To wonder why the UK is so filthy compared to other places?

[OptimismvsRealism]

Everywhere I've visited recently in Europe seems immaculate compared to my home city and other cities I visit for work etc. even the US seems better. What's going on??

Really think filth in public places is at the heart of a lot of our problems.

I also live in Kent, in a naice part where you’d get stuck on Facebook if you so much as dropped a fag butt. That’s fair enough really because there’s no litter. There’s also no McDonalds as the town elders would do a reenactment of Hot Fuzz if one was proposed, and I think that’s a massive source of litter.

I did travel the lanes of North Kent recently and was astounded by the amount of litter dumped by the road up there. Think our town elders need sending up there, that’d sort it.

I blame the norman conquest in 1066. Since then we've had the class system so the land doesn't belong to the people so they don't look after it.

Conservatives want more money in private hands so they have stopped funding local councils so they can't afford street cleaning or social interventions to help disenfranchised types. At the same time people have switched to internet shopping so councils have lost money from business rates and shopping centres have become a wasteland in many towns

It was more to do with councils having other things to spend their money on.

I have never seen so much human waste in the woods anywhere in the UK as I saw on a short walk in the Black Forest.

It, unfortunatelly, happens everywhere. Thoughtless damping of rubbish on the side of streets, countryside. It is really sad. We can all contribute to keep it clean. I think we do need a big campaign to remind us to do so.
And a big clean up.
In my area, I would really like to see more bins on the streets and walks. They should also empty them regularly.

Ive just returned to london from southern france and france was worse

So much dog shit and grafitti! Litter too and also quite a lot of areas of untended scrub land where nothing grows - dusty with dead looking grass etc.

I blame the norman conquest in 1066. Since then we've had the class system so the land doesn't belong to the people so they don't look after it.

I blame enclosure. When you had commons that everyone could use you didn't want them turning into wasteland.

We are also suffering because we now have a "take away" society, we eat more stuff that we take away from cafes and that's packaged in wrappings, plastic etc. The litter bins get filled quickly when people are using them so rubbish spills out onto the pavement. The street bins are only emptied weekly here, so on a day like yesterday, when it was nice to take food to the park, the bins were full by late aftenoon.

We need to solve the problem of plastic drink bottles.

The point is that people shouldn't be dropping litter in the first place. It's inexcusable. Same for picking up dog poo.

To account for the inevitable MN whataboutery, as long as the 99% of people who do have arms or pockets to carry litter until they see a bin or a bin at home to put it in did this, the problem would virtually vanish.

I can't say how UK compares to many places but Spain is covered in dog shit as it appears that few pick it up.

But we did notice there was virtually no litter in Reykjavik.

With Spain and dog poo is it that there are street dogs there? At least that would make sense where as we don’t really have stray dogs so there’s no excuse for the poop.

I'm beginning to think the problem might be the huge and disproportionate investment in London. Many people don't realise how bad things are in the real world, perhaps.

There are also way too many dogs in densely populated areas.

You've clearly never been to Saint-Denis if you think Paris is clean!

Have you ever been to NYC? London is very clean in comparison. When I went to Brussels there was dog poop all over the streets near our apartment

It's because most councils only have rubbish and recycling collections every few weeks even though council tax is much higher than the European equivalent where bins are emptied daily or every few days. Basically council tax is a waste of money.

Don't compare anywhere else in the UK to London , it really is another country. From public transport to public services it's a different world.
We've just come back from Pisa and Nice plus other smaller towns. All immaculate in comparison to the UK. Graffiti has been bad in mainland Europe for many years but the UK is catching up fast. Our town has never had any and suddenly some bastard is putting his Tag everywhere. Idiot!
We went walking locally on Sunday, most of the very nice streets look a real state as the gutters are completely overgrown, everywhere. Not just verges but gutters. A few people who are up to it clear their own and their neighbours but the majority can't or don't. This is despite our council tax being one of the highest in the country.

People used to feel responsible not only for their houses but for the bit of public land outside their home too. So they would get rid of the weeds sprouting through the pavement and cut the grass, clean up any mess.
Nowadays no one feels personally responsible for anything - everything is someone else's job. The council do the urgent stuff but aren't getting rid of all the weeds growing through cracks in the concrete everywhere, they are patching the potholes but not properly resurfacing. The bins are few and far between and not emptied regularly so rubbish piles up or people fly tip. It's just making Britain look scruffy.

People act like Britain is poor - I'm not buying it tbh. There always seems to be plenty of money for govt and councils to waste on their pet projects.

Starved of cash by Tory government

I do not live in a leafy suburb and I am allowed out to go to other areas of the city or country. I don't agree with you

Have you been to Paris? Filthy!

I do think the UK has a problem with littering, but other countries are not necessarily better, the authorities just tend to keep the touristy areas cleaner, IME.

I actually don't care about verges etc not being cut or sprayed etc, there's a place for insect life which in turn supports bird life etc. As long as it doesn't impede traffic or pedestrians. I'm glad councils are waking up to how environmentally friendly they can be - even if it's accidentally. Nature is messy, but that's good. The mess I object to is unsanitary stuff - household rubbish piling up in streets because refuse collection services are inadequate, the takeaway containers, plastic bottles etc that people can't be bothered to carry home if they can't find a bin/bin's full and dog mess that owners can't be bothered to clean up.

I blame the Romans, with their hierarchical, domineering model of conquest.

Babylonians anyone? 😆

I have no problem with "weeds", or things being overgrown at all. We're in the midst of a massive biodiversity crisis after all. It all depends on the way you look at it. Stop seeing them as a homogeneous mass of "weeds", and take the time to look at all the different wildflowers growing from the cracks in the pavement, and how many bees, butterflies, hoverflies etc you see stopping off at them. Maybe see how many different species you can identify. We had a botanist come and lead us in a wildflower walk last year, and we found over 80 species in a 100m stretch of tarmacked street, a verge and a hedge.

We cut the verge out the front as does the neighbour the other neighbours don’t though I agree

Absolutely this. I loathe litter, but the ridiculous war on 'weeds' - ie plants, has to stop. My personal hate is for the idiots who pour weedkiller on verges, public paths etc, leaving a hideous burnt brown mess and poisoning the earth for god knows how long.

A lot of people leave them purposely as the grasses and wild flowers promote biodiversity. Nature should never be described as dirty or messy, it’s completely different to littering, graffiti etc. I like the verges being left alone.