddlyDodds]

Not at me, on the floor, these exuses for human beings that think it's ok to litter, apple cores, mc donalds meals, fag butts you name it. If I get one on camera who can it be sent to?. Anyone else seen rubbish thrown from cars?, it's disgusting just like irresponsible dog owners who don't clean up their dog mess.



I agree its a disgrace , sadly whilst doing the Manchester 100 yesterday i lost count of the number of discarded gel/energy bar wrappers in the road, so goes to show its not just car drivers.

 

[GordonB]

Many years ago I toured Brittany and was appalled at the state of the verges and road edges, particularly the amount of glass from broken wine bottles that slashed two of my tyres to bits. However, I was fortunate to avoid the experience of a guy we chatted to one day. He'd been riding along what we would regard as a A road when he was struck on the back of the neck by a fresh, still warm, fully loaded disposable nappy lobbed out of the passenger side of the car that had just passed him. Judging by my own experience of the same road the following day this was not an intentional aimed shot but a common practice in France at that time.

My holiday last year in Denmark showed just how filthy this ruddy country is, over there finding a scrap of roadside litter anywhere would be a major event.

Gordon

 

[Globalti]

I remember riding in Spain and being appalled at the rubbish; it's not just paper there - every layby seemed to be full of old washing machines and domestic waste and there seemed to be a baby's nappy every kilometre. This country is clean by comparison.

The whole of the Middle East is slowly disappearing under those thin plastic bags that shopkeepers use for bread. This is typical:

 

[Parrot of Doom]

I must admit to being confused as to why some people consider apple cores and banana skins to be litter. They're utterly harmless. In fact, faced with either long grass or a bin, I'll take the long grass every time.

I consider manicured lawns and potted flowers more of a visual problem than a few apple cores.

 

[dellzeqq]

It still doesn't justify the slovenly behaviour. It's just plain wrong.

is it better to throw an apple core, orange peel or half eaten doughnut in to a hedge, or put it in a bin where it will go in to landfill?

 

[Angelfishsolo]

is it better to throw an apple core, orange peel or half eaten doughnut in to a hedge, or put it in a bin where it will go in to landfill?

To me the hedge is the better option. It will feed creatures that live in and around the hedge.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Apple cores yes, orange skin / banana skin probably no, both take too long to rot away and are not a source of food for wild birds / animals.

Even with the fast food stuff, the food itself is not a problem, even fish and chip paper is not the end of the world as it will quickly disappear, but anyone discarding plastic carriers should be immediately executed, no trial or anything just simply shot in the head and the body left as carrion.

One thing really annoys me is these balloons on strings they sell on seaside promenades, they invariably get blown out to sea where they can be mistaken for jellyfish by various marine life, they eventually get stuck in the gut and kill the unfortunate animal. I have read reports of basking sharks found dead with 20 - 30 carrier bags stuck in their gut.

Birds will happily eat Orange Peel and slugs will eat banana peel.