That ribbons & balloons along public streets for a funeral is litter rather than a tribute?

[StreetLitter]

I frequently see balloons and plastic ribbons tied on lampposts for funerals near me. It doesn’t appear to be removed after the funeral, so just becomes litter. MORE litter, our city is filthy anyway (Birmingham).

Someone mentioned this on a community group and got torn to shreds. I agreed with them but would not want to have done so on the group given the vitriol dished out.

So AIBU?

YANBU- It is litter and should not be allowed
YABU - It brings comfort to grieving families

V annoying - see also helium balloons. Environmental disaster. See also flowers on graves wrapped in plastic! Where do people think this plastic is going to end up? So rude.

Totally agree
Maybe the local Council should step in with new. Bye laws and fines about leaving rubbish and. fly tipping.

Do people also leave this type of trashy tribute rubbish in cemeteries and.around crematoriums?

Think the days of saying ones respects in a quiet way with a bunch of flowers have long gone..

Just another occasion that has become a day out to the Circus.Then get legless at the pub afterwards as the final tribute.

Happy Days Folks
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⚰️🥁🎈🎊🎉🥃🍷👎

Christ - you're a hard- hearted lot. When I see that I think how very sad. I don't think of it as litter.

If its done as a tribute.... then dont let it end up looking like a junkyard.

They do in our cemetery. My late mum agreed to be buried (we had a conversation about what to do when she was terminally ill when I was 23 as all her family are cremated) because I felt I needed somewhere to go. Her one condition was that there was no "tat" or fake flowers put on the grave, which I happily agreed to. Since then my brother used a space in the grave for a child his girlfriend had had an elective termination for at a late stage for serious medical reasons, and so my nephew is buried with my mum, and my dad's in there too. My brother's girlfriend's mum visits a couple of times a year with fake flowers, teddy bears, cards in polythene, ornaments etc. I don't want to be mean as her grandchild is buried in there, but it's awful, it's bad for the environment, and my mother would have been so upset about how it's turned out. She doesn't remove anything - so there are dirty teddies, toys, faded fake flowers there, that I have to move, and feel really mean doing so.

I can understand tributes being laid in the immediate aftermath when shock is reverberating (particularly when its an event that has shaken a community), but they should be removed in a timely fashion as decay sets in.

In recent years it seems to have become a thing to "decorate" memorial benches and leave their use impaired by flowers and other tied on and inevitably left to decay. The bench and its plaque are already there as a memorial.

I've never been to the site where my close family member died abruptly and prematurely. I lay flowers at his grave at specific occasions (wrappings disposed of appropriately), and remember him as and when anyway.

I wonder if the development of these tribute trends are connected to the decreased formality of funeral rites, increased time for funerals to take place (often 4-6 weeks) and people not paying the significant cost for graves or plots for ashes to be interred so that leaves a place of death as a focal point for memorial rather than a traditional type of dedicated site.

Yes to the benches. I enjoy pausing for a moment to look at the little brass plaque to see which dear loved one is being remembered, with their name and a few carefully-chosen poignant words about what they meant to those leaving the tribute.

The thing is, though, that the primary purpose of a bench in a public place - and the reason for the council granting permission for it - is so that people can sit down for a rest on it.

If it's frequently covered in... well, anything apart from people's bottoms, it defeats the whole object of it being there. What was a beautiful, subtle, practical tribute - a way of keeping alive the memory of a special person whilst also providing ongoing comfort and rest to those who live on in the area - is completely destroyed.

There is a shrine on the Woodhead Pass which has been there for 20 years. It has had people looking after it but is starting to look tatty and overgrown. I’m hoping that his family has found a peaceful place to remember him.

I didn’t know the young lad but I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t want his family and friends remembering him at the place he was killed.

And when you see popped balloons, string, cellophane wrapping all blown over the verges and hanging from the bushes you think what a lovely tribute?

I don’t really get these answers about it being scruffy performative etc. do you not believe these people are genuine? Obviously toy are aware that people grieve differently and that it’s not for you to decide what is appropriate grieving but these posts are coming across as others just not taking it seriously as grief.

@Talltreesbythelake of course not 🙄

What a daft thing to say.

I do litter picking every week around my village. Have you ever, in your life, stopped to pick up the crap that people leave for someone else to clear? Doubt it. But carry o leaving cans of beer and sodden Teddy bears as a lovely memorial.

If they are genuine then they would keep up the appearance and not just let stuff rot away.

Noticed a rotting bunch of flowers by the river today. Thought hoorah no plastic wrap. Then noticed it had a ribbon tied around them. Where the person who left them thought the plastic ribbon with a perfect loop for animals legs and necks to get caught it was going to end up when it got swept away from the rocks when the river levels rose. 🤔 🌊