To HATE the litter problem we have in the UK

[NameChangeLifeChange]

We live in a city suburb and the litter is appalling. Constant- occasionally the council do a good clean but it’s back within a day. We had family visiting from Australia and I was so embarrassed by the state of our streets. We live in a relatively nice city suburb but there is so much litter. I will on occasion litter pick locally but it’s too big a job for me.
Is if a cultural thing? There are some areas with a lot more litter than others and the social/cultural make up is very different- does this explain it? I rarely see anyone actively dropping the litter so I wouldn’t like to ‘blame’ anyone with evidence.
How can we fix it? The UK is so dirty compared to so many other countries. Obviously I never litter and try to impress the importance of not littering on my children but it’s a farce as our local area is covered.

YANBU. It's so frustrating. I see litter sometimes within a foot of a bin.

It's a horrible problem. Makes me so angry seeing litter all over my town and people just throwing their rubbish on the ground.
Even my 2yr old knows rubbish goes in the bin and if there's no bin we take it home with us!

It’s not just the litter . It’s the dog poo ! It’s beyond a joke .

I think it’s just lazy people to be honest . Seems to be getting much worse . Some people just have no respect .

Some people (regardless of culture) just have no respect for others and their surroundings. But you can chalk this one up alongside many of the public services which are utterly dire.

For our local area I'm sure it's fuelled by lack of bins and the council not emptying the few that are around. You can walk for 40 mins across my local town and not find a bin.

That is true and I appreciate what pp is saying about lack of bins but ultimately although it would be great for the council to clean the rubbish regularly really we need to change our culture so that people don’t drop litter in the first place! It should be a complete social faux pas and called out immediately!

It isn't only people at fault, it's the jobsworth attitude of local councils (Hampshire I'm looking at you). I live in a village and do a litter pick of my regular running route about once a quarter.

I normally collect 8 or 9 bin liners full, but despite me doing the council's job for them, they won't collect the bags with my domestic rubbish because it won't fit in my black bin. Even when we filmed the whole thing, sent it to the council and asked them for comment, they still refused to collect it. The tip is a 34 mile round trip away.

It's totally dependent on area. I live in a nice suburb of a city and we don't have a litter problem. When I lived in the not so nice suburb there was more littering and a massive problem with dog shit on pavements. I think it's a viscous cycle of area looks messy or run down so people drop rubbish and on it goes.

Completely agree, also fly tipping too.
sometimes the fault lies with the bin type as magpies, crows, squirrels get into bins and literally take the rubbish out and drop it everywhere. Bins with smaller holes or lids are better than just open bins

It is a cultural problem amongst an antisocial minority, I believe. I grew up in the UK and in the more deprived areas we lived it was the norm for kids and teens and some adults to throw their rubbish on the ground. Public facilities were vandalised and toilets were revolting. I remember opening a toilet door once and finding a giant poo on top of the closed toilet lid.

By comparison, the first time I went into a public toilet in Australia and realised it didn’t stink I was amazed. We have lovely public facilities - communal BBQs in parks, outdoor swimming pools and water parks for little kids etc. If they were in the UK someone would definitely piss on the BBQ hot plate and turn it on. The parks and pools would be littered with food wrappers and there would be chewing gum stuck to the ground.

I live near a high school, I was walking behind some pupils who dropped a load of litter. Called them out and they laughed at me. I followed behind collecting it all up, then when we all got to the gate I placed it in the hands of the headmaster and pointed them out. It comes from the parents though as I’ve seen so many of them littering too. And the amount of dog poo is disgusting :( also outer London here.

I'm always surprised at how little litter there is in my area

My parents live in a wealthy middle class area and I notice how much less litter they have, barely any. I agree it’s probably self perpetuating. I find it so depressing.

I hate it too and think it’s an attitude of it’s someone else’s job to clean it up. I’m from another country where littering is really frowned upon. L

I was amazed in Japan that there are no public bins and everyone just knows they have to take their rubbish home with them.

It really depends where you live. I rarely see much litter in the city I live in, but visited two other English cities recently and the amount of litter was awful, especially on Saturday and Sunday mornings when people had been out the night before.

I visited Dallas and the lack of litter is inspiring

The litter is everywhere in the UK - in towns and cities, but also along every road in the verges and central reservations. It's a national embarrassment, and it's part of the "someone else's problem"/"someone else is paid to deal with that" attitude that the British now collectively have.

We travelled through France and Germany in the summer and the only litter we saw there was when you started to get close to the Channel ports and the density of UK registered vehicles increased.

Me too

I live near a Royal Park and the litter us dreadful, particularly in the summer. People take bags of food in for picnics, and leave the wrapping and bottles behind, if you brought it in why can't you take the rubbish home? If the bins are overflowing the just plonk stuff on the top. Then the deer eat unsuitable items and become ill. I think this country must be one of the worst for littering.

It's appalling. YANBU

It used to make me so depressed. I would pick litter in my street it was so bad. Next day it was back.

I live abroad now. No litter on streets. If you drop anything someone will call you out on it.

What the heck happened in the UK?

Agree. Middle class wealthy ish area here. There's a lay-by at the bottom of our farm drive. Bin next in lay-by. Every Saturday and Sunday morning there are takeaway containers all over the lay-by.

Full of teens shagging in cars and doing the canister things.

Rather fun to shine the tractor lights on them sometimes though.

Haven't found a fun solution for the thoughtful people who pick up there dog poo, put it in a bag and then kindly leave it along our drive waiting for the poo fairies to pick it up.

I can’t relate to this. We just don’t have a litter problem here.

@FruHagen where do you live now? Honestly I know I sound mad but I find it depressing every day on the school run, going to work etc.

Some litter is caused by littering but lots of it is caused by rubbish that was originally put on the right place blowing around.

The problem with street cleaning now is that the Tories cut council budgets so it can't be cleared. You can get everyone in the world to put their rubbish in a bin, but if you don't sweep the roads you'll still get a mess.

I find utter disrespect for our environment shocking. I am all for introducing fines very like Singapore do. This is the only way people will learn.

And for those who say there isn't a bin for miles why can't you carry it home. It really isn't that big a hardship is it. You don't litter in your house why litter outside.