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?

Whilst YANBU I also think that lockdowns have brought out the inner litter picker in a lot of people. There are woods I’ve started taking the DC too and I now being with me a few plastic bags and some gloves. I’ve noticed on local Facebook groups people talking about getting litter picker sticks from the council and setting up mini teams. There are more people littering now but also more people furious about the litter and willing to do something about it.

Completely agree.

I live in a farm with a popular footpath through it. Never used to be litter. We have to litter pick it monthly at the moment to keep it looking half decent. Crisp packets, beer cans etc. The worst is the dog poo. 6 people last week went to the Effort of bagging up the pop only to leave it in the footpath. 5 the week before. What I don't get is why other bagging it. Just stick and flick it

Kids sit at the end of our farm drive virtually every night mainlining takeaways an dumping the rubbish out of the window. There is a public bin just to their right.

Weekly we have fly tipping issues in remote gateways.

I'm horrified by people's lack of social responsibility. What chance have we got against climate change if people can't be arsed to use a bin right next to them or think nothing of leaving plastic bags full of dog poo everywhere.

We have seen it get worse over the last five years. Our local council have made the excuse of COVID to let them off even helping with the annual litter pick, that is, providing litter pickers and collecting the bags of rubbish.

I’m afraid lot of people think other people will clear up after them.

I don't have a problem with people driving from cities to walk in the countryside (even if I do prefer it quieter) I just wish everyone would respect it and take their rubbish home or put it in a bin.

I wonder if schools could help to educate about littering? There must be vast numbers of people who think it's okay. Could education help? I remember doing things in school about litter and it's probably still a teaching point now so maybe there isn't much more to add. I just don't understand why it's so prevalent.

I wish there was a way to help people understand the impact it has.

@zigaziga that's some good news :)

It's not up to schools though, social responsibility needs to be taught by parents.

I live in an urban area and regular go litter-picking around our local streets. I've also noticed an increase in litter. There's the obvious things like face masks and plastic gloves, but there also seems to be more coffee cups and bottles. I think because people have got nothing more to do than walk the streets with a drink. It's horrible though- so much for the pandemic making people care about their communities.

@beela I don't really care who it should be up to- obviously some parents aren't teaching it. It would be great if they were.

So what do we do as a society? Just accept litter because it's technically parents' responsibility? Or try to teach about it more in schools/via public advertising/TV?Social media? We can't jùst say 'well it's up to parents' and ignore the issue when parents don't come up to scratch. Maybe they weren't taught themselves? How do you break the cycle?

If education about littering/school litter picks would help then I'd be all for it. I'd be open to any suggestions/solutions. I think trying to discourage or educate against littering is probably just as important as actually picking it up.

Saying 'it's not up to schools it's up to parents' solves nothing

Agree littering has increased horrendously, as has some people not picking up after their dogs.

@LAgeDeRaisin I've been known to knock on car windows of shagging teenagers on our farm drive. Funnily I've never seen that car again.

There's a call from the farming community to have drive thrus print car reg on takeaways. There's the tech to do it.

There are several reasons I think for the extra litter. More people walking for exercise, more dog owners. But the biggest problem is local concils. Our tip has reduced its hours even before covid, the refuse guys are being stretched by the amount of waste due to online shopping but this gives them no time to chase waste that blows about and the introduction of charges for things like green waste collection

@flowerycurtain people would probably have a meltdown about privacy and data protection

Yep, huge increase in litter during lockdowns here too - particularly the first, when it was nice and sunny and everyone flocked to rural areas. It's depressing. It's the first time in 20-odd years of feeding locally grown forage that I've been finding litter in that too, which is really frustrating.

Sadly I don't think education is the answer. Surely nobody is that ignorant these days - some people just don't give a flying fuck. Auto print people's number plates onto their fast food packaging and shove it up their arses prosecute them if it's found littering the countryside. And actually force companies to use more ecologically appropriate packaging while we're at it too.

I completely agree. I live in a rural area which has become a popular destination for people to drive to, to walk. It isn’t just the litter but the dog poo everywhere. It was an occasional poo left on the paths, now it’s everywhere. Filthy bastards.

Haven't noticed more litter lately but we do a a community pickup every once in a while council provide bags/ grabsticks and do a special pick up of the collected litter. Many hands make light work and all that.

Increasing tip hours would help for bigger things/flytipping. I might write to my MP about that.

What would help with the everyday rubbish from cars and from people out walking?

@LAgeDeRaisin you are right, the cycle does need to be broken somehow. It's just that the passing off responsibility for teaching basic life skills (budgeting, healthy eating, laundry, putting rubbish in the bin, etc) to schools bugs me. I didn't mean to snap about it, sorry 😳

My dc are 6 and 10 and are totally baffled by littering. They have talked about it (and done litter picks) at home, school, and cubs / beavers, so there are various avenues for putting the message out there, and I don't understand what happens to people to make them think it is acceptable.

It's not really surprising though is it?

The same % of people probably are littering but in the last year they are walking where it's green much more.

The thing that pisses me off is dog walkers not picking up shit. Or picking it up in a bag and then hanging it off a tree or bush.

Why??!!?? It's gross.

That has always gone on though tbf.

@beela sorry if I sounded grumpy- it's just so frustrating.

I'd be all for the numberplate idea on fast food drive through wrappers, but I imagine the libertarian brigade would see it as a breach of their civil liberties/human rights

It’s disgusting here too, not a rural area, quite a naice leafy town. There’s been a massive uplift in litter and dog shit everywhere too.

YANBU. It's a tip out there and I can't wait for everything to reopen so that those who don't really give a toss about the countryside can sod off again.

Yanbu and sadly same in cities. There’s lots if volunteers regularly picking litter (filling several bags) at various parts of our suburban area every day! And thank god they do or the I hate to think how bad the place would be. Councils don’t have the money or personal to keep on top of it. (And why should they!?)
My dd and I did our first litter pick at the weekend. We just chose a small spot near a local playing field. It was overwhelming at first like standing in a rubbish tip! It was a massive buzz to see the difference we made in just an hour or so.

I don't think so, actually.
I have long litter picked.
Stuff on roadsides is typically chucked out of cars.

People are driving less, so less stuff chucked out of cars in fact.

Primary schools do anti-litter projects, but we then get complaints from parents that the children are being 'forced' to pick up litter in the playground: it's not their job, they'll get a disease etc. Too often, I've been in the middle of talking about littering to a class and a child has piped up that their parent always throws their MacDonalds out the car or some similarly depressing tale. Schools can try, but out of school, the children learn how to behave from their parents.

I'm pretty sure it's not a basic human right to leave your shit wherever you go, so I'm quite happy to piss all over the civil liberties of anyone who objects to having their number plate printed on their packaging. They can bleat about it all they like, it's still a good idea.