Rubbish

[briwy]

At Silverstone for the MotoGP thus weekend (what a race) and staying at the Whittlebury Hall campsite.
Just got back to the van as staying until tomorrow and cannot believe the amount of rubbish and junk that has been left in the fields. Whittlebury give out big rubbish bags and there's plenty of bins but it seems some folks can't be bothered and just leave them.
Bits of tents, chairs, umbrellas and assorted junk. Why????

 

[Lewis]

This has been a problem at music festivals for a long time. Too much disposable culture, all these products are way too cheap and people think it's easier to just buy a new one next time. It's even worse if the weather has been bad and people can't be bothered to clean and reuse things.

Glastonbury Festival has done a great job in recent years of addressing this with lots of positive peer pressure about the environment and the use of volunteer 'green police'.

 

[Hotel California]

Yep , afther music festivals like Werchter , Tomorrowland , ....here in Belgium tonnes and i do mean tonnes of wasted tents,chairs, matrasses,....stay behind . Not to speak on food and drinks ! On the news every time.
And we like stupids recycling ....even on campsites , cleaning up afther the dog , using rainwater for the garden , ....
Realy ridicules that the governement allows this in times like these when USA and China socalled making the invirement better by signing a deal....
While these events are on you see all kinds of invirement friendly food stands , using recycled cup and plates...once event is over a pile rubbish stays behind
Only one thing that counts in big events , the number of tickets sold at the most high prices!

 

[GrannyJen]

Whilst rubbish is an endemic problem the world over I have to say the British are a filthy lot of people.

Just look at the verges of any motorway or large roundabout, a well-used underpass, any public space almost.

 

[Mr Q]

Most of the festivals I've been too don't put out rubbish bins. So you have very few options to get rid of your litter. Either put it in your backpack and take it home with you or become a litter lout.

I'm not sure why they do this at festivals or big events. I'm sure some are better than others.

 

[Borris]

Whilst rubbish is an endemic problem the world over I have to say the British are a filthy lot of people.

Just look at the verges of any motorway or large roundabout, a well-used underpass, any public space almost.

I couldn't agree more. This problem has become a lot worse in the last year or two. It seems to me that for some reason many people now think it acceptable to just throw their rubbish out of their car window or simply drop it in the street. We live in the most beautiful and varied islands in the world and it is such a shame we have to put up with this kind of ferrel behaviour. This rising tide of rubbish along our roads along with the regular bouts of fly tipping saddens me considerably. It is all so unnecessary. There is no excuse for this.
If Mc Donalds started printing the registration number of the vehicles collecting food from their drive-throughs, on the food wrappers then at least that might lead to a reduction in that litter in our country lanes.

 

[GrannyJen]

We have a local beach clean up where I live. Once a month, about 50 volunteers, probably about 3km of beach. It would not be an exaggeration to say we each probably fill 3 or 4 binbags.

It is not a busy beachfront. Mostly private estates run to the beach so no main roads, no coaches, no through traffic. Even on a warm bank holiday weekend like the last one the beach was far from full, yet the rubbish we pick up is frightening. Yes, some of it could have been washed ashore, but a lot of it is home-grown.

 

[Swissian]

Whilst rubbish is an endemic problem the world over I have to say the British are a filthy lot of people.

Just look at the verges of any motorway or large roundabout, a well-used underpass, any public space almost.

This is something that really shocked me the last time I was in UK. I always remember a little bit of litter around but I also remember how the rubbish bins were few and far between. Thee seemed to be more bins now, but exponentially more litter

 

[briwy]

A while ago I watched a car full of yoofs chuck food wrappers out of their car. I picked it up, went over and sarcastically said I thought they had mistakenly dropped it. Got looked at as if I was mad and told to go forth and multiply in no uncertain terms, which I did after a similar experience a few years ago when I got a knife pulled on me.
They don't appear to see anything wrong in it.

 

[MattBW]

This is something that really shocked me the last time I was in UK. I always remember a little bit of litter around but I also remember how the rubbish bins were few and far between. Thee seemed to be more bins now, but exponentially more litter

In my town the council has got rid of litter bins almost entirely, unless its outside the townhall they are gone. My local park where I walk the dogs, has a bin for dog poop but no litter. Suffice to say people just drop it where they finish with it. Makes me really angry, a few folk go around and pick them up, but picking up after people who think "someone else will do it" makes me angry.

Sadly the people who drop it use no bins as an excuse to drop it, not that that they need one.

 

[cpjb@btinternet.com]

Also why do (some) smokers think it acceptable to extinguish/drop their butts on the pavement?

They should be fined £5,000 (minimum).

 

[GrannyJen]

Also why do (some) smokers think it acceptable to extinguish/drop their butts on the pavement?

They should be fined £5,000 (minimum).

Plus VAT

 

[BoomTriker]

Most of the festivals I've been too don't put out rubbish bins. So you have very few options to get rid of your litter. Either put it in your backpack and take it home with you or become a litter lout.

I'm not sure why they do this at festivals or big events. I'm sure some are better than others.

They stopped putting rubbish bins out at public events years ago because it was easy for terrorists to plant bombs in them .....Maybe that is still a consideration?

 

[MattBW]

Looks like a bombs hit the place already sadly in much of our public spaces today.

You may be right though, private places are full of bins though and our local station has clear benbags so you can see what is in them.

 

[AlisonF]

I couldn't agree more. This problem has become a lot worse in the last year or two. It seems to me that for some reason many people now think it acceptable to just throw their rubbish out of their car window or simply drop it in the street. We live in the most beautiful and varied islands in the world and it is such a shame we have to put up with this kind of ferrel behaviour. This rising tide of rubbish along our roads along with the regular bouts of fly tipping saddens me considerably. It is all so unnecessary. There is no excuse for this.
If Mc Donalds started printing the registration number of the vehicles collecting food from their drive-throughs, on the food wrappers then at least that might lead to a reduction in that litter in our country lanes.

It's not just the last year or two, or the young. As a student I went to Abersoch with my boyfriend (soon to be fiance, then husband and in the meantime... Well I digress). As students we were travelling on public transport (bus and train). At a bus stop in Pwllheli (did I spell that right?) an old lady in her 80's eating chocolate just casually threw the wrapper on the floor. I was fuming. My ex stopped me from confronting "an old lady"... I still wish I had 25+ years later... I'm rubbish for not having done so

 

[Alan]

Our waste disposable center is tidier than our streets around our way
What litter bins that are around are left full and over flowing for days on end which encourages fly tipping!!
How can our youngsters be taught respect for the environment when all this goes on?
While I'm ranting on.......don't you just love it when (some) dog owners don't believe they should clear up after their mess

Makes me appreciate having the Cali to be able to escape to prettier surroundings from time to time!

Victor Mildew

 

[Bramco]

The worst dog owners are the idiotic ones that pick up the dog mess on a country walk and then hang it on a tree or the next stile.

What's that all about!!!!!!

Bagging something biodegradable in a bag that will take a thousand years to degrade. Duh!

We're in Holland at the moment visiting old haunts. There is a bit of litter around but the overall impression is of a country that is well organised, neat and tidy etc. where everyone obviously likes it that way.

On one of the beaches in the south we even saw a board showing how long various types of rubbish takes to degrade. On cycle paths you'll see what are called blikken vangers. Essentially a rubbish bin mounted horizontally but slightly up so that you can throw your waste into the catcher as you cycle along.

If I compare our village in the uk to the village we used to live in here it's very depressing. I'd be embarrassed to have anyone from Holland visit our uk village. For example they built a small bypass a few years ago to route lorries round the village. They did plan a footpath alongside but then didn't put it in due to the being able to save the cost. In Holland that wouldn't happen it would have been properly laid out with both a cycle and walking section and plenty of green between that and the road.

Virgin dug up the pavements probably 15 years ago when they were NTL. Apparently they offered to remake all of the pavements to new condition but needed a small (few thousand) contribution from the council. The council turned them down, surprise, surprise. Then about 10 years ago the council slopped some kind of tar slurry over the top to hide the mess, guess what within a few years this was disintegrating.... (Sorry Victor Meldrew moment there, must be getting old or something!)

So I think our take on it is that if care for the environment around everyone is built into every facet of planning and maintenance then everyone buys into it. Anything else and you descend to the lowest common denominator. Let's just hope we don't descend as far as some Asian countries like India.

 

[Ady77]

Sat behind a Citroen Saxo a few nights ago which had an exhaust as big as the Dartford tunnel, as soon as we were on the outskirts of the town they decided to throw all the wrappers, cups, boxes etc out of all four windows over the course of a few miles, this made my wife and I so outraged as they probably do this every night and think nothing if it! I was a bit of a rogue as a late teenager but I would never had considered doing something like this. Makes me so angry

 

[Borris]

Our waste disposable center is tidier than our streets around our way
What litter bins that are around are left full and over flowing for days on end which encourages fly tipping!!
How can our youngsters be taught respect for the environment when all this goes on?
While I'm ranting on.......don't you just love it when (some) dog owners don't believe they should clear up after their mess

Makes me appreciate having the Cali to be able to escape to prettier surroundings from time to time!

Victor Mildew

With some school play grounds and their surrounding streets littered with discarded sweet wrappers and soft drinks containers, I feel that all schools should teach the children in their charge to respect their environment by getting them to clear up this mess. Not only would it reflect better on schools but may just teach at least some of the next generation that it is their beautiful country so be proud of it and look after the environment. You never know but they just might pass the message on to their parents. Probably not possible though due to elf and safety or some such reason.

On another very annoying note - trunk road lay-bys. Not only are our verges strewn with all manner of rubbish which has either fallen or been thrown from passing vehicles but where ever there is some form of lay-by there can often be found the nasty informal rubbish dump and toilet (without any facilities). The bins, if there are any, are always full to over flowing and the whole area usually stinks.
I read somewhere that our road side verges are collectively our biggest national nature reserve with all sorts of rare flora a fauna that thrives with little human contact. What a shame then that this same nature reserve is treated in such an appalling way and is rapidly becoming one of our biggest eyesores.
Got to stop now as I am just winding myself up!

 

[MattBW]

The worst dog owners are the idiotic ones that pick up the dog mess on a country walk and then hang it on a tree or the next stile.

What's that all about!!!!!!

Bagging something biodegradable in a bag that will take a thousand years to degrade. Duh!

Would be better to just leave it imho if it's not on a public path. Those bags can also kill farm animals who eat them. We live in a world where people think fridges are for the side of the road.

As for why leave it? Probably don't want to carry smelly dog poo around with them for miles, intend to get it on the way back but then don't bother or can't find it. That said people do it in my park which you can lap in 15 minutes and has 3 poo bins.

Thankfully the dog bags we buy are compostable and biodegradable now it I've no idea what the council do with them.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Hotel California]

@Bramco , Holland is indeed a very tidy country they do a lot of effort.
As for cleaning up afther the dog , some do this when in others peoples sight and the arround the corner they indeed trow the bagged outcome away ...realy stupid!
As it wil not degrade.
I always clean up , but when on hikingtrips or waliking in the field i shove it with my feet ( boots on so no problem ) i wil degrade between the grass. If cowshit can so can a dogshit ....the good thing is my dog wil not go do her thing on paved path not even a pee.
Then again , neigbours cats come and do theirs all the time in my front garden covering it up with sand.... no cat owner ever cleans that up!
Getting of topic here.
But it is about the same with the inside of a appel and the bananapeel .....where do some draw the line....it is combustable but still ...

 

[BikerGran]

I too am shocked by the litter problem.

Until very recent years I used to go to a bike rally (motorbike) with about 3000 people. Plenty of large bins were provided and there was so little rubbish at the end of the three day rally that it only took a team of about a dozen to clear it all up in two or three hours - not bad for the rubbish from 3000 people. But then bikers are not ordinary people!