Who taught their offspring it’s ok to litter?

[Nutmuncher]

The amount of litter I see on streets and roads every single day is just astounding, in fact it’s mind blowing and I’m left wondering how so many parents (of adults not just children) failed to instill the basic fundamental of you don’t ever litter, that it’s shameful, lazy, dangerous to wildlife and makes our environment look terrible.

How low does their self awareness have to be in order to think it’s ok I’ll throw it out of the window if you’re drinking from a plastic bottle on the roads? How entitled does one have to be to leave their dogs poo bag on a footpath? What mentality thinks I know I’ll just leave this pile of McDonalds packaging under the car then… drive off?

If you are are litter thrower please explain your thinking because I’m desperate to understand what went so catastrophically wrong in your development that you think it’s acceptable to do?

I think a lot of it is just people assuming someone else will do it, especially in places where there are, even loosely speaking, staff there - e.g. park rangers or lifeguards at beaches.

A vague acquaintance of mine is a litterer, mainly of things that people don't think "count" like cigarette butts and chewing gum. He once complained in my heating about going somewhere that was "an absolute shit hole" - and full of fag ends, gum etc. He didn't see the irony even when several people pointed it out to him.

None of my kids litter (that I know of) - once, years ago, my DD2 held a cup out of the car window and said, "I'm going to throw it out." I said "what?!" and stopped the car, and she looked very sheepish and said "I was joking!" I do believe she was actually joking, but I think they all gathered from my reaction that that was not a funny joke and none of them has ever littered before or since!

The culture has changed, people are lazier, others feel they can’t control it or sort the issue alone. When you have members of society dumping household waste into the street, you’ve little chance of the younger generation not dropping paper.
There are some who care thankfully, youth groups that clear the beach to protect the wildlife but they’re getting rare.

DS then about 10 was horrified that I told his friend to pick up his McDonald's cup when he was in my care. I said, "If he wants to spend time with us, he abides by my rules."

What is with the oddly high percentage of people who don't finish their drinks? I'm forever picking half drunk cans off my wall/out of my front garden

I remember my DS singing a little song he'd been taught at Primary School "Don't drop litter, put it in the bin"...... He's 29 now. All the local children go to /went to the same school and yet the footpath through our estate is littered with cans and sweet wrappers clearly dropped by the local children on their way to/from school, the bus stop or the park. I can't help thinking that maybe they don't teach that song anymore.

We live 13 miles from the nearest McDonald's yet our local long distance bus stop always has their rubbish strewn around.

Whenever there’s a footie/rugby match in our park the crap the parents leave behind! Most people I see litter are teenage and above. Even if never taught not to litter they have brains don’t they?

I think these people can’t even cope with one crisp packet or empty can being in the car til they get home . I know on the roads around me there are so many cans and coffee cups . That’s what most of the litter is along the country roads and it’s not walkers doing it

I don’t think it’s always people. When the wind blows around the town centre it blows all the rubbish out.

The seagulls sit on the bins throwing stuff out.

I do a litter pick every morning round my place of work because loads of people hang out there after school/work. Among this morning's delights was a used sanitary towel

Dirty fuckers.

Yes it's insane, I cannot fathom why someone would throw litter on the ground. So sad 😞

I'm 45 years old and I am one of the YOUNGER litter pickers. Say the average age is 62.

Obviously there could be areas where more younger litter pickers are doing it.

Re cigarette butts, I bought myself one of these;
https://keepbritaintidy.butt-box.com/
I know the people who throw them down won't bother, but for any smoker with a conscience, they are really good!

We used to live on a country lane & I went out litter picking every week. People (tourists or locals, no idea) would just throw it out of their car windows.

Parents do everything right - I work in a secondary school and there is a real herd mentality around litter and mess.

Parents are mortified when you mention it but it only takes a few to do it for others to follow. Even the ‘nice’ kids need repeated reminders at the end of break!

I used to live on the South Downs and people would throw all their rubbish out onto the downs trails and the roadside ruining the park for everyone. Who the hell does that? Id have to go out daily and pick up peoples shit.

it's the same people that leave trolleys in the car park walkway when there is a trolley park to the side of them lol. I think some people genuinely live like that in their own homes too. I still get a shock when I realise not everyone was taught to clean up after themselves, put rubbish in bins and leave things tidy for the next person.

I have been incredibly strict about litter. I would be completely amazed if my kids did it out and about.

OP, many years ago when my DS was little, I was sitting on a bench in a shopping with DS and there was a lady with her DC eating a satsuma and just dropping the peel onto the floor. There was a wastebin practically within arm’s reach. When I asked her why didn’t she just throw the peel away, I got an absolute mouthful of abuse, telling me to mind my own business and what was it to me (language was a little more robust!) I said that if everyone dropped stuff in the floor, it wouldn’t be very pleasant - suffice to say it didn’t go down well.

Inadequate and poorly designed public bins are definitely part of the problem. Rubbish overflows and then gets stacked up by bins and then the foxes, rats or even the wind means it gets scattered everywhere. Same with fly tipping or people putting too much in their own bin.

A lot of it is just people being feral though. It’s not hard to teach people how not to litter. I had it drummed into my child by 18 months old. She still tuts at people who litter 6 years later and will run down the road to pick up litter she’s accidentally dropped.

I find it absolutely shocking when people litter. I genuinely don’t understand it.

We have a McDonalds very near to our estate. A McDonalds staff member walks round some mornings to pick up any litter.

I remember being a child in the back seat of a car and my father threw his cigarette butt out the car window. Not long after I threw an ice cream wrapper out the car window. I was told off for this and commented that Dad did it, so I thought it was what you were meant to do. I was told we weren't allowed to and it wasn't legal, blah blah. Hopefully, at that point, my father stopped throwing things out the window. This is how it happens often, I think - example and observation.

FWIW, I never litter and never have been a litterer and I've taught my children to not litter from the start too.

What is it with Red Bull drinkers? Whenever I saw a can rolling around on the tube or bus, 90% of the time it was an energy drink. Do the drinkers not have the energy to carry it with them after?

Anyway, perspective from a country that seems to have a lot less of a litter issue- Japan

1. There's a cultural stigma against walking around stuffing your face. You don't see adults strolling around with a bag of crisps for example. It's normal to get a snack at a convenience store and eat it there, either in the little seating area or stood outside, and then go back inside to dispose of the wrapper.

1. There's hardly any public bins. Parks do not have them. You have to take your litter with you. Events that encourage eating and drinking on the street will have large and obvious temporary bins set up. About half of all vending machines have a bin next to them, but it is supposed to only be used for drinks recycling- plastic bottles and cans.

1. Children are taught that keeping spaces tidy is a communal thing, not the job of some mysterious "cleaner". They have to clean the school at the end of each day. There's more social pressure to leave spaces tidy and it's part of the Japanese identity.

1. There's an army of older folks out and about who keep on top of little bits. On my street, there's a guy who's out nearly every day doing a little sweep to remove leaves and the odd bit of litter. Some cities employ older or disabled people part time to do this too.

1. Pocket ashtrays are really easy to find. Every 100 yen shop (pound shop) sells them. I've seen them used on TV, in films, and even anime. Smoking while walking is also frowned upon. You'll find smoking areas outside stations which have ashtrays included.

1. The local councils collect oversized rubbish, called "sodai gomi". It's a very easy process, you look up the item on the council website, and then buy the value of tickets you need from a convenience store. Stick the tickets on your item, stick the item in the designated spot near your building, and it gets collected. Cost us about £10 to get rid of a large chest of drawers this way.

Littering does still happen. People definitely throw stuff from their cars. On the way to the airport the other day I took a photo of the roadside and it's a pretty similar view to most places. A lot of rivers end up with random garbage in them- one near me has a cooking pot out in the middle!

I live in an area of out standing natural beauty - and its covered in litter

The farm contractors throw their take away containers out of the windows, the ones coming home after a night out - pizza and mcD's - all thrown out the car. People coming for a day out - just throw everything out of the car windows End of my road is a complete dumping ground, carrier bags of take away cartons get thrown there

A local garage put footage of a woman, on their forecourt, opening the car door and just dumping take out containers right there next to the petrol pumps - there was a bin just 3 steps from the car door

Im just back from Harrogate and the Great Yorkshire Show. 37k visitors a day - and it was near spotless. Bins everywhere, people used them, even for their cigarette butts . Sure there were litter pickers, but they weren't fighting a losing battle

We shouldn’t see any food or drink packaging on roadsides. Roads are not one big bin.

Things from vehicles such as bits of plastic wrapping from lorries carrying building materials which come off due to crosswinds. Then hub covers as got dislodged from driving over a pothole in the past.

Now when there has been a vehicle crash. The companies that take the smashed up vehicles away usually leave the bumpers, panels, wing mirrors that have come off from the main vehicle.

Then when contractors finish work on roads - many of them don’t take every sign, cone or barrier with them. These can be reused again and again. These things cost us our money from taxes and with utilities - through our bills. By the time we find these cones etc they are damaged. Those large roadworks signs and frame cost £200 each