To ask dog owners at the beach why you don’t

[Lovelyusername]

pick up plastic litter ?

I run along a beautiful coastline and see the same dog walkers ignoring the plastic.

You have a bag ready and will walk past a bin. AIBU to think that this would be a help to the environment ?

AIBU to think that everyone should just pick up their litter?
It would work even better if NOBODY littered

Whilst obviously both of these statements are true, on the beach I volunteer for the beach clear up on, (bleak, pebbly and North Sea facing, so not a lot of sunbathers ), it is really very clear that 99% of the debris has not been dropped on the beach. It has been washed in on the tide, some of the plastics etc have clearly travelled a long long way. It really is a massive problem. The beach has volunteers on it regularly, and the local paper will often run stories on the huge amounts collected, and yet it just keeps on coming.

I walk six dogs at a time, so carry a large plastic bag, which is filled with 💩 by the time I get to a bin. No fecking way am I spending time picking up after the dirty basturds. You’d be complaining if one of my dogs jumped on you or got too close, because I wasn’t supervising properly.

Read the thread - I do run / jog / amble and pick up the litter.

@humblesins Glad to see that someone is inspired to start doing this too.

Good point re families - will mention to the school too.

In fairness you can't fit much rubbish into a poo bag, but I do try and remember to take an empty carrier bag when we go walking (beach or otherwise) to pick up some litter along the way.

What worries me though is that so much of the litter seems to get blown out of dumps/tips or dumped at sea and washed back up. You never really get rid of it...

What sort of Disney film do you live in where everyone with a dog will happily pick up other people's disgusting litter?

Won't people just leave rubbish lying around knowing the litter fairies will sort it out anyway?

There needs to be a way of enforcing harsher fines for people that litter to stop it happening in the first place.

Please lovely dog walkers, if you are at the beach (or not) take a bag tomorrow and pick up some litter from the beach.

People. Lovely people. All those lovely people out for walks with nothing else to hold or do. Dog walkers are already trying to control an animal that many people dislike and pick up shit. Personally, I am also holding the lead of a hyperactive spaniel in one hand and on high alert to make sure he’s not bothering anyone who doesn’t want to be bothered or about to be approached by a white dog (which he hates). I don’t have the attention or hands to spare to pick up other people’s litter. People without dogs (or small children) do.

You are focussing on the wrong thing entirely.

MsHarry Oi! Leave sausages out of it!

Judashascomeintosomemoney you are right! That had never occurred to me😶

Where i walk, there re no picnicking family/ sunbathing litter louts, it is a 'hard coast', beauriful to walk, to use, but not to linger - unless it is August, and you have thermals.

But still, there is crap. I have already mentioned water bottles tossed aside by runners, the only other recent crap is ....well, crap. As a dog owner myself, i hate t9 admit that others do not always pick up, but, obviously, there are knobheads around. The rest of the 'litter', is what has been swept in by the sea.

I really will have to stop muttering drop that and i will fucking kill you at everyone i pass on my walks😊

Beach walks are not the norm for me, woodland walks are my usual. They are wonderful - no litter, no dog shit (on the walking bits, not in the dense bits obviously), and, best of all, no people 😆

I was walking behind a group of teenage boys in town today, one of them dropped a McDonald's cup. I said "excuse me, you dropped something" and he told me to fuck off. I bloody hate people littering.

@toooodtobearsed and @Judashascomeintosomemoney yes there is plastic in the sea, and yes we could pick it up and yes it won’t solve the problem but it would help, wouldn’t it?

Dog walkers for those who can’t read the thread, let alone pick up litter coz they repeat their walks and know they are going so could take a bag.

No, dog walkers are not only people who repeat routes but they are walking for fun (one assumes) and not in a hurry. Plus they will know where the bins are.

So it makes sense to ask them. Some people have even said YANBU

(Ok maybe just two)

No, dog walkers are not only people who repeat routes but they are walking for fun (one assumes) and not in a hurry. Plus they will know where the bins are.

You're assumptions about dog walkers just get funnier. Yes, we all have fuck all else to do and just wander around aimlessly for hours with our dogs.

Dog poo bins are not the same as bins for litter.

I’d prefer, as both a dog walker and runner, being legally sanctioned to taser people who drop litter

See? Finally a good idea.

*your!

Dog walkers for those who can’t read the thread, let alone pick up litter coz they repeat their walks and know they are going so could take a bag.

Clearly you can’t read the thread given you can’t grasp what is wrong with your idea.

I live in a landlocked area, so walking my dog on the beach is quite a rare event (the odd day trip/holiday) and I don't have a clue in advance where any bins are going to be.

I'd gladly take part in a litter pick, but it would probably be easier and more effective without having a dog to control at the same time!

dog walkers are not only people who repeat routes but they are walking for fun (one assumes) and not in a hurry.

As opposed to all the other people on the beach, who are walking for work.

How about people throw their rubbish in the bin to begin with, rather than throwing it on the ground?

Your frustration is misdirected.

I'm not touching litter without a place to immediately wash my hands. It's grim, you've no idea what germs/bacteria are on it.

How about you join a beach clearing volunteer group?

Oh for goodness sake of course the OP is NBU.

If I had a dog and if I lived near a beach I would definitely do this. However as it is I don't and I ain't driving 80 miles to a beach to pick up plastic. I also run badly, shoot me now and there's no way I can pick up litter whilst running as I'm usually timing myself or concentrating on not falling over or just breathing!

However I do go for loads of walk and so from this moment on I will take (a reusable) bag with me on my walks and pick up any litter I see.

Instead of looking at the negatives and why you can't do something, look at the positives and what you can do! And stop giving the OP a hard time #peaceandlove

I also run badly, shoot me now and there's no way I can pick up litter whilst running as I'm usually timing myself or concentrating on not falling over or just breathing!

And there is no way I can pick up litter whilst exercising my (large, excitable, reactive) dog, as I am concentrating on handling her. I would ask what part of this you don’t understand, but as you don’t have a dog...

Dogs need to be walked for their health and well being. Sure it’s a lifestyle choice but not one that logically extends to being a litter picker. It won’t solve the problem.

Instead of being pig headed and frankly rude about your singular virtue signalling idea, why not instead campaign for more more bins, organised collections better fines. Stuff that actually takes effort and reaps physical reward for your beach?

In the mean time I’ll keep quietly doing my bit inland thanks without having an ethical wank on the internet.

You have dismissed perfectly sensible posters suggestions by saying they should rtft who from their polite reasoned comments, like soups, clearly have read the thread and it comments.

Brilliant thread! Yes. Why won't someone else do this needed thing, why?