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I came across this piece about litter in Britain on Euronews (my favourite source), and it just reinforces in me a sense of social/political helplessness. I know we rant enough about the current government on here, but I cannot remember a time in my life that I have known a more corrupt bunch of scumbags in power, and frankly, it really is cultivating despair.
The litter is everywhere. We are literally swimming in shit. Our grocery stores are struggling for stock. Inflation is greater than anywhere else in the West. We are seeing a re-emergence of ultra-right groups, and they are actually getting airtime.
There just seems to be so much wrong with our country right now - I mean really and tangibly wrong (NOT just that there are people in power who hold different opinions to me!) - it's hard to know where to start. I try to raise my kids right, so that we don't contribute to the disorder ourselves, but honestly...
How do the rest of you perceive things right now, and how have you determined to live with it all/fight back/make it through?
Litter doesn't make me feel helpless it makes me angry at the thoughtless, careless ****s who give so little ****s about where they live.
One can exercise a little social responsibility irrespective of which ****less pricks are in charge. Selfishness is a choice.
I find this is the only way to make it through life sometimes.
See also Coveys Circles.
After watching the recent programmes on TV about the state of our rivers, then the future of the UK’s environment is looking bleak but yes, littering really makes me angry and somewhat helpless.
If it’s ok to pollute our rivers with raw sewage in the 21st century then I despair at our authorities for allowing this.
Fly tipping. If you're caught you are sentenced to clear fly tipping up for a month.
But yeah I agree this country is a litter and dog shit blighted self entitled shithole - if it wasn't for aged parents we'd have left. My brother lives in a nice suburb of Sydney Australia and sister in law is moving to Prague in a few weeks.
Fly tipping. If you’re caught you are sentenced to clear fly tipping up for a month.
Personally I'd simply throw them alive into the back of a dustcart.
NOT just that there are people in power who hold different opinions to me!
Indeed - but I do think that some of the people in power are behaving in ways that enable people without power to say "they do what they like, so I will too", which then becomes "I'll be antisocial to prove that I can do what I like"
Indeed – but I do think that some of the people in power are behaving in ways that enable people without power to say “they do what they like, so I will too”, which then becomes “I’ll be antisocial to prove that I can do what I like”
The people you describe are ****s irrespective of who's in power.
“I’ll be antisocial to prove that I can do what I like”
While loudly claiming not to care what anyone thinks of them... and then claiming it "genuinely baffles me" when people take offence to the ignorant stream of shit that pours from their mouths which they expect everyone to listen to.
Unfortunately work with one of them. 3/4 of the time I just ignore it but every so often... No prizes for guessing what came forth on International Womens Day. #bantz #justajoke.
Litter is so depressing in this country, it really is a dump and only getting worse. I don't know how it gets better from here either. No responsibility, no ownership of the issue. About time the polluter pays principle was enforced and a task force was funded by any single use packaging company with >£100.000 turnover.
Or something.
Engines running in stationary vehicles. The decline in social responsibility and diminishing social capital comes from the top with the culture of hyper-individualism, grab what you can and the rules-don't apply-to-me as with Partygate and the abuse of parliamentary credit cards and expense claims.
Dog shit everywhere around here. Really pisses me off.
Get a bin bag or bucket and pick up the litter in your locale. Take it away and keep taking it away. Stop it being normal to see. Sweat the small stuff. Plant flowers. Plant trees. It’s really rewarding after you get over the fear of being told off for planting something nice.
The litter is everywhere.
...
There just seems to be so much wrong with our country right now
This isn't new.
When I was a kid there was a "keep Britain tidy" campaign. It would be easy - and probably correct - to argue that when the campaign died out littering got worse. But really it begs the question as to why it was necessary in the first place.
We're filthy animals. It's easy for people to think "it's only just..." one crisp packet, fag end or dog egg. But that comes apart when it's on a national scale. And it is just us. If you go to, say, France then aside from dank city centres the place is immaculate. You won't find a cigarette butt or chocolate wrapper in a roadside gutter in rural France.
What depresses me more is displays of collective ****tery such as in the comments below SaxonRider's linked article
Have to admit I gain a lot of satisfaction and generalised smugness from picking up litter... Sometimes when I feel like I should be doing something productive, and I'm obviously failing at that, I'll just find enough motivation to go for a walk with my grabby stick and a bag, always feels better when I get back
The country is in a shit state. A significant few are spoiling it for the many in lots of areas.
As for litter - I pick it up. I clear our lane 4-5 times a year and always get at least 2 bin bags full. If everyone picked up a bit, then more people would be happy to confront selfish litter ****s. Allowing people to get away with it disappoints me.
Clean up Australia Day is a pretty good idea. It mobilises thousands of people to get up and do something about it, even if just for a day a year.
Dog shit everywhere around here. Really pisses me off.
My dog has a solution for this. Last week I wasn't paying attention* and she shat through a railing down a 5 footwall into a totally inaccessible bit of waste land.
*I mean I wasn't letting her do what she wants, she likes to back up to things at ring height and shit onto them** I just hadn't noticed she put her arse through the railings.
** Balancing a turd on the bottom rail of a railing was a highlight.
I think a week-long campaign of snipers taking out any antisocial behaviour without further discussion followed by sporadic and unannounced repeat operations would improve things greatly.
It's hopeless.
Two weeks ago I was cycling over the moors above Calderdale when I got cut up by a car at a section where the road narrowed briefly. I caught them parked overlooking Warley Moor Reservoir and stopped for a (polite) word. They had parked to enjoy the view - literally facing a flytip zone, a big pile of waste right in front of their bonnet.
After suggesting they wait five seconds in the future rather than making a dodgy overtake manoeuvre, I made a sweeping gesture with my hand, saying 'Anyway, I'll leave you to enjoy this magnificent view.'
They were just bewildered. People don't see it.
On the basis of all the circles above, my three methods are a) I try to teach my own children not to behave like that b) I will / have called out people throwing litter albeit these days you have to be cautious of not being stabbed and c) we get 2 extra days of leave at work for social volunteer work which can be wisely used.
Yes, it often feels like swimming against a tide of ocean plastics and dumped sofas but as per Bensales you cannot control everyone else.
Civic pride in Rawtenstall have transformed the town.
Is there an equivalent in your area? Or could you start one?
This morning's walk
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In the area I live I reckon one of two people are responsible for 90% of the litter. I sometimes clear a section of grass verge. In one bag of 43 cans 38 of them were Bud light! It's also concerning that there's a reasonable chance they are dropped by a driver.
Car culture is a lot of it. The amount of litter I see on road verges is depressing and all comes from motorists.
**** cars.
I’m organising a litter pick with my cub pack
In the grand scheme of things it’s nothing (and won’t fix the bonkers amount on roadside verges) but at least it’s something.
That's not nothing. If nowt else it might encourage them not to contribute to the problem.
Feel the OP's pain. Its utterly grim, especially on my lunchtime road route (A77, south of Glasgow)...also driving along the M74 last week near Larkhall I couldn't believe the amount of litter on the verge for a good mile or 2, never seen anything like it. Everything feels relentlessly negative at the moment...
On a positive note though I actually caught a female fly tipping last year (just off the A77) - photographed her, shouted some obscenities at her and reported her to the LA - hoping they fined the absolute horror, there's a tip literally 5mins up the road from where I caught her!
We have a local group that litter picks the village 1st Saturday of every month. I try to make it along and take the kids, who enjoy it. Especially the post litter pick biscuits.
The litter is annoying but I find it fairly relaxing just wandering about picking it up for a bit. It makes the place a bit nicer, encourages others to get involved, educate the kids and is fairly social.
When you have someone like Therese Coffey 'in charge' of the environment its no surprise that there is rubbish everywhere, raw sewage in the seas and rivers and polution levels way above 'dangerous' in residential areas and the country just generally looking like its a total sh*t tip.
Why give the job to someone who in the past has shown little but contempt for environmental issues?
litter is not the politicians fault, its morons. i'd like to see punitive punishments for littering. Its completely unnecessary and avoidable. £1000 for throwing litter out of a car window, 2nd offence crush the car. That might wake people up. i don't really see a downside, who would object to that apart from littering scumbags?
I did a ROTW trip in the early noughties. Indonesia was a particularly littered up place, India and Sri Lanka also bad. Mainly I think because they do not (or did not) have national or local govt systems to deal with waste. When I arrived back in Heathrow, just driving back to Crawley made me realise how our litter issues are caused by a minority of arseholes. Most people are good, take the positive of that and don't give up fighting to educate others.
Most people are good, take the positive of that and don’t give up fighting to educate others.
+1 our local litter volunteers group was started by a 14yo 👍
https://aylesburywombles.co.uk/
I did a litter pick in our village a couple of years ago, organised by a local councillor (Tory, as it happens - they’re not all bad 😅). Although only a couple of people plus local councillors turned up, it was actually a fun way to spend an hour or two and I ended up having a great chat with our councillor about rooftop solar, electric vehicles and local cycle path provision.
As a result of this thread and a recent video from Dean of 1bike1world, I just ordered a litter picker and bag holder to keep in my pack when out riding with my wife. Litter picking has been shown to be good for mental health.
When Snake Pass was closed last year due to landslides, a group from the local cycle club did sporadic litter picks along it. It's a narrow and fast road, no pavements so it's not something that can easily be done when the road is open
[url= https://www.google.com/maps/@53.402762,-1.8122054,3a,75y,294.64h,74.41t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1siQvN8Aln3DJskP5xjBkGGQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 ]Example Streetview[/url]
Those verges are FULL of litter chucked from cars and also bits of cars - hubcaps, bits of bumper or headlight, that kind of thing. The vast majority is fast food packaging, takeaway coffee cups, bottles, crisp wrappers and the like. The local club picked up dozens of bin bags full. The layby down the bottom was packed with bin bags 5 or 6 high waiting for the council to take them away. Must have been 60 bags easy and that wasn't even half of the litter, the higher stretches and more inaccessible bits had to be left.
Look down the verge of any A-road though, as soon as you start to see it you can't un-see it. Road, verge, unending line of filthy litter, trees. Every single road.
Trouble is you don't see the litter that people do not throw in the hedgerows. It's bad round here but I'm sure 99% of people take rubbish home, put it in bins etc. It doesn't take a lot of rubbish to make the place look a mess. As above I think there are a small core of people who just don't care and I think it's mostly chucked out of passing cars (we are obviously the perfect distance from Maccies to finish your food and chuck the rubbish out the window).
We are due to do a litter pick on Saturday so will be in smug mode, at least until I see the next bit of litter where I cleared!!!!
If the hedgerows are clear of litter perhaps a few more people will do the right thing?
Lots of litter blows in as well, on bin day our street litter goes up hugely just because stuff gets blown around. As I said, most people use bins. I do not think I have seen a person chuck litter for 20 years.
My dog has a solution for this. Last week I wasn’t paying attention* and she shat through a railing down a 5 footwall into a totally inaccessible bit of waste land.
*I mean I wasn’t letting her do what she wants, she likes to back up to things at ring height and shit onto them** I just hadn’t noticed she put her arse through the railings.
** Balancing a turd on the bottom rail of a railing was a highlight.
@joshvegas another one! My greyhound likes to either shit in spikey bushes or on small walls. Always makes cleanup fun.
It was the WI who started the 'Keep Britain tidy' campaign. It really worked, maybe it's time to start up again.
I heard that the 'Wombles' are making a comeback. Hopefully this will prevent the younger generation from dropping their litter.
Our 2 local canals are a floating bin and once some warmer weather arrives I'll be out litter picking from our canoe. It's shameful that our waterways are full of rubbish which ends up in the sea. Unless one is a troglodyte, then you can't help but know that our seas, rivers and waterways are in trouble from tons of plastic pollution.
Won't someone think of the Seal pups and baby robins.
The other week I witnessed a car parked up at 6pm on a high street, passenger door opens, litter just tossed out the door. I picked up all the litter, opened the door, chucked it all back in and shut the door. The young woman, I wouldn't call her a lady, opened the door and gave me a mouthful of abuse but I was already well on my way by then. With hindsight it wasn't the best thing I could've done but it felt good in the moment. I just don't get the mentality and I doubt I could've had a reasonable conversation with her either. I bet the car gets washed at least once a week and hoovered etc, some people care more about possessions than the environment.
It doesn’t take a lot of rubbish to make the place look a mess.
It doesn’t take a lot of rubbish to make everyone else think "oh, it's just one more coffee cup / cigarette butt."
With hindsight it wasn’t the best thing I could’ve done
Oh, it really was. 😁
I think this thread proves that plenty of people care about their local and global environment. I was at the mast at Glentress a couple of months ago and noticed a lot of litter. I started to pick it up, a couple of other riders arrived and did the same. Do what you can, when you can. I did observe that the majority of litter I collected was empty energy cans which lead to the conclusion that we don't need a sugar tax but a ****er tax might be beneficial.