Is littering socially acceptable now?

[rwetgd]

Over the last few years, I’ve really noticed how filthy the UK is looking. Litter absolutely everywhere, all over our cities/towns, roadsides, and scattered around residential streets. Our motorways are absolutely disgusting, a national disgrace.

The other day I literally watched a group of teenagers get up and just casually leave their fish and chips paper/cans on the floor in a park. A few weeks ago I saw a van driver chuck his lunch packaging out of the window and onto the road. I also visited Cornwall a couple of weekends ago and saw bottles/cans/plastic left all over the beach. It’s never ending.

It just feels that standards in society are slowing declining. Increasing numbers of people seem to have no pride in their areas, are completely entitled, feel that everything is someone else’s responsibility, and simply don’t care.

Of course there are clean areas, but you even see bottles chucked on the side of roads in nice countryside villages. And yes before anyone mentions it, I litter pick my village frequently and am forever picking up random bits of rubbish wherever I walk.

It's such a big issue, but no politicians ever seem to mention it. Very frustrating!

Councils have less money for litter picking,

people have always dropped litter.

If there's no litter in a place it's because the people picking it up outnumber the people dropping it. I am in a village and I am forever picking up crap people have dumped, and I see lots of others all doing it too. It seems if you want to live in a litter free area, you have to put the effort in yourself. I think once it goes beyond a certain tipping point, the litter dropping just escalates and people give up clearing it.

I think a lot of the litter dropping is from cars and people who don't live in the village.

What kind of person does that? It is disgusting. Never ever an excuse for it.

I live in a big holiday town, visited my thousands of people, however one type of visitors are considerably worse than any other visitors. They gather in large groups and most just leave all their mess behind. It's a real issue and very upsetting for people who live there and take pride in their town.

It is not acceptable. I have zero tolerance for littering, if I see someone drop something I will race after them and hand them back their shit. I’m generally very confrontation avoidant but that’s my line in the sand. My children are very aware littering is both wrong and illegal. There will be always those that don’t care about others and that we share this environment but I think most of us can hold the line.

These people are the absolute worst. I just don't understand the mentality of people who purposely want to make their local area look worse. Literally how hard is it to just put any rubbish on the seat/floor of your car and forget about it until you get home and put it in the bin? 😠

At the moment we have too many adults who chuck rubbish everywhere. It doesnt have to be that way. There are countries where littering is so taboo that the streets are fantastically clean. We need that attitude. Its probably too late to change adults so what we need is to teach children early not to litter. (Maybe might even show their bloody parents!!) When they grow up they will teach their own children.
First we need to get rid of the stupid oh well people litter what can you do attitude because theres quite a few things we can do!

It's so depressing. I have family in Switzerland and it's absolutely spotless there. I saw school kids walking around with litter pickers and 'litter hero' t-shirts on. I get so embarrassed when they come and visit here! I agree that we need to educate the next generations. Fingers crossed more or more people start calling out littering and attitudes start to change. I just wish some of the big politicians would address the issue!

Yeah and visiting Japan - they don't even have litter bins there, everyone knows to take their litter home and recycle. It was spotless!

Yes sounds exactly like the town im in. Its always a certain type of visitor that does this and also likes to ignore the rules about no disposable BBQs as well!

Yeah I live in the peak district, so we have to deal with the idiots setting fire to the moors with their disposable bbqs as well as the litter. Those BBQs should be banned.

I was born in the 60s and to be honest, people have always littered and not given a shit.

The difference was, adults would pull teenagers up on that behaviour and tell them to bin their rubbish without fearing too much repercussion from them or their parents.

And of course there were far far fewer takeaways adding to the rubbish.

And the councils were way more on top of the litter picking and street cleansing.

Drop litter in most European countries, and I can guarantee you’d never do it again….in some countries it’s an on the spot fine. Mind you try to enforce that here and the enforcement office would probably get thumped! I think we need to become a more punitive society. We’re far too ‘understanding’ of scum perpetrators. I mean we let rapists walk free, so dropping litter? Meh. I think a very steep fine tax for dropping litter would be an excellent idea, wont happen though, coz this is the UK, and so the poor person dropping litter would claim it wasn’t there fault, it was an accidental drop of their maccy D’s bag from the car window, it would have to go to court, lawyers would be needed and several layers of bureaucracy, by which time it’s cost the tax payer ££££££. Instead much easier to live in filth and squalor, and fuck the wildlife or countryside.

We've always had people dropping litter, hence the Keep Britain Tidy campaigns.
What I think we have more of is the 'mind your own business' brigade who tolerate/enable littering.

IMO campaigns in primary - or even nursery - schools would be good, maybe with a song. At DDs’ English Speaking school in the Middle East there was a catchy little song about keeping the country tidy. It’s no use relying on parents - the sort of anti-social parents who drop litter are never going to teach their children not to.

It's not acceptable, IMO, nor is the acceptance of how shoddy many places are due to litter, lack of paint, basic upkeep and repairs etc.

Being house proud, or living in a clean, nice looking community, seems to have dwindled to a point of no return.

It's appalling but you very rarely catch people at it. You wouldn't believe the stuff that is picked up during beach cleans and we have fly tipping quite regularly round our way (rural lane with no pavements). A few years ago someone had dumped a whole child's plastic kitchen. I ended up having to take it to the tip myself. My eldest DD worked at a top end hotel one summer as a chambermaid and regaled us with tales about the state that some guests left their bedrooms. Seems money doesn't buy class or manners these days either.

I remember a colleague coming into my central London office very cross because she’d had an £80 on-the-spot fine for dropping her cigarette end.

I had to become very busy with something to hide my total lack of sympathy.

It's disgusting and antisocial. I think people are sometimes afraid to call others out on it, and maybe with good reason. A colleague of mine called out a man dumping his takeaway rubbish on the grass in her local park. He punched her in the face.

I had this with my friends mum. I had to bite my tongue.

This is horrific!

Our town is pretty good due to a number of volunteers, a street cleaner and the fact that people will just pick up litter.
Lock down and school closures proved that is was not kids doing most of it but van drivers just chucking their shirt out onto the main roads as they drove through.

You also need good bins!

I recently stopped at a service station during a long drive. A family (Dad and two young teens) were just finishing up. They all stood up and the kids were about to walk away and the Dad told them sternly to clean up after themselves and throw stuff in the bins about two metres away.
You teach by doing. I’ve always cleared up and never littered. My son once threw something out the window as a young child and we stopped and went back. I was shocked. Now he wouldn’t dream of doing it.
I am appalled that people litter. If there are no bins (and there should be more for sure, and the ones provided emptied more frequently) then take your crap home.