AIBU ? Really sad about trip to the beach today.

[Tigertigertigertiger]

I’m fortunate to live a 15 minute drive from a big sandy beach.
Today was hot so after work I went straight to the beach to swim .( it was freezing )

I’m really sad about the experience.

The beach was full of out of control barking dogs, children literally screaming at the top of their voices for no reason ( yes, it’s a theme of mine ) , but the saddest thing of all was the place was strewn with litter.

Plastic bottles, empty crisp bags, discarded takeaways, fag ends, empty drink cans ....
There were loads of bins around . Not that you need a bin to not litter.

I’m genuinely upset by this. Is this considered ok now ? What can be done about it if anything ? I’m properly upset.

YABU to be sad about happy dogs and children being overexcited and loud at the beach, the beach is always a joyful loud place. The rubbish is sad though

But they can run around and have fun without screaming! Why is it just accepted that mindless screaming is a human right? Or even a necessity

I agree. My DC had fun and got lively when they were young, of course they did, but they never shrieked or screamed. I’d go as far as to say most kids don’t. It’s not a necessary or normal part of having fun.

My dog’s pretty quiet, too!

“It's holiday season. People come to the seaside with their families and their dogs and not everyone is respectful but they bring money in and keep seaside resorts viable.
You will have the rest of the year to enjoy the peace and solitude so I think you are being a bit unreasonable OP
The council make extortionate parking charges to be able to accomodate the cleaning up bill I am sure”

What is wrong with people - seriously you think if someone pays for parking their car then they are fine to just drop rubbish all over a beach?

If you see a piece of litter on the beach, when the tide comes in its going to get washed out to sea regardless of whether the person who left it there is a scummy piece of scum. So if someone else sees it laying there, and doesn't pick it up, then they're not doing their bit for the environment either because either way, that piece of rubbish is still going to end up in the sea if nobody intervenes.

Yeah it would be better for everyone to take their rubbish home, but they don't. So how is it helpful to just tut at the amount of rubbish rather than just picking it up and putting it in the bin?

If you can find a bin. At the beaches round here, the bins are full by mid morning because the council haven't provided enough and don't empty them enough.

We live really close to a few beaches but I change coast this time of year to avoid the crowds.
Fortunately by the time I get there the beaches are quieter.
You can’t really complain about children having fun

Unless you are new to coastal living you will know that dogs and litter are a sad constant.

What juststop said.

Muttering about how people should take their litter home isn't actually stopping it. Muck in and grab a few bits. Especially if you can safely pick up glass or fishing tackle.

Helping out by picking it up is fantastic. We always take a spare bag along with us for that purpose and when it’s full we actually just take it home and shove in our wheelie bin. I also think it’s good to say something if we see others leaving litter and it should be made abundantly clear it’s not acceptable. You’ll never get everyone to pick up after themselves but if it’s sufficiently clear cut that something isn’t socially acceptable people are less likely to do it.

OP,
I agree.

Litter is awful.
So unnecessary.

Just dirty people, that's all.
Dirty people raising dirty children.

Only the absolute dregs of society go to a lovely beach, area and leave a filthy mess behind the.

Laziness, ignorance, and an attitude of not caring about anythng or anyone is what's behind it.

Absolutely no civic responsibility.

Scum.
To be avoided.

I firmly believe it should be taught from recption about how bad littering is.

Complete bugbear of mine.
I have a litter picker and do around my immediate area on a regular basis.

I can't bear litter.

@colincarrot it's strange that the weather isn't the same the whole UK over isn't it?

Meanwhile where I live in Scotland it was 24 degrees and glorious sunshine yesterday

dogs peeing and pooping on the beach where people are in their bare feet it’s disgusting.

Many beaches don’t permit dogs.

I agree with @WeirdArchitecture It’s now a case of dodging poo in the parks or beaches where we are.

Then dogs running up and jumping on you, when they are wet. It isn’t pleasant or cute, owners don’t seem to care.
Kids you just need to deal with!

How can you equate children being children with litter and barking dogs?

It's not OK I agree.

The one thing that occurred to me was a proper dog registration scheme, as in my opinion some people should not be allowed to keep a dog (or in some cases other pet), mainly because of space at home.

Fines for dropping litter are not the answer in my opinion, assuming you catch people. If you have travelled to somewhere in a car and then created a mess, it should be points on your driving licence.

Dogs jumping on people is annoying
Children screaming is annoying
Teenagers/young adults drinking on the beach is annoying
People in general are annoying

People who leave litter, cans, BBQ’s, dirty nappies etc all over our beaches are filthy scum!

Our local dog walking group meet first thing every Sunday and Monday morning to clean up the mess the scummy people leave behind over the weekend.

@Anordinarymum

It's holiday season. People come to the seaside with their families and their dogs and not everyone is respectful but they bring money in and keep seaside resorts viable. You will have the rest of the year to enjoy the peace and solitude so I think you are being a bit unreasonable OP The council make extortionate parking charges to be able to accomodate the cleaning up bill I am sure.

This post typifies the mentality of some

Parking charges so people can be dirty scum bags?

Rightio

Children shrieking wouldn’t phase me too much. It’s a beach, I’m guessing they were young and having fun in the sun- I like seeing this personally. The dogs would fuck me off and the litter would enrage me most of all. I agree with others though, ask whether anyone would like to start a litter picking group on your local community Facebook page.

I absolutely hate people who leave their rubbish behind wherever they go. They are the same people who leave their car wherever they fancy, with no interest in the impact it has on other road users - ie in places like The Lake District where emergency vehicles can't fit through the double parked cars.

Beaches and the countryside are being ruined choked with litter.
Councils do not have litter picking teams. Volunteers end up doing this. Formby Beach is an example of how local volunteers have to come out after busy weekends to clear up mountains of rubbish to protect harming the environment further.

As an aside, there's no way my parents would have smiled indulgently if I screamed repeatedly at home or in public. I'm only in my 30s so times haven't changed so much have they?

The council make extortionate parking charges to be able to accomodate the cleaning up bill I am sure.
There it is. The mentality of the idiots who cover beauty spots with their filth and leave it there; someone else is employed to clean up after me, why should I do it?
They'd probably confront a litter warden with "I pay your wages, mate".
Breathtaking, really.

I think the point is re the council making money off car parking is that theyre happy to make money off visitors but they're not doing their duty to a) provide enough bins in the right places, b) emptying them and c) cleaning up litter.

Ultimately, like it or not people will leave rubbish. They shouldn't but they will and I'm not sure why children are getting the blame for it when people of all classes and ages drop litter -- even nice middle class mumsnetters. The buck for cleaning it up stops with the council, not little gangs of public litter pickers.

It's perfectly possible to take your crap home with you. You don't tip it onto the ground or leave it on a beach because the bins are full

I'm not in a beach town, but we are a tourist spot being an historic country town. Tourists are OK if they behave like people. What really annoys me is tourists who think that because they are on holiday they can be as rude and unsociable as they like, so we have dog shit in the MIDDLE of the pavement, just left there - there were 4 instances yesterday - just left, right in the centre of the pavement where people walk, and because the town was quite crowded yesterday I suppose other people couldn't see it and trod in it and spread it. Why does being away from home mean you no longer have to bother picking up your dog's mess, why don't you take your dog to the kerb where it's less likely to be trodden on?

Another thing which is very common in the summer months is people who think they don't have to control their kids. Is it really OK to let your kids run about screaming, knocking into people, knocking over displays, while you wander off and get on with shopping without having to bother about the children? It's not a holiday off parenting, fgs.

Mostly tourists are OK. Heads in the clouds as they wander about not looking before crossing the roads, walking into women with pushchairs rather than give way on our very very narrow pavements, but those things aren't that awful from our pov, but the dogshit and the lack of childcare is seriously bothersome.

@Juststopasking

I think the point is re the council making money off car parking is that theyre happy to make money off visitors but they're not doing their duty to a) provide enough bins in the right places, b) emptying them and c) cleaning up litter.

Ultimately, like it or not people will leave rubbish. They shouldn't but they will and I'm not sure why children are getting the blame for it when people of all classes and ages drop litter -- even nice middle class mumsnetters. The buck for cleaning it up stops with the council, not little gangs of public litter pickers.

Locals have to use those carparks too.

Yanbu about litter but it's outside ao of course there's going to he kiddy noise. Go to a quieter beach if you don't like it!

Why can't folks just pack litter back into the bag they brought it in? I mean they managed to carry it full all the way to the beach so should be easier to take it home empty.

It used to annoy the feck out of me when my DSs would miss out on a playtime to litter pick in the school when their full pockets were evidence that they didn't drop litter.

As kids in a family of 9 with no car and little money, day trips to the beach involved my parents filling up the shopping trolley (not the supermarket type) with squash in glass bottles, sandwiches etc, all the rubbish was put back in the trolley and taken home on the bus.

We were just poor kids from a rough council estate, as were our parents, it's really not a hard lesson to learn or teach your kids.

Agree on the litter. I would not really be bothered by small children making lots of noise. That being said, mine were shall we say quite voluminous. In a restaurant or other venue I would expect them to be quiet. I would be encouraging them to let of steam at a beach.