Countryside folks are dramatic about litter

[Thehonestybox]

I've always lived in big northern industrial cities, but recently my freelance work has meant I've been working a lot in very rural countryside (peak district, moors & Cumbria). At first I was sympathetic everytime a local said something about the litter being a blight, or outsiders climbing hills in flip flops, or people not closing sheep gates, etc etc.

But recently I've just thought - why am I sympathising?!

Us city livers see litter literally EVERYWHERE. I wouldn't dream of leaving my door unlocked at night and antisocial behavior is through the roof. And yet the other day I was working in a rural village and the person I was talking to spotted (with terminator level of vision) a Walkers crisp packet about half a mile away on a hill and I think I literally saw her pulse race through her neck as she said "and THIS is what I'm talking about!! ".

AIBU to wonder why countryside people feel like they should be immune to other people's selfishness?

If I was in Leeds centre and had an aneurysm over an empty packet of Nik Naks I think my colleagues would suggest I take a holiday.

(I suppose I'm referring to fairly wealthy people here, either farmers with land ownership or ex-city early retirees. TBF anyone 'working class' I've met in the countryside has been fairly welcoming to outsiders)

You get fed up of city issues not being important or valid?! Is this a reverse?

Maybe people listening to your "city problems" are giving the same reaction you're giving to "country problems".

Litter is crap everywhere, but in the countryside is probably more likely to cause the death of an animal (higher concentration of livestock etc) so of course they're going to be upset about it. And as a countryside resident, it's normally visitors around here who are the worst offenders!

You can live in the countryside if you want to. It’s not all rich landowners, you know.

Isn't this victim blaming if something goes wrong? I would have enormous sympathy for someone who had almost zero experience of the countryside who got into trouble - how would they know flop flops won't work...?

Be honest Op.
This isn't about litter. It's about money.

I don't really understand the issue?
City people have problems that relate to city people, not country people.
Country people have problems that relate to country people, not city people.
Some problems overlap. It isn't a race to the bottom though, people shouldn't litter anywhere

On my farm though, this year so far we've had two cows put to sleep due to ingesting litter (metal cans left in fields, mowed and broken into shards. Hay is bundled, sold to us which we then feed to our cows. The metal pieces cause the cow to internally bleed).

This is a problem for me. I also hate seeing wildlife caught in litter. Why, just because the city has a worse litter problem, can we not try and keep our countryside from getting to that point?

Just because the city has more litter doesn’t mean it’s acceptable to litter in rural areas either. It’s unacceptable anywhere. It’s not more important there than here but if your fighting 10 bits of litter all 10 are important just as all 1,000 in a city centre. Your just like well it’s not as bad as X place so fuck it.

also we should be able to leave our doors open if we want.

You've been told why - because litter in the countryside can kill livestock

Ridiculous attitude, op. Litter is shit wherever it is and whatever quantities it's in.

It’s like if I stood in the middle of a motorway and got killed. It wouldn’t be my fault because I didn’t know that I might die. What are you on?

You're upset because people living in rural areas seem to care deeply about their community and environment? What do you want them to do? Stop caring. Let litter build up? Make it as miserable as the city places you say are worse?

All it does is highlight how 'immune' to litter we become in city settings. Which is awful. It is part of the reason why people litter so much in urban areas - if the street already has litter in it, people just add more. People get more upset about litter in the country because they value the clean, unspoilt nature of their settings and it is therefore more of a blight...as well as the livestock reasons others have listed. Rather than having a superior attitude to these 'countryfolk' maybe think about how sad it is that you've had to get used to litter. You should be angry about a crisp packet, but there is no point in the city. I say this as an ex Londoner now in the country and I'm sad about how used I became to hideous levels of grossness that just wouldn't be acceptable in the village where I live now, quite rightly.

I would have enormous sympathy for someone who had almost zero experience of the countryside who got into trouble - how would they know flop flops won't work...?
The same way anyone of even average intelligence manages to figure it out

I think if you give you're getting a lot of these comments coming your way or might be more about those people thinking your the culprit. Rightly or wrongly. I literally never get these comments.

OP, we are people not 'folks' also suggest you get together with friends and pick up some litter in your city with your friends this weekend, lead the way! Don't juat moan about people/areas that are doing something about it.

You are entitled to enjoy living surrounded by crap and others are entitled to enjoy the opposite. If people empty their rubbish through your letterbox each day and you enjoy it, good luck to you. Most people don't like it, urban or rural.

Mountain rescue is often staffed by volunteers. Who live in the local community. They often give up their free time and risk their own lives, to look after people who researched the area enough to visit, but not what they would need to take with them.

This is an incredibly weird thread.

You're comparing apples and oranges.

All of which is wrong. Don't drop litter, close gates and wear suitable footwear so volunteers don't have to heave you off the hillside (and learn to read a map whilst you are at it!)

I live in the city, hate litter and have been known to chase people with things they’ve dropped 😂 Not really getting your point, op.

city issues not being seen as important or valid

I live in a city, like you, and I feel like city issues (not only about where I live, but generally) get a massive amount of attention. I would definitely say they are widely seen as important and valid Although of course that doesn’t mean they necessarily get addressed adequately by people who are actually in positions of influence.

It must just be a subjective issue. I guess pov would depend on a lot of factors — what media you consume and who you talk to in the course of work and personal life, etc.

What you're saying doesn't make any sense, why do you think that people who are annoyed about litter think they should be immune from it, where's that coming from? They are annoyed because no one should litter anywhere, do you think that when country dwellers visit litter strewn cities they think it's OK because it's a built up area?

I think you're misunderstanding the whole situation

Indeed.

No it's definitely not a reverse! Like I said, I have up until now had enormous amounts of sympathy for people complaining about this stuff (part of my job is to be a community liaison on conservation projects) and for ages I've been there with my hair shirt being like "yeah, it's a disgrace! Do people have no respect for the countryside!". But then recently I complained about prostitutes down my street that's started happening, and noticed people's reaction is more dismissive and sort of "well, yes but you do live in the CITY".

What on earth does theft from a parked car in a city have to do with litter? Your arguments don't make any sense.

In a city, you know (well, hope) that a paid employee will be coming to pick up the litter sooner or later, in the interests of public hygiene. This isn't available in the country as the population density is lower.