What is with all the litter EVERYWHERE!?

[Pebble21uk]

So I drove from the South West to the North of England last week and just couldn't get over the amount of litter absolutely everywhere! I've noticed it more in the last few years, but it now seems to have reached epic proportions.

For 7 hours up the motorway it was strewn around on the verges and banks. Also just as bad off the motorway too. We stopped for a coffee somewhere around the Midlands (off the motorway and in a National Trust car park as members - so free). Just as we were leaving down a small country lane a car pulled out right in front of us and sped off, having (I'm 99% sure) been responsible for fly tipping in a layby. If we had been a second or two sooner our dash cam might have caught them in the act.

I did notice posters about being responsible with your litter and how much wildlife is killed by it in the UK on the back of toilet doors at a service station (not something I've noticed before) which indicates it is a problem which is getting worse.

It was just so depressing and so needless... I was so saddened and angry. What has caused this huge surge?

I agree there aren't enough litter bins but I wouldn't dream of dropping litter on the ground because a bin was full. I would take it home with me.

A person has to have a certain kind of mentality to think it's OK to drop litter just because a bin is full. People don't want to take responsibility for their own actions, it's always someone else's fault.

But people who drop rubbish and expect someone else to clear it up are scum.

It makes me wonder what their living conditions are like. If they are sitting watching TV eating a snack do they just drop the rubbish on the floor and leave it there or do they actually get up off their arse and put it in the bin.

At what point do we come to terms with the fact that we've painted ourselves into a corner by basing such an important proportion of our economy on convenience and consumption of stuff we don't honestly need? The very unpopular but only real answer is to try and figure out a way of getting back to a simpler life. This would be felt as great discomfort by most of us. But ramping up litter collection while doing nothing about the root causes is ignoring the fact that we're sprinting down the wrong path.

Out of curiosity, to those who litter pick - doesn't it make you feel super resentful towards people in your community who are dropping the rubbish and taking up your free time like this? Esp as you don't know who did it so have a very diffuse object to direct your feelings at. It wouldn't make me warm to my neighbourhood, to be honest. I think you're doing a fantastic and very kind thing though.

Completely agree and I think it has got worse. We bought a couple of litter pickers and we clear up the road outside our house (mainly from parked cars chucking litter out the windows, or people’s overflowing wheelie bins). But whenever I go for a walk I hate the amount of litter.
I often wonder what visitors to the UK make of it. We have holidayed in The Netherlands, Austria, Germany and they did not have the same issues.

The other thing is people dumping rubbish, mattresses, wood, furniture etc. in the street - I am constantly reporting it. Our Council reduced large item collection to £5 to try and tackle the issue but it still carries on. Or people dump bags of clothes, toys etc which could have gone to a charity shop. Just laziness.

And people seem not to care about piles of rubbish or old furniture in their front gardens. How can you be happy to walk past that every day? Do people not have any pride in the outside of their houses?

There seems to be a collective lack of care for our communities, or the idea that ‘it’s someone else’s problem’.

@valadon68 you make a good point about overconsumption. We seem to base our worth on what we buy / consume, but not on how we dispose or pass on things we no longer need. Nothing disappears into thin air, it all ends up somewhere. I often feel guilty about this.

I have seen many posts on MN with posters complaining about fortnightly bin collections and how they have to go to the tip instead. How is one household producing so much rubbish?

I agree with you on all three points. On the last point, my DD lives in North London and someone chucked rubbish into her front garden while she was standing there! Someone who seemingly comes from a community where this is acceptable.

Who is responsible for clearing other roads?
Across the UK, local authorities are responsible for clearing rubbish on major and minor roads. In Scotland, Transport Scotland is responsible for motorways and special roads. In Wales such roads are the responsibility of the South Wales and North Wales Trunk Road Agencies.

Local authorities just don't have the money to fund all the fly tipping and litter picking - 75% of local authority money is spent on adult and child social care

It's something I haven't ever done, dropping litter. I have pockets and bins at home

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=1970s+litter+campign&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:6b86a442,vid:Nl7FmbrMwjc,st:0

we used to have adverts and campaigns like this...

Hi everyone, Keep Wales Tidy wants to understand more about what motivates people to post about these issues. We’re inviting a small group of people to take part in an online discussion. It will last around 90 minutes, and we can offer time credits as a thank-you. If you're interested, sign-up here https://keepwalestidy.cymru/events/rubbish-behaviour-online-lab/
Any Qs, feel free to email [email protected]
Thanks

Who is responsible for clearing other roads?

I'm a rural parish councillor. We employ a litter warden 2 days a week to pick up litter, paid for with a mixture of council tax precept, local charity contributions, funds raised from renting out the village hall and CIL monies.

2 days isn't enough but it keeps the worst at bay. We usually have a volunteer litter pick between Christmas and New Year as well. It is an endless battle. 🙁

Check out

https://keepwalestidy.cymru/
https://www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/
https://www.cleanupuk.org.uk/

I haven't read the whole threa so apologies if it's already been mentioned but your local authority has a duty to clean u litter once it has been reported. There will be a form on their website to do this. I pick up litter near my house but some stretches of a local A road get badly littered and it needs a proper team from the local authority to tackle it.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/litter-and-refuse-council-responsibilities-to-keep-land-clear

Part of the problem round here is the total lack of responsibility for picking up your rubbish if your recycling bin blows over in the wind. Shit goes everywhere, and so many people seemingly just shrug and not even try to clear up the rubbish which blew all over the place.

I don't understand the mentality of people who drop litter at all.

Same here with both. The latter can be worse even.

Don't get me started on dog poo! I do think it tends to be worse in winter as more people are walking their dogs in the dark when it's harder to see them. I don't think they're as keen in broad daylight!

Thanks for this, I didnt realise

I saw some fly tipping on walk last night and I see someone has reported it this morning on the local council website

But now that I know about this facility Im going to be reporting litter all the time.

It’s lost on most people . They are just lazy and inconsiderate

Are you sure it's down to not recycling adequately?

My council will crush your vcan if you fly tip and ogod for them! However catching people is hard. 3 weeks in a row I picked litter and found some people's prescriptions in there! The full personal details - terrible that someone dumped that. I wrote to two of the ladies saying your cleaner, career or family member is dumping this on a road (close to my road) please encourage them to stop. This week someone yet again has dumped 2 bags of recycling waste always about 50 plastic bottles and other stuff plus a few clothes and this time pregnancy tests and condoms but this time nothing identifiable. We do have 18m more people in the UK than when I was born here and they all seem to want to live near me in outer London which obviously does not help - sheer volume of people but why do they drop a single bit of litter ever! I would like fines to be much higher and if you are from abroad you be removed from the UK for life.