To think countryside littering has gotten a lot worse through the pandemic

[LAgeDeRaisin]

I have a 45 min commute and have been driving to and from work through the last year (I'm a hospital doctor before the lockdown police arrive).

I live in the country and drive through an area that has become more popular for people to go on walks etc. In the last year the litter has massively increased. It is strewn all along the verges along my commute. You used to get the odd crisp packet or Macdonald's packaging but it's just everywhere now. The roadside looks like someone has emptied bags of rubbish every few feet. Cans, bottles, packaging, bits of picnic, broken foldup seats, bin bags, take away stuff, just everything.

It's heartbreaking and makes me feel really depressed driving in. I hate litter at the best of times but in the country it just stays forever- at least in cities it might get picked up by those streetcleaner machines or people employed to clean. We can't employ people to comb the whole of the countryside. I can't understand the mindset- why can't people just have a carrier bag in their car to keep their rubbish?

Has anyone else noticed this or AIBU?

I'm not saying it's okay in the city- it's not. I'm just saying there's no safety net or chance it'll be cleared up if you throw things out a car window in the countryside, so it means it'll just accumulate forever.

YADNBU DH literally said this to me yesterday. He has been going out litter picking a couple of times a week in our village since December. It's so sad.

I was thinking maybe I should start picking some up, but it's just an impossible task. 30miles of road and it's everywhere. Not to mention I'm already knackered with work even if I weren't pregnant with miserable morning (all day) sickness and a 1 year old at home.

So depressing that something that takes zero effort (waiting til you get home and putting rubbish in the bin) should cost somebody else hundreds of hours of time picking up rubbish.

Yanbu. It’s been awful where I live. All through the pandemic our village has been full of people coming for a walk and leaving mountains of rubbish. People coming for a full day out by the river (where there’s no facilities) getting pissed and weeing and pooing in surrounding fields and bushes! Leaving their broken deck chairs etc. It’s been a real problem- especially when the weather was warm.

I agree, it's depressing. DH is very proud of where he clears and shows me the next day only to find new cans of Red Bull and coffee cups have been thrown out of cars 🤬🤬

Lots of litter around my village too. It is depressing.

It is crap, but having queued for over an hour for the tip for the last few visits I can quite believe fly tipping is on the increase. In fact once I had to come home again as the tip was at capacity and I was not allowed to wait. Luckily I was able to offload the crap into our garage but not everyone has that option

We live by the sea and the beaches are in a sorry state too. The tide washes things away and it's so awful for marine and coastal life.

By all means come to enjoy the countryside, it's there for everyone. But why can't people just put rubbish back in the bag they inevitably brought their things in?

Yanbu. Litter picking has taken off in my city. People are getting sick of it and are taking action.

Littering everywhere seems to have got worse. No one's cares about anything anymore.

@StealthPolarBear I lnow that a queue is a pain, but I don't think that's an excuse to just dump things. Can't people leave it outside their house for the night (with a notice saying the skip was closed) and try again the next day/ yhe next time they have time? Or call the skip to ask for their quieter hours, or literally do ANYTHING but dump stuff in a field or next to the road.

I just don't accept that people don't have any other option just because a skip was full one day. It's about convenience and selfishness, not necessity.

We have so much litter here too, loads of bins but (some) people don't use them. I find it's especially bad in the woods, I think due to bored teenagers not having anywhere else to meet. Loads of condoms and empty nitrous bottles alongside the crisp packets and empty cans. I used to take DS there practically every day but it's not a pleasant place to be anymore.

Yes I'm quite rural too and it's shocking, seems to get worse every year. A few litter picking groups have been set up in local villages, but it's so depressing that they have to. I just can't get my head around it - I'd be shocked if I found out that anyone I knew was a litterer... Yet there must be so, so many people who do it! I love living in the countryside, and it really upsets me when people spoil how lovely it is. Not to mention the harm to the wildlife

Many are filthy skanks and teach their kids to be the same - we don't get too many visitors round here but the entitled local brats drop enough rubbish to do their bit . Parents too - low point was a dumped used nappy beside a not at all full rubbish bin.

And the dog filth. Argh. Really hate dog owners.

Yep it’s got really bad around here too. And worse, they are closing our local tip. We are one of the biggest towns in our county with the highest council tax, and yet we are expected to drive 20 mins now to another town, all while the council bleat about how they are implementing lots of green policies. We are seeing more fly tipping already :(

Definitely worse - particularly bags of dog poo being left.

I’m hoping when the pubs and shops, theme parks and leisure centres, Butlins and holidays abroad are open again, the litterers will withdraw to their natural environments.
It’s got a lot worse over the last year.

You’re right, it’s very noticeable.
Lots more unpicked dog crap too. I walk at night when it’s quiet and it’s every bloody night now 🤬.

We noticed this too. We are coastal/countryside but not really anywhere touristy. However we’ve gone for two-three hour walks through lockdown in really remote spots and been shocked at the levels of litter. Last week on a particularly long hike we found a discarded piece of rubbish from all the main takeaways like some sort of extremely depressing bingo game.

We live in a country lane which comes to a dead end. There are only about 8 houses on the lane altogether, and no real reason for anyone who doesn't live here, to come down the lane, and yet when we go out, all too often we find litter in the ditch and at the side of the road. I even found a 4 pint empty milk bottle the other day. I really can't figure out why/how this rubbish gets dumped in a lane going nowhere. Any thoughts?

Its stuff thrown out of cars here. Mostly masks, takeaway cups and fast food wrappers.

I notice it all the time. We go out most weeks picking up rubbish from our lane and our little bit of the main roads, and it’s everywhere. Demoralising that we have to do it so often. At the beach at least I can see most of it washes in and out with the tide, but roadside, it must be thrown there. I just can’t imagine ever leaving litter behind, what a sad mindset to think chucking it out the window for someone else to deal with is ok.

Fly tipping has increased ten fold too. I've seen it firsthand, it's disgusting. I've seen photos of country lanes that are impassible because the whole road is blocked

Fly tipping is an awful problem round the lanes by us. Also the rubbish dropped in the woodland and fields.

Whilst I'm ranting it's also the imbeciles that drove out to the countryside and then park all over the place to go walking with no regard for people that use the lanes for their day to day life.

Yes definitely. It is much busier; on our quick dog route we’d usually see nobody now we might see two or three groups. Sometimes quite large groups who are not respectful of the environment. Plastic water bottles, crisp packets, juice cartons etc just dropped wherever.