Do you ever drop litter?

[SwanOfThoseThings]

Inspired by the thread about the UK being in terminal decline.

It's true that there is litter everywhere, and this is by no means a new problem, litter has been a problem in the UK for as long as I can remember, and I'm in my 50s.

But - who is dropping it? It's the sort of thing no one admits to.

Are you a reformed litterer? Have you ever been forced to leave litter behind in an emergency situation? Have you ever been out and about with someone who dropped litter?

Never ever I find it disgusting. I see people dropping it as they walk or throwing it out their cars all the time. Sadly it’s not worth the risk challenging people.

The droppers small and large will not be vocal about doing it...

Never knowingly. Some people think it's okay because it's someone's job to clear it up (seriously!) or whatever they are dropping will biodegrade so it doesn't matter. Whenever our recycling bins are emptied there are items of litter that get strewn about and the bin crews don't clear them up. Then there's fly tipping. It's awful and there are no excuses imho.

Nope and I clear up anything of mine the bin men drop.

That's what I suspect, although this is an anonymous forum so someone might be brave enough to name change and own up. Or at least to being a former litterer who has seen the error of their ways!

Not knowingly.

I haven’t seen the other thread but I’ve noticed much more litter in hedges, at traffic lights, roundabouts etc. I think it may also be due to council cuts and not enough work done to clean it up. Don’t get me wrong, it’s the litterers who are the wankers here, just adding to the worsening environment.

Never, I used to be involved in a community litter pick and the amount of people who would say we were taking jobs away from the council was crazy! If I see someone litter I'll tell them, it's a reflex rather than a considered action!

No I haven’t.

My brother is a teacher, a girl in his class left a load of crushed biscuits and wrappings where she had been sitting. He told her to clean it up. She flicked a finger at him and told him it wasn’t up to her, that’s what cleaners are for.

I never litter, and I credit the Wombles of Wimbledon for teaching me at a young age. My DF would take us to Wimbledon common to pick up litter 'for the wombles'.
I have been in cars with people who throw cups/McDonald's wrappers/ spit gum out the windows while driving and I find it utterly abhorrent. I'm not sure why they think it's acceptable.

Never. It's disgusting. Only scum do it

I would probably tell someone if they dropped something, say a tissue from their pocket when they took out their gloves or mobile, but I wouldn’t challenge someone deliberately littering. I’m not confrontational and I’d be scared of the response.

I think as well the proliferation of fast food outlets has played a part of this, as much of the litter I see is cartons, coffee cups, plastic bottles etc. As you said, the litterers are at fault here, not the takeaways, but it is a factor in that it gives people litter to drop, especially, I suspect, late at night on the way home from the pub/club.

The sad thing about litter is if everyone in the entire country went out on one day and cleared it all, the people that litter would just do it more.

It's a weird psychological thing.

I am walking trying to rehabilitate and there's a lot of litter down this beautiful country lane near me. I know the road was clear and this Merc passed me. I walked back and right in the middle of the road was a plastic food container and a plastic fork. It had to be him. No other vehicles had gone by me.

He probably didn't want his partner to know he had eaten that food so chucked it out. Ditto loads of wine and beer bottles on the main road where I also walk.

I find it utterly heart breaking that this country is wrecked in every respect but litter is one of the issues that is right in your face.

It s a combination of things i think

• more packgaging
• less public bins
• shelfish assholes
• and a general decline around the values of taking pride in your community / environment, and respecting your peers / community / environment

however, some people are just complete dicks.

i was in a south west part of london a few years ago with my friend. We were out of the local waitrose on our way to her eye test. This man threw a blue plastic bag on the ground right next to the bin - and no before anyone ask he didnt miss the bin, he couldnt care less.
from the air about him, his charisma and the way he was dresses it was obvious he didnt like being told what to do.

anyway i said “hey, please can you pick up your bag and put it in the bin thats right there”
he looked at me and didnt insult me or anything but just said “no. You do it” and walk off.

and you know what, i fucking did.

i was so annoyed with myself but i wasnt going to leave the bag on the ground

Never, ever.

I grew up in NZ where "Be a tidy Kiwi" was hammered into us.

Coming to the UK was a shock and I felt so much anger seeing all the rubbish.

My DH threw something out his window when we were first dating and I lost my shit, telling him how selfish it was not only to everyone who has to drive past and see the rubbish but also to animals and the country he was born in.

He had never heard anyone feel passionately about it before and was quite ashamed. He never did it again and now talks a lot about how disgusting it is and tells other people off lol

David Sedaris spends hours a day doing this in West Sussex and has written about some of the strange things he's come across.

The verges of the major dual carriageway near me are covered in a blanket of bottles, fast food packaging and plastic wrappers. Trees are full of plastic bags, balloons and those stupid lanterns. It's very sad.

I’ve also noticed there just aren’t sufficient bloody bins on the streets. Again, maybe council cuts to collections. You sometimes see these mounds of rubbish around the few bins around.

I never litter, it's careless and ignorant and I judge people who do.

A lot of the litter in the streets around me is actually caused by the council bin crews! I've seen it happen often. Stuff escapes from the recycling bins and general waste bins as they're being emptied and is just left on the ground.

No. I actually picked up two plastic bottles last wkend and put them in my recycling bin

To drop litter would require a very specific mentality - a self entitled nob head!

In other countries litter dropping is seen as almost a social outcast thing to do.

Never. My mum was passionate about anti littering and drummed it in to us at an early age that littering was wrong. I fear if I even so much as droppes an apple core she will come back and haunt me!

TBH it is not just the UK. I was in Cologne last weekend and the entire place was a giant open air litter bin, especially on the Friday evening.

Better than it was when the IRA was active and bins were removed from many places. I take rubbish home if I can't find a bin.

Do you think the 'Be a tidy Kiwi' campaign had a significant impact in the NZ littering situation, or is it something deeper in the culture of the country? We had 'Keep Britain Tidy' back in the 70s/80s but I don't think it had much effect.

Never. I'm a 70s child, and it was drummed into me by my parents - Mum especially as it was she that took DB and me on days out while Dad was working or asleep on night shifts - that you put your rubbish in a bin. If there's no bin you keep it in a bag or pocket till you find one. If you don't find a bin, you take it home with you and dispose of it there. So I've never once deliberately dropped litter in my 54 years, even if the wind has blown something out of my hands I've chased after it and felt bad if I couldn't retrieve it!

Mind, there's nothing new about litterbugs. My mum once took DB and me along with our neighbours two DDs for a day out in the woods. We'd have been around 7, 8, 9 or so, so over forty years ago. One of the neighbours DDs finished a packet of crisps and promptly dropped the empty packet on the grounds, at which my mum immediately chided her with "Pick that up; we don't drop litter!" The girl looked at her, dumbfounded. She'd clearly been used to dropping litter indiscriminately when she'd been with her own parents. Shocking, really, if that's how she and other kids are brought up, no wonder there's so much litter about. It really is a disgrace.