You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Since the pandemic I've noticed places look a lot tattier than they used to. Weeds everywhere, things left overgrown and maintenance that used to be done isn't getting done.
Reminds of those twelvty billion trillion megapixel images of European cites that were all the rage. I looked around the one of Bucharest and what struck me was when you looked past the well maintained facades, the back portions of buildings were crumbling and not maintained to same standard. Anywhere off a main street was riddled with weeds sprouting out of every nook and cranny. Seems we are heading in the same direction.
Weeds everywhere
This isn't a bad thing. Nature is great.
Depends on the strain.
It's urban wildlife enhancement initiatives.. or something like that.
Our local church does a similar spin.. the grass is chest high in the graveyard because it provides food for the bats.. forget that you can't actually see the gravestones.. there's maybe some extra long grass and weeds diversity ?
I only go to the UK every few years and I do notice things looking less well maintained. Reminds me of being on holiday in Italy in the 90s - crumbly.
Road signs that are obscured by bushes, etc or are just dilapidated. Maybe nobody uses them anymore anyway as the GPS tells you where to turn anyway.
Our local church does a similar spin.. the grass is chest high in the graveyard because it provides food for the bats.. forget that you can’t actually see the gravestones...
How many of those graves actually get regular visitors though…? Ever visited Highgate Cemetery in London?
All the same area, guess which bits get the visitors…
Personally, I love the way it’s being allowed to get overgrown, this half is fully accessible by the public, the rest, on the other side of the road, is only accessible by appointment on a guided tour - probably because it would be easy to get lost, from what I could see through the gate.
Not everywhere is tatty! Rawtenstall's civic pride continues to make my town a great place.
Not everywhere is tatty!
Obviously there are plenty of manicured parks and events for public consumption. Not all are equal though.
Edit: We are not talking rewilding either.
Councils have entire teams of people whose job it is to find things they do, that they're not required to by law, so they can stop spending money doing it.
Road signs that are obscured by bushes, etc or are just dilapidated. Maybe nobody uses them anymore anyway as the GPS tells you where to turn anyway.
I noticed this when I was there in May
Councils have entire teams of people whose job it is to find things they do, that they’re not required to by law, so they can stop spending money doing it.
I entirely believe you, but I’m surprised that obscured road signs are legal
Thats something i noticed and commented on many years ago. There was a story of the Washington monument, and i noticed there were weeds growing about the place and it all looked a bit unkempt.
I think at the time i made a comparison that its the first sign of the empire crumbling, when they fail to look after their monuments and architecture, as in theres less money being put into maintenance
Have it manicured and boring roll out the AstroTurf and concrete over everything but nature will suffer.
Maybe you should get a life or do something positive to help nature. Why should everything be neat and tidy?
Grrr.
Since the pandemic I’ve noticed places look a lot tattier than they used to. Weeds everywhere, things left overgrown and maintenance that used to be done isn’t getting done.
It's the litter that gets me. Everywhere is riddled with litter - once you actually look around to specifically notice it you can't unsee it. Roadside verges are particularly bad. You look around other European cities and they're clean! Nowhere else I've been to has anything like the litter problem that the UK suffers from.
Maintenance and cleaning comes from revenue funding (as opposed to "build shiny new thing" which comes from capital funding) and one of the main results of austerity was a complete cliff edge of revenue funding. We can afford to build shiny new things but not to then maintain them, so within a couple of years whatever has been built (usually to the lowest cost possible) begins crumbling, there's weeds and litter, it all looks a bit rundown and that's a catalyst for crime and antisocial behaviour which feeds into a cycle of decline.
The worst seem to be the the small, washed up, seaside towns! very depressing looking at how dishevelled they now look. Very poor maintenance now in the UK, most road drains a full of sediment and not working, litter everywhere and many places in desperate need of a paint and some TLC. Yes, the UK looks and is now very backwards when compared to Germany, France, Spain, Portugal etc. Councils don't really have maintenance teams as such anymore, it's all contracted out to private companies, meaning the money does not go far.
Welcome to Austerity Britain.
Its all efficiency cuts.
Government has removed the funding, they’ve sold off all the assets that they can, they’ve run out of reserves and whats left gets concentrated on what is legally required to be provided (and in many instances not even that can be delivered hence why at least 6 Councils in England are on the verge of bankruptcy).
HTH
A lot of the weed spraying was cut because of the silliness around Glyphosate which gave council's and excuse to stop controlling the weeds. Trouble is it does come back to bite then when the weeds rip the tarmac up and drains get blocked.
As above keeping the place tidy is not a statutory requirment for councils, the bast majority of there money is spent on a small but growing number of people who need help to function, the old fashioned services the rest of use like highways, parks, bin collections, librairies, leisure facilities etc. just get squeezed.
RON is right, Rawtenstall has a fantastic volunteer group keeping the town looking spectacular, the council have had the sense to provide money for plants etc. And get a lot of committed labour for free. Bacup at the other end of the vally also has a good civic pride group which considering its demographic shows theres good people everywhere.
As a country we are also good at finding lots of money pet projects but then never consider the on going maintenance. Trail centres are a good example.
I agree that there are issues around litter, agree that some of the lack of maintenance seems pretty important (obscured road signs, public buildings all have leaky gutters etc etc). Also issues of graffiti, but then a lot of feeling run down is due to a combination of lack of money and damage/vandalism by a few numpties.
But I've no problem with longer grass, more tees and shrubs etc.
Our council and BEAR on the A9 are now just mowing a wee strip alongside a road, saving a fortune in grass mowing.
One of the things I dislike about public services culture in the UK is the amount of 'notices' stuck all over doors, windows, walls. Our doctor a few years ago decided to do away with them and put them all on one noticeboard - and lovely art and photos all around the surgery. It just feels really nice.
Like others, we've a brilliant Development Trust
https://dunblanedevelopmenttrust.com/what-we-do/environment/
First time in the UK in seven years this Summer.
Weeds don't bother me, there are more everywhere due to the reduction in the use of Roundup. However I was surprised by the number of houses with grass in the gutters. No litter in Devon, south Brum or rural Leicestershire.
The people were less hostile both on the roads and in person than during our last visit. Some were friendly and helpful - and interested.
The housing stock looked surprisingly run down given the exhorbitant prices. Half a million £ houses with cracks and in need of repointing. There were exceptions which looked well-maintained, new heat pump and EV socket, but on the whole they hadn't been touched in seven years.
Traffic worse than ever, very few bikes or people on foot. We walked a mile through through the Brum suburbs to the shopping street and didn't see another pedestrian before ALDI car park. It seems people only walk anywhere if they have a dog.
I reckon the average Brit has put on 500gm every year since I left in 1987. We had the impression of big cars and big people.
Next stop was Amsterdam - the big difference was visible people. We stayed in the suburbs and people were out and about on bikes, cafés had a terrace. Many of the houses were scruffy despite even higher prices than the UK.
Then Berlin. Berlin in Summer feels more like Spain with people living outside, a really nice atmosphere. Scruffy, dirty, litter, but a great place to be.
And home to SW France. Green as in the colour. People have plants and trees in front of their houses rather than block paving. Brum in particular felt very mineral in comparison. No two houses are the same here which I prefer, there's some litter which I pick up, some houses are scruffy, people are more visible, lots of weeds. And there's a lot to do - good swimming pools and sports facilities, free concerts in the park most nights in July, clubs organising walks, runs and rides with posters on lamposts.
“And as things fell apart, nobody paid much attention…”
I've no issue with letting vegetation and wild flowers grow unhindered in a lot of places. Older buildings too - often have more character if they are a bit crinkled around the edges like a well-thumbed book. So long as they're not dangerous.
What does look shit, though, is post WW2 construction, largely concrete, which has been allowed to stain and crumble and be covered in graffiti. In this regard, Britain's towns and cities are now probably below the average standard in all of Europe.
But this is the frog being boiled. If you step back and look, there are things that would be perceived 20 years ago as "needing sorting" but are now just left. Missing ceiling tiles, cracked windows, wobbly paving slabs, potholed roads etc. The country is manifestly poorer than it was 20 years ago - largely due to austerity and Brexit. The effects were never going to be visible overnight, but they are obvious if you take a longer view.
And there’s a lot to do – good swimming pools and sports facilities, free concerts in the park most nights in July, clubs organising walks, runs and rides with posters on lamposts.
I think a lot of that is related to the climate though.
If the UK had a comparable climate I think it would be a quite different place. It's risky putting on outdoor events when you know there's a decent chance it could be raining!
Plus, everywhere looks worse when the sky is grey and rainy.
Maybe I am wrong but I think part of the problem is possibly a sense of loss of community and pride following years of politicking and finger pointing from government. People seemed to be more keen to tidy up in front of their houses and the surrounding area but it now often seems like there's an attitude of 'well, it's not my job, somebody else will do it'. Its seems to be a fairly common attitude that it's ok to just chuck things on the floor rather than find a bin or take it home. A lot of car drivers, for example, seem to think that it's ok to just open the window and drop fag ends, empty cans and crap. 'Why should I give a shit when politicians obviously don't?' It's a downward spiral. And it's ****ing depressing.
Well do something about it.
Litter pick.
Collect all the Macdonalds or KFC crap from the area round their drive through and give it back to them.
Action speaks louder than words, stop complaining from the drivers seat of your range rover.
Get out and improve something.
Half a million £ houses with cracks and in need of repointing.
Try getting someone to do repointing! Trades are still a nightmare to get hold of and “little” jobs like that seem to be the worst to get people to do.
Traffic worse than ever, very few bikes or people on foot
Time it right / wrong on my commute into London and you’re pretty much in a peloton of proper cyclists, nodders and ebikers all the way in.
You can see it everywhere you go in the world if you want to look for it. Just because the touristica parts of large European cities are nice and neat - Central London is equally as pretty, get out to the suburbs and there' graffiti weeds and litter all over the place, and TBH I know a couple of profs at Manchester who've had a good 30 year career looking at pretty much exactly the same stuff left behind a few thousand years ago by the slobs of Pre and Roman Britain.
Agree MrSparkle - there is a lot of that.
Well do something about it.
Litter pick.
Collect all the Macdonalds or KFC crap from the area round their drive through and give it back to them.
Action speaks louder than words, stop complaining from the drivers seat of your range rover.
Get out and improve something.
I'm not sure if that's aimed at me or not but I do. I litter pick in our local area. Also, I don't have a car. let alone a Range Rover. I cycle or take the bus.
Well do something about it.
Litter pick.
Collect all the Macdonalds or KFC crap from the area round their drive through and give it back to them.
Action speaks louder than words, stop complaining from the drivers seat of your range rover.
Get out and improve something.
Discussions like these are always the same - very few people actually go and do something about it. My thread is pretty much a lone voice nowadays.
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/spring-clean/
I completely agree with mattoutandabout.
The litter is dreadful (mostly thrown from passing vehicles), worse than ever. Dog owners throwing their dog mess bags along the canal, pavements and even in built up areas, school children on holiday discarding cans, sweet wrappers and crisp packets.
But we do need the weeds, possibly not growing out of chimneys, gutters or from other parts of buildings. Our neighbour pulled up some poppies the other day, arrggh.
But on the good side there's a window cleaner in our area, who goes from sign post to sign post cleaning them, taking off the moss and trimming around. I've done the odd litter pick and will do some more when I can.
It's a fine line between allowing nature in, letting weeds and wild things grow, to keeping a place looking neat and tidy. This can be done but I think we can all play our part.
It’s the litter that gets me. Everywhere is riddled with litter – once you actually look around to specifically notice it you can’t unsee it. Roadside verges are particularly bad. You look around other European cities and they’re clean! Nowhere else I’ve been to has anything like the litter problem that the UK suffers from.
Look around you at the average Brit, they're the ones littering - lazy ****s!
It's a shame that people equate plants growing with tatty. Always makes me a bit sad when people mow roadside verges to neat lawns. What is the point of that? We've recently been working on a project in Ireland. There is a strong tradition of keeping your property neat. Anybody not mowing the lawn and keeping hedges manicured will get grief from the neighbours. We've been encouraging kids to nag parents and grandparents into keeping an area wild. You need a "area kept wild to help wildlife" sign to keep the neighbours at bay.
Litter on the other hand is a menace to all. No excuse for that. Just been out and it's bin day, bin contents everywhere. I wouldn't say I do my bit but do have a couple of areas locally that I try to tidy. Little and often as any rubbish just attracts more.
I've been recently 'trimming' a plant that's completely overgrown the path on my commute - covers the whole path and people have to push through it or go on the road. But, the council, after at least 2 years have been and trimmed it right back.
PS the wet summer hasn't helped with the extensive plant growth.
There is a field behind our house. When we moved in, nearly 30 years ago, it was a manicured football field for the local school - which is about 3 minutes walk away. The field was originally donated to the community from Crown Wallpaper, when they had a factory their (all gone).
As the school has used it less, it's been allowed to wild over, with just a 'cut' path around the perimeter for people to walk dogs. The rest is just a wild meadow. It's great for us as there has been a significant growth of trees and blackberry bushes behind our property.
Councils have entire teams of people whose job it is to find things they do, that they’re not required to by law, so they can stop spending money doing it.
Actual Councillor here, this year in my district we had to find £2.5 million of savings, almost entirely due to government cuts, council tax caps and inflation.
We legally cannot submit a budget that isn't balanced and the majority of the money we spend are on statutory services that we legally have to provide (bin collections etc) we basically had 2 options.
A: Cut everything non-mandated to the bone and jack up fees for everything where we can, using that funding to try to keep popular major local facilities open so they can survive long enough to see a return of sensible government funding and we don't lose them for good.
B: Go pop, which is considerably worse for everyone and will mean we do lose all those facilities.
I can assure you none of my colleagues (well, maybe the Tories) stood for election because they wanted to see public services get worse and things get tattier but there... is... no.... money. It's all been spent on Brexit and dodgy PPE.
public services culture in the UK is the amount of ‘notices’ stuck all over doors, windows, walls
Yup, because when we don't over communicate in this manner we get furious 'you didn't tell me you were going to do 'x'!!' type letters.
Even when we do stick notices up everywhere, put out press releases, mention things in our regular newsletters have all the info online etc we still get these objections but at least this way council officers can point out that here was was a physical notice up there for a regulation period.
It's CYA behavior but entirely driven by some people's tendency to have only two settings; Total Obliviousness and OUTRAGE!
Plenty speed limit and other ‘safety critical’ road signs and dangerous junction sight lines obscured by foliage.
Many town and city centres are starting to look a bit like 28 Days Later.
I don't mind certain green spaces being left to nature, but I don't think highstreets should have weeds growing from the cracks in pavements, edges of buildings, rooftops etc.
I also don't see road sweepers and litter pickers out as much as I used to.
Thing is, without Roundup keeping weeds down is very labour intensive. A month of holiday and it took two of us an hours to weed our drive and the pavement outside our house.
I also don’t see road sweepers and litter pickers out as much as I used to.
Which is a direct result of the 40% reduction in Local government funding in real terms over the last 10 years and legislation capping council tax rises at below the rate of inflation, making them real terms cuts.
Street cleaning is a statutory service, but if your council is short on money they will employ fewer people and each area gets swept/cleaned less frequently.
Agreed that there is a huge long term issue over local council funding - which is massively down. Hence mrs_oab losing her job and many other cuts to 'vital' services.
That said, I am intrigued why my local council who had to save £13m+ have a nice 24 plate cctv van with some gert big extending mast on it....?
Well do something about it.
Litter pick.
Collect all the Macdonalds or KFC crap from the area round their drive through and give it back to them.
Yeah I do. But I don't take it back as I'm not even sure where the nearest McDonalds is. We are miles from anywhere and I routinely fill a sack with McD packaging, energy drink cans and even - god help us - used nappies. People in Britain are just filthy pigs.
Yes, as others have said, it's the consequence of austerity governments. I have a sort of folorn shred of hope that the current lot won't be quite as vicious with it, but probably not really going by what they proudly trumpet to the press. I still genuinely hear multiple people (work/gym/other parents at school things, etc) say things like "well I'm not going to vote for anyone that costs me more money in tax" but this is the payoff, you end up with crumbling services and probably have to pay more for your car maintenance from potholes/need private healthcare and dentist because not enough NHS/have fewer kids social things so they're more likely to make trouble/see your local area gradually look more shitty etc etc etc.
That said, I am intrigued why my local council who had to save £13m+ have a nice 24 plate cctv van with some gert big extending mast on it….?
It'll almost certainly have come form some Community Policing / Public Safety fund via central Government. Part of the austerity thing was that instead of just giving councils a sum of money weighted by demographics / population etc, the Tories cut all that, packaged the money up into XXXX Fund and YYYY Fund etc and forced councils to apply for it. That way, when "struggling Labour council" applied for a sum of money designated for XXXX, you could award them about half of what they asked for as a "punishment". Sunak himself said how he'd managed to divert funding for those horrible northern towns into nice areas of Tonbridge Wells.
As well as austerity, you had judgement and punishment from the Government that was supposed to be helping. And then when everything really was in shit state, they announced a Levelling Up Fund!
Anyway, I digress - the van will have been paid for by some sort of Community Grant to cut crime - and since crime costs the council a lot of money to clean up (especially stuff like graffiti, littering, fly-tipping) and it's really bad for trying to sell houses or get car insurance, it's generally seen as a good thing to have prominent CCTV vans, speed cameras etc.
I'm willing to bet the council are actually saving money from having such an asset.
Unfortunetly there is no more money left.
After shelling out billions in not fit for purpose PPE, shipping companies with no ships, companies defrauding the country through the furlow system, multinationals underpaying tax, high speed rail links that only go 35% of the distance they were planned to do (also buying up large tracks of land in chesheire as well as homes), consultants fees at every turn, then aircraft carriers that raise in cost like bread dough.
After all that it will be up to the tax payer to pick up the tab and volunteer to clean up as well.
and the dog shit bins are full
disgraceful
Councils always skint but if they are all as bad as Fife council they paid 21 million sick leave in 20-21 went up the next year and it will be even higher now
Long term sick leave if you're in construction or work in a bike shop you have no chance, everyone gets stressed from time to time but can just take a wee paid holiday
You should see my home town Glastonbury. There are over 100 caravans in various stages of decay .The town has become a magnet for non travelling travellers to pitch up from all corners of the country with no intention of contributing to conventional society.The approach to the town from the West passes an old factory that shut in 1982 , instead of flattening it and starting from scratch millions have been spent on consultants and most of it is still there in various stages of decay . The car park resembles something off of Mad Max .
The local council are Green , they've just been given another £23 million from central government in a " town deal " Most of the schemes planned aren't for the benefit of people who were born and grew up there .One project is now on hold because of concerns over how the money is being spent.
Most of the problem is there isn't enough willingness from the townsfolk to stand for council and oust the Greens . So I guess you get what you deserve?
Makes me sad to see the state of the place but also glad I moved 3 miles down the road .
"My thread is pretty much a lone voice nowadays."
FWIW, view just done my litter picking patch. Usually take away garbage and energy drinks with a smattering of empty alcohol bottles.
"Councils always skint but if they are all as bad as Fife council they paid 21 million sick leave in 20-21 went up the next year and it will be even higher now"
Yeh, but they did eventually build a small wooden footbridge in Aberdour for 1/3 of a million pounds...
Isn't this the problem in Scotland, you elected the SNP who knew how to campaign for independence but not how to run services and get value for money.
They did seem quite adept at buying camper vans.
We are lucky round here, the parish council for our village pays someone to litter pick, the village where our Scout hut is located use it as a base for community litter picks every couple of months, another nearby village which attracts a lot of the weed smoking boy racers as its on the way through to a country park, the village pub runs clean ups with a free drink if you fill a sack of rubbish .
This years "rewilding" by the council has caused more complaints than any other issue, according to a councillor friend. Some junctions became really dangerous as they got so overgrown. No sympathy for parents complaining their kids couldn't play in open spaces because the grass was too long - best places to play I reckon.
But gutters and drains on the edge of roads piss me off when they are left. With more heavy rain and flash flooding looking like our future, they need to be kept clear, and lettings grow in the gutters increases the damage to tne road surface. I don't think the A6 between Belper and Cromford has seen a road sweeper in the 22 years we've lived here, need a digger to scrape off the crap that's accumulated.
As someone up thread mentioned there seems to be an attitude that someone else will come along to clear up your mess. My wife asked me had litter always been a problem in England after she returned from a trip to Vancouver which she thought was spotless. I remember the Keep Britain Tidy campaign and I'm certain it did have a positive impact at the time. I live next to the South Downs and the dog shit bags are so depressing. I can't fathom how people think it's ok to leave them instead of taking them to a bin or home. Curious to know if this is a peculiarly British problem.
I have a couple of hundred meters of frontage onto the road and I clean it once or twice a year. The amount of rubbish I collect is depressing really, however I think it's partly down to the rubbish trucks. You may not notice when it's on the road, but when ours is collected (recycling particularly) our drive, which is also long, is often strewn with rubbish after . I wonder how much the rubbish trucks dispense onto the verges.
My wife asked me had litter always been a problem in England after she returned from a trip to Vancouver which she thought was spotless.
You can walk about 3 minutes from Gastown - an immensely popular tourist attraction to East Hastings and see a slum running the entire length of the street, drug users selling their garbage diving crap in doorways.
Cambridge used to be a lovely well kept city but is now looking very tired. The parks were once beautiful but now have been re-wilded and look uncared for. Verges and gutters are all overgrown. It’s not only civic areas though, houses and gardens don’t seem cared for any more, possibly because many are rented and there is no investment in caring for them. Contrast it with Bury St. Edmunds just up the road which still has a beautiful park and seems generally tidier. I don’t know why, maybe it’s different pots of money being used differently.
This might be a bit of a blurry photo, but it shows GWR park in Swindon in 1919 or 1920. Lots of litter on the ground, probably paper so it wouldn't have been as bad as the current plastic waste, but it shows that it always been a problem. I think that dog muck on the pavements used to be worse in the 20th century than it is now, but we now seem to have more take-away rubbish..
We took the wrong route back into Vancouver via Gastown and drove through that area, what a contrast to the rest of Vancouver, what an eye -opener.
Spa circuit two weeks ago a few folk there to watch the GP and no litter to be seen all put in bags, staying in Maastricht just over the border in Holland again puts UK to shame as to how clean the streets were
‘Legal’ cannabis in the Netherlands, and barely a trace of litter (apart from the plastic drinks bottles in the canals). Go figure.
you’ll probably never ban alcohol, but at least you can try to mitigate the skank, inherent to floor polish (other brands of booze are available) by legalising skunk and weed.
as for dog mess, the canines locate toilet areas by use of smell.
when people let their dogs crap on the pavement, it gets washed away, so they have to find another random place to crap.
better for the councils to cordon off small parts of land to let dogs run and poop.
Keep it familiar for the dogs.
afaik, that’s how it’s done in nyc.
It would be nice if our local council would empty the bins frequently enough. They’re often overflowing. Surely that’s got to be worth sorting out rather than paying to clean it up later on.
I think lots of the issues are cultural. Litter - because so many people don't care. This then extends to keeping anything nearer or looking after your stuff. This then extends into corporate life - I'm moving my son out his staff accommodation at a national hotel this morning, and the place is an unmaintained mess (guests and staff). This extends to councils and companies charged with maintaining our public spaces and and the 'bare minimum' culture coupled with our oddball 'only qualified in one trade' approach to things.
It's something that's been growing for years
But I would still rather see so many more trees, shrubs, grass and flowers than the endless moon grass deserts we seem to love in the UK.
Depends where you live. Very little graffiti and close to zero litter here. Apart from a few teenagers nobody drops it and locals pick it up.All the council does is empty the bins.
Local roads have ongoing program of proper resurfacing. Not just patching or top dressing.
New £42m pool and sports center opened last year. Good local schools.
NHS dentists. Same day GP appointments when required.
30min taxi to airport. 1 hour drive to the southern edge of the Highlands.
Highest life expectancy in Scotland for males. Second highest for females
Some of the advantages are due to the relative prosperity of the area. On the other hand it costs nothing not to drop litter or to pick it up.
…that’s a catalyst for crime and antisocial behaviour which feeds into a cycle of decline
What’s the evidence for a causal link in that direction?
We can afford to build shiny new things but not to then maintain them
see ‘austerity’. Several folks have mentioned this. Also, maintenance isn’t the capitalist way. Just lots more ‘new and improved’.
The shift of lots of parks’ maintenance from teams of professionals from the council to bunches of volunteers is noticeable here. It has had some benefits - parks are more individual in appearance, more perennial planting seems to be there. And, more wildflowers.
General litter is something a few folks have commented on. Certainly, lots of folks seem to think it’ll just dissipate if they throw their trash on the street. For those of us who know better we can always pick some up and dispose of it properly.
don’t be too hasty to judge litterbugs though. I regularly walk in local parks. One morning I went in and saw litter all around the, fairly full, bins. I assumed it was folks too lazy to push the stuff down or too lazy to take it home. Wrong! A subsequent morning I saw a couple of magpies alternating in standing on the rim of the bin and dropping down into to it to throw rubbish out and pick over it for food. Fun! Though pesky that they did not tidy up after themselves.
We were in Ireland this summer, Kilkenny and Wicklow areas and it seemed like there was very little litter. There also seemed to be far fewer fast food outlets. I also noticed a few places which had lovely flower beds along road sides and roundabouts that were planted up with lots of flowers. I remember seeing signs at one beach, I think they asked you to pick up three pieces of litter, it's just a little thing but if lots of us do a little bit...
Welsh Boarders - a McDonalds opened in the local nearest town probably 7 miles away. Rubbish is now thrown out of car windows on our local roads.
We have a local green lane. Apparently the locals used to keep it all trimmed back and you could get a 4x4 down it, now you cant even walk down it.
The silly hedgerow cutting laws dont help, only certain times of the year you can cut hedgerows which means they all have to be done in the space of about 1 week.
Its also very very expensive to get people out these days to cut down tress etc. Our neighbours land is getting ridiculous, but they cant afford to get anyone to sort it out. They would also struggle to find someone to sort it out
Its crows in my local park that scavenged the bins. The bins have recently been changed to 'crow proof designs'.
Collected a bag this morning - I expected more because of the nice weather. Gives me something to do whilst Bert is sniffin'n'pissin
The one that pissed me off yesterday - riding up the main road from Hathersage to Sheffield, there was a load of domestic waste dumped in a layby. Maybe half a wheeliebin's worth. A couple of cardboad boxes, some carrier bags and some kind of kitchen appliance.
Someone had to load that into a vehicle, drive there (presumably at night), then unload it in the middle of a beauty spot before driving home again. Compared to just putting it in their bin at home. What goes through what passes for their minds? I mean, I'm generally anti- capital punishment, but will make exceptions...
(I can kind of understand fly-tipping commercial waste, as there's money to be made there. I hate it, and I'd gladly see the shards of broken toilet bowl inserted up the miscreants hoop; dry - but I can follow the logic that leads to the decision)
Rewilding. The idea of perfect alpine meadows full of flowers is great. What we actually end up with is scrubby unkempt monocultural grasslands, interspersed with Japanese Knotweed and Himalyan Balsam... We've done no-mow May/June on our grass/moss patch this last few years. It just looks a mess now, even when it does get cut. The jury is out...
Totally agree with you there. Our local clothing recycling bin seems to have morphed into a general dumping area for people too lazy to go to the tip and recycle stuff. There was a microwave dumped there last week along with loads of other crap. We walked by and noticed the microwave had gone, thought great, it will do someone a turn, only to notice a guy across the road with said microwave in his arms returning it to the dumping area as it obviously didn’t work! We will also get a random item just dumped anywhere on the estate. As for rewilding, great if done properly but it generally just looks a mess.
I went for a swim at the local river this morning. The picnic benches by the car park were covered in empty bottles and cans. That's not crows or magpies, that's dirty scummers too lazy to clean up after themselves.
It would be nice if our local council would empty the bins frequently enough. They’re often overflowing. Surely that’s got to be worth sorting out rather than paying to clean it up later on.
So you'd dump rubbish rather than just take it with you?
YOU are a part of the problem!
The silly hedgerow cutting laws dont help, only certain times of the year you can cut hedgerows
Which allows birds to nest and raise their young. Apologies for any inconvenience.
"The silly hedgerow cutting laws dont help, only certain times of the year you can cut hedgerows which means they all have to be done in the space of about 1 week."
Good - Imagine the open season on your tyres, hike a bike on roads lasting all year? Unfortunately plenty of hedge trimming was going on on my last visit to Ground Zero (hawthorn hedges everywhere and a hedge trimmer factory), during the nesting season. Gits!
Rewilding initiative is just local council code for doing nothing in the way of maintenance, allowing the place to go to wreck and ruin.
At least in the Netherlands, you receive 0.15 euros for every empty plastic bottle that goes into the machine.
its still only 5p at Lidls. Well, it’s a start.
As I walked around Amsterdam I tried to figure out why pretty much empty rubbish bins were surrounded by rubbish. Then I saw a down and out going through a bin full of rubbish hunting for 15cent bottles and scattering the rest of the rubbish around the bin.
The grotty ginnel - now a bit less tatty.
Anyone else doing something about it?
Picked up a can on the way to the pool and droped it into the bin. Not enough to need a sack around here.
"Anyone else doing something about it?"
Yep, I picked up a bin bag's worth of empty cans and bottles at Stony Stratford swim spot this morning. It's in the vague hope that people are less likely to litter if there's no litter then when they arrive.
Buildings have moved from proactive maintenance to reactive maintenance for a while now. It's like companies have never heard of "a stitch in time, saves nine"