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)

There are no words! Your original post has now turned into a whole 'people in the countryside have way more money than me'. FFS.
Insert 27 facepalm emojis here

Very odd thread. Brought up in a city and lived in several.I've never just accepted litter or dog crap as 'to be tolerated'. It's a massive blight and unacceptable. Never thought of climbing hills in flip flops either. Bonkers.

Littering is the hallmark of someone completely without any grace or class IMO. It shows a total lack of respect.

I'm completely with the aneurism people on this one.

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.
You know there are also very rich property-owning folk in Leeds who don't give a shit about litter or city crime rates either, because they can afford for it not to affect them?

I know I didn't say exactly what my job is. But I don't get why it's funny?
Because I've never met a Conservation Officer who reckons people shouldn't moan about litter, that it's dandy to wilfully ignorantly climb mountains in flip flops, or who portrays all country folk as uncaring landowners?

& especially not one who was unaware of the litter dangers to wildlife & livestock ...

I'm sure it's been mentioned, but a lot of the time we're more concerned about our livestock choking to death on a plastic bag, for example. It's not at all uncommon, poo bags are a particular nuisance, and some animals will eat anything.
FWIW, I am probably one of the people you don't like, OP (land owner and, I hate saying it, but "wealthy", if it comes down to it). But I would be more than happy for one of your groups to use our land. I'm sorry if you come up against lots of people who are against it, there shouldn't be an issue with people using it responsibly, especially when there will be a positive outcome for those involved as well.

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

They brought in on themselves @TabithaTittlemouse, with their hubris in running the gauntlet between town & country without so much as the price of a shooting stick in their valet's pocket.

Now get orf my laaaaaand!

There are plenty of rich NIMBYs in cities. Look how many new apartment blocks have “poor doors” to keep social housing tenants out of sight of the rich.

How many community projects have you tried to set up in gentrified cities areas? I can assure you that wealthy city homeowners don’t want “troublemakers” (which is usually code for “black kids”) coming to youth clubs on their roads either.

Some of the worst paid workers going live in the countryside along with landowners (employers).
People who drop litter in the countryside spoil it for everyone.

Anyone who litters is a complete arsehole.
Sadly a lot of people DO litter. Rural or urban, it’s ignorant, selfish and offensive.
shitty nappies in a rural lay-by?
Take them home!

You need to stop being so bitter and jealous OP.

If you don’t like your life then make a plan to try and change it.

Don’t get your knickers in a twist because some people care about the environment and the impact it has on animals and people health.

Instead be grateful that you have better health care, job and education opportunities, public transport, public services, charities/organisations etc etc etc

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

Possibly. But I think this is more of an excuse, than a reason. I also know landowners that don't take care of their land. You don't have to 'own' something, to appreciate and care for it. Basically, it might not be your own nest in terms of you owning it, but you live in it, so don't fucking shit in it.

I also live in and work in the country in one of the most deprived areas of Europe.

I could look at you living in a big city and be prejudice about how rich you are and how your parents paid for you to go to private school and university and now you have a highly professional job which pays silly money and you can afford nannies and cleaners etc - which many people associate with city folk.

But I am not so closed minded (or stupid) to think that everyone who lives in a city is rich and I know that cities have their own problems just like the countryside does.

I also don’t think the people dropping litter in cities are exclusively deprived and disenfranchised youth. I’ve seen middle aged men in suits chuck stuff on the ground in the City of London, and seen food wrappers lobbed out of the windows of BMWs. It’s selfish cunts who litter. Obviously rich landowners don’t drop litter on their own land, any more than council tenants drop litter in their own front room.

What a stupid post

Yeah lets just chuck rubbish about! Fuck the countryside with it's stupid animals and crops growing everywhere...

YABVVVU OP. Anyone who throws litter anywhere other than a bin is a grade A cunt.

Urban areas may have more litter than the countryside, but if its a competition then I think the countryside wins on fly tipping. When did you last drive along a city road and find someone had tipped a load of rubble or garden waste all over the road. It is happening constantly in my area, hugely dangerous if you hit it in the dark, particularly on a motorbike.

Crawl back into your litter infested September eh troll? Pathetic.

September is a shitty month so we'll stick with that over swamp.

I live in a large town centre and litter pick most days. It pisses me off as me and the council have to deal with so much flytipping. I've got the community police onto office cigarette droppers too.

If you don't like litter then start by picking it up.

I live in a national park.
You think we should just accept shitty nappies, food waste, plastic etc left in the fields and on the moors? The disposable BBQs that start fires?

The cities are filthy so the countryside should be too. 🙄

What kind of messed up logic is that?

How about we teach everyone to take their bloody rubbish home with them instead of being such dirty bastards?

We need to start in infant schools. Really drum it into kids that it's filthy. The adults who think it's ok to go for a walk in the moors and leave a shit filled nappy tucked by some rocks are a lost cause but we should at least try to stop the next generation from being filthy pigs.

It's about the respect of people visiting an area.

I used to live in a city and moved to the countryside. Of course I saw more litter in the city BUT I know that if anyone who lived here was caught littering they'd be name & shamed on the village whatsapp group in minutes. Notsomuch in Birmingham!! I very much doubt they'd do it here in the first place but people demand a higher level of respect for the surrounding area and there's noting wrong with that.

It's annoying for locals when people drive out for the day and treat our surroundings disrespectfully. I've seen people throw takeaway wrappers out of the windows, run at livestock, allow dogs to run across fields during lambing season, allowing their kids to roam around private property, leaving gates open, driving dangerously past horses on the road etc.

It's not less annoying because it happens more elsewhere and nor should people be forced to grin and bare it!

I have lived in lots of places including many cities. Since moving to village life it astounds me how naive and entitled many village dwellers are. I find it tends to be the ones who have never lived anywhere else.. I find them extremely sheltered and tend to avoid them as they don't know how privileged they are.

I see what you mean op. There is also a degree of hypocracy with (some) country dwellers. While litter is unsightly of course, the country dweller is generally less worried about driving a gas guzzling 4x4 literally everywhere, having bonfires, heating their homes with wood burners and coal, not to mention all the agri chemicals and sewage that run off into watercourses.

People in glass houses and all that...

I disagree with everything the OP said, nobody should be dumping litter anywhere, but how is it a middle class bashing thread? Plenty of working class people, low income or people in benefits live in countryside areas too.

I owe you an apology. I reread the OP and see she said she was talking about wealthy people near the end. So, I'm sorry.