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)

Yes, let's all raise to the fucking bottom.

What don't you understand? A slight hint of playful humour on a pointless conversation starter on an arbitrary but divisive topic?

Not being obtuse. Just frustrated and needed an outlet. And OK if I'm being honest, I'm feeling bitter about my lot in life being stuck in a miserable council flat in a tower block instead of a big detached house with fresh air and countryside

Not sure why you'd expect it to be "big" or "detached". You've been spending enough time rurally to have cottoned on to the fact that very few country folk own the full Jilly Cooper Aga Saga set-up.

And yet in all this wandering around Cumbria & the Peak District, in your salaried & expensed role as a Conservation Officer, you've never seen a wee terrace 'starter home' & wondered how much it might cost compared to your Leeds flat?
You never hopped onto Rightmove, using your new-found rural connections to steer you to the optimum, affordable, location to start a search & see what you could buy?
So instead, you focused your energy into resentment about country people hating litter?

This. I hate, hate litter. I get pissed off that people so easily discard their trash in public areas. Its not that hard to hold on to it til they get to a place to dispose of it properly.

I'm very sad about the amount of litter I see here, both rural and urban. To me it speaks of a disconnection with, and a disenfranchisement with the land and one's surroundings.

It's not just on an individual level. Councils are running on fumes. Except in places like fucking Sonning.

There's no room left for pride, or a sense of ownership, about the landscape.

@BarbaraofSeville - I think @nocoolnamesleft mentioned rural poverty in response to @Thehonestybox saying ”But what I find when we get to the rural places is that fairly wealthy people run the show, own all the land and complain that 'outsiders' don't respect their land and they don't want them.”. She is pointing out that the country isn’t just a playground of the rich, but has poverty too.

I don't get why it's funny? My job is meeting with landowners to say "please will you allow this youth group to do a conservation project on your land because they don't have any of their own land and we think they'd enjoy it?". And then a hundred million emails trying to make that happen because its been proven that a connection to nature is massive for mental health.

I know I didn't say exactly what my job is. But I don't get why it's funny?

Op I think YOU are just immune to littering. We live in London and I don't know Anyone who think littering is normal Yes there is loads of it and we all complain about it. So it's obvious that those living rurally would dislike it too. My children school organise litter picking to teach them that littering is wrong. There is no excuse for littering whether you live in the countryside or not!

I once cut myself on some pampas grass. It hurt. Therefore people should stop complaining about restaurants that add the service charge to the bill.

Oh @JesusInTheCabbageVan 😂

^^ THIS is old-school mumsnet, & the reason I got hooked & can never leave despite the tone changing so much for the worse lately joined in the first place.

You're being paid to listen to them and their complaints - it's quite literally your job.

They are not being paid to listen to you. If you want to complain about how shit you find city living, write to your MP instead.

I feel if everyone owned a little bit of land they'd have more pride and respect in it. If you grow up knowing that you'll never own anything, are destined to live somewhere high crime and then are made to feel like without doing a crazy amount of tiptoeing and research that you a simply aren't welcome in the beautiful areas..Well, you're just very likely to be unsympathetic about anything

So it’s actually got fuck all to do with litter and everything to do with you not liking rich people.

Thank you!

Incidentally, the pampas grass incident happened when I was 8. Nobody holds a grudge quite like I do.

i live in the countryside, but that is not really relevant I do not think it is right to litter in the city or the town. There is a difference in my village in that there is absolutely no street clearance service, so if you drop stuff we all have to pick it up on one of our village tidy up days.

@Thehonestybox - I do agree with the posters who have said that littering in the countryside causes real harm to wildlife and to farm animals. We should be doing all we can to look after the natural environment - I honestly can’t see that the countryside would be better if it was buried under loads of non-biodegradable rubbish!

And the towns and cities rely on the farmers and the countryside (here and abroad) to put food in the supermarkets, so looking after the welfare of farm animals strikes me as a good idea too.

That said, I think litter in towns and cities is an equally important issue - everyone should be able to live in a clean local environment - and litter is the easiest issue to solve - either throw it away in a proper bin, or take it home and throw it away there. How difficult is it not to drop your trash on the street/moorland/hillside/wherever?

Sorry I should've said in OP. Its a vague job but i'm technically being paid to persuade them to let community groups like youth clubs on or near their land to do nature based community projects. You're right that is my job, but I guess I'm more defensive/protective about the community groups

So what are you doing to improve littering where you stay? Just because its rife there doesn't mean us rurally should accept it.

I feel if everyone owned a little bit of land they'd have more pride and respect in it. If you grow up knowing that you'll never own anything, are destined to live somewhere high crime and then are made to feel like without doing a crazy amount of tiptoeing and research that you a simply aren't welcome in the beautiful areas..Well, you're just very likely to be unsympathetic about anything

What does that even mean?

I was born in Newcastle in a tower block, grew up in council houses and spent a lot of time in care, did not finish my schooling, pregnant at 15.

I now own my own business, own my own home and land in a beautiful rural area.

Do You think this was handed to me? I worked damn hard to get where I am.

If You don't like living in Leeds then do something about it!

As a country dweller, the only litter that does not enrage me is a Harrods bag, discarded from a speeding Aston Martin, crammed with foie gras remnants & maybe a discarded linen napkin, slightly soiled with the lip-imprint of an agreeable Sangiovese.

Because obviously I own acres of fresh air, a giant detached gaff, have loadsamoney, & don't give a shit about 1) the unwashed poor or 2) city problems.

What don't you understand? A slight hint of playful humour on a pointless conversation starter on an arbitrary but divisive topic?

What don't you understand?
Being rumbled for Goady Fuckery so early in your thread, by so many PP?

Since we're moving into Friday night and it's time for everyone to start picking a film to watch when the kids are in bed...yeah. I guess it is. Although, so I don't sound like a total wanker - I don't dislike rich people. I'm just bored of meeting so many who say litter are crime shouldn't be their problem but it's OK for it to be mine be a I'm used to it.

OK, I've caused enough unexpected drama for the evening. I'm out.

FYI - Bullet is on GreatMovies at 10pm, which has good reviews. Fast and Furious 6 is on ITV and though I havent seen the same good reviews...each to their own!

But darling, think of the poor peoples flip flops! Discarded on their walk because they couldn’t afford gortex trouser/shorts!

All this thread does is remind me why I would never ever want to live in a city.

And wish that people would take responsibility for their litter.--

Ok. Your clarifications suggest something slightly more interesting. Your point about so many people not having any buy-in to the concerns of others is one that I agree with and has been raised on here a number of times in the last 10 years. Poverty and shitty living concerns are what I grew up with, what I tried to get away from, so no arguments there.

But I don’t think you’re going about it in a good way. All the points about the destruction of wildlife and the environment are only too true, and will not help the city dwellers in the slightest: if an environment regularly kills living things, it will kill human beings too.

Damn autocorrects! Shitty conditions, not concerns.