Litter

[plantfit 7,580]

As I was riding to Newark and back yesterday I noticed there was very few discarded cigarette packets along the roadside,instead of them there was loads of empty drinks cans, mainly energy drinks,Red Bull being the most common,only saw one empty ciggie packet but maybe 100-150 empty cans on a thirty mile journey,towards the main A17 road there was also a lot of McDonalds "carrierbags" with odds and sods in them,drink cartons empty wrappers etc, I guess all this litter has been thrown from motor vehicles, it was on the news program yesterday that Lincoln police are clamping down on this type of litter and the fines will be increased,even throwing a discarded ciggie out of a car window could result in an £80 fine, have the police ran out of crime to detect or is it cheaper to police the situation using the police than to employ litter pickers, some of these small time criminals who have been awarded community service could clean up the litter,The proper answer would be for these litterers to have more respect for their environment and take their litter home but I cant see that happening

 

Rog

[loppylugs 8,427]

They should do what they did in Canada.  A 5 cent  deposit on every can.  Some People still tossed the cans out.  The thing was that a lot of kids and even some adults made a point of scouring roadsides to make a bit of extra loose change.  They used to take them to a recycling place in the nearest village.  Legally you could get a ticket for littering, but I never knew anybody that got one.

[Brew 5,409]

PF, have the police run out crime? No, they have just chosen to ignore a lot of it. We're now told they will not bother to respond to burglaries but will happily give you a crime number 'for the insurance'. and voila... lots of time now to chase down them there dangerous litterbugs.

[denshaw 2,871]

There was a case about a month ago in Mansfield where a woman had been fined £75 for throwing a cig end on the floor. She refused to pay the fine and failed to appear in court, in her absence she was fined £600.

 

[loppylugs 8,427]

I assume if she doesn't pay that she will become guest of her majesty?  At taxpayer expense.

[denshaw 2,871]

Perhaps be allowed to pay at £2 a week.

[Gem 1,430]

For some reason those in charge of keeping our city tidy have come up with the idea of using very large bins.  All well and good but they have  also removed most of the smaller bins,  meaning that the distance between bins can be the full length of a street.  There are none outside fast food outlets or sandwhich shops  so the litter is dropped on street ...beggers  belief  where is the sense. Answer is none.

[DJ360 6,721]

I've always been puzzled as to why somebody can carry a bag that is full of food, drinks cans etc., but they cannot manage to carry it to a bin, or to their home, when they have consumed the contents.

 

Littering is as much a social problem as it is a legal one.  It shows a lack of civic pride, a lack of respect for others etc.

[banjo48 928]

Firstly let me state that I'm not having a go at the smokers that may be still around here, I'm on about the litter (stub ends, butts whatever they are called).

We've just had a brand new super duper shopping center open near us, it has had nothing spared and must have cost an absolute fortune. It has several entrances and at each one you have to run the gauntlet of the smokers even though they have a special place with seats and bins about 50 mts away especially for them.

But the real issue is not so much the gauntlet of stale smoke but the mess they leave behind ! cigarette ends are stubbed out on the floor everywhere on the brand new marble paving all around the entrances, and often it's staff from the stores that have nipped out for their 10 minute scive to satisfy their urge.

 

So incensed was I the other day I went into the management office and put in a formal complaint, the lady was very nice agreed with me entirely and said they would look into it, yeh right, just this AM had to run the gauntlet yet again and actually witnessed an older lady doing her stubbing out !

 

But it's not just these thoughtless individuals it's as above the fast food rubbish thrown on the floor even though there is a bin literally 5 mtres away ! they're just low life morons.

[Oztalgian 3,271]

In South Australia we have a ten cent deposit on all beverage containers, beer cans and bottles,  plastic bottles, juice cartons, milk cartons etc. You hardly ever see them in the streets as someone will usually pick them up. If you look at the beach after a storm more often than not what litter you see washed up on the waterline is cigarette butts, just the filter tips as the paper and tobacco tends to break down. Some of the other stuff you see is litter that is generated by the fast food giants. I reckon the councils should collect their litter, return it to them and charge them for it as well as heavily fining the litterers if seen.

From an early age my parents taught me to take any litter home. Given the amount of graffiti and vandalism about it is obvious there is very little civic pride these days

[plantfit 7,580]

A few years ago around the car park area of Attenborough nature reserve McDonalds did install some litter bins because that area was pretty bad for discarded McDonalds bags etc,I think a member of the staff was detailed to empty these bins daily,good idea in principle if it works,the main problem is getting the litter bugs to put their rubbish in the bins or take it home with them,a battle I think we will never win

 

Rog

[FLY2 10,108]

I was there the other day Rog, and it's still an absolute disgrace. There were bags just dropped from cars all over the car park, yet there are plenty of bins situated around the area. 

[denshaw 2,871]

Some Macdonald drive through so were writing registration numbers of the cars on to their food bags so they could identify the dumpers, good idea but I don't think it made much difference to the litter problem.

[plantfit 7,580]

Ignorant people with no regard for others and the environment,,what an embarrassmant to the country,just plain lazy,good idea about writing reg numbers on take away packs if only it could be policed,the take away places should get together with the council to sort this problem out

 

Rog

[Oztalgian 3,271]

I like that idea, most of the bags are found on the highways quite a way from the stores, obviously thrown out of cars.

It should be a condition of their business license. However on a second thought all it needs is some feral to take bags out of a bin and throw them around but it may make them take the bags home.

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

Huge fine here in my state for littering the highways, but people still toss litter out of their cars.

[radfordred 6,284]

[LizzieM 9,507]

Scumbags.  I received an email the other day from the City Council which was basically patting themselves on the back about being a ‘Clean City’. There was a questionnaire asking for my comments so I told them in no uncertain terms my thoughts on the state of the suburbs, however I do think that the city centre is pretty clean.  

[FLY2 10,108]

I had the Arrow, the City Council periodical, and it's farcical. So self congratulatory.

 Sorry Lizzie, but I think the city centre is deplorable at times, a such a shame. Vic Centre is ok though.

Long Row, Angel Row and Parliament St are litter strewn, even by mid morning. Some even have the previous nights 'human'  detritus still decorating the pavements. 

We're not alone though, as I've recently seen Southampton, Bournemouth, Salisbury and other so called pleasant cities, and they are gruesome.

[FLY2 10,108]

RR, I've seen Bulwell far worse than that. This week too !

[benjamin1945 16,139]

Up until a couple of years ago there was a permanent street cleaner in Bulwell,, nice friendly chap always cleaning up with a smile,,

Suppose he was made redundant to save money,,

[Mess 616]

Litter, well, to use the modern vernacular it does my 'ead in.

 

How can people be so selfish and uncaring about their surroundings?

 

When I were a lad sure there was litter but It seems to be getting worse these days and it isn't just the youngsters. 

 

I grew up in the 50s and 60s and back then my mum and dad's generation were much more caring. I guess they were just happy to have made in through WWII. They taught me that littering was almost as bad as vandalism. The Keep Britain Tidy campaign along with a £50 fine if you were caught littering was quite effective but is now long forgotten.

 

Nowadays I live in a small Northamptonshire town and the council employ a good few "litter pickers" but still litter is evident at the side of the roads and paths. I find it offensive and when I walk our dogs I regularly pick up what I can manage.

 

I simply can't understand why people drop litter so close to litter bins. Haven't they got a brain? As for people who throw stuff out their car windows, they should be publicly flogged and people that indulge in fly tipping should have the word "slob" tattooed on their forehead. 

 

As a start I think all drinks should be sold in a returnable glass bottle. Or you could even consider a 5p deposit on a can, refundable when returned to a recycling centre. I bet you wouldn't see so many discarded then.

 

I see some places have started having litter picking days where the community get together and go out picking. A great idea which I hope catches on before we all drown in a mountain of crap.

 

 

[Mess 616]

 

 

I've just found this:  https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/ .  Maybe things are looking up although I note McDonalds and Costa aren't listed as partners.

 

 

[Deepdene Boy 642]

Fully agree with you Mess, but does anybody else see the irony in a thread entitled Litter being started by Mess

[Cliff Ton 10,458]

In the last few weeks it's become impossible to go anywhere without seeing this sight everywhere.  I fully support the use of masks in shops etc, but there seem to be as many on pavements as on faces. They've taken over from cigarette ends, chewing gum, and pieces of paper.