Plastic Bottle Litter

[LTFT5]

Hi,
A year ago, as of yesterday, my daughter challenged me to pick up any discarded plastic bottles whilst out on my walks and then recycle them on returning home.
Of course I wore gloves or used a litter picker whilst doing this and only collected what was safe to retrieve.
I walk everyday in villages, towns and the countryside and yesterday I picked up my one thousandth bottle.
This is certainly nothing to celebrate as quite frankly it is a disgrace.
Most of these bottles have been accompanied by coffee cups and fast food packaging simply thrown out of car windows.
It makes me laugh that a lot of them are energy drinks but the discarder did not have the energy to take it home and recycle it.

It would be great if the fines for littering were a real deterrent but catching those who simply throw litter out of their cars is nigh on impossible.

Take the challenge yourself and see how many you can safely collect in a year

All the best
Andy

[plmc135]

A more worrying event is the number of used face masks you see discarded all over the place. I would not fancy going round picking them up.

[raptor9]

Always fighting a losing battle I'm afraid. Lots of youngsters don't care about this. Two years ago, 4 well dressed youngsters were walking towards me in town. One dropped his large plastic packaging on the pavement as he came towards me. I asked him to put it in the litter bin, which was ten feet away. His reply 'If it bothers you that much, then do it yourself'. My reply was unprintable on here, but you need sometimes to be a bit careful when responding to these people. Sometimes better to be a live coward than a dead hero!. Not quite sure what the answer to the litter problem is. People just don't care.

[AyrForce1]

Not quite sure what the answer to the litter problem is.

AK47.

[Knife 04]

The litter around here is terrible, especially in the parks. This seems to have got worse since the easing of lockdown as people can now congregate more

Last week I walked the dog in the early evening and there was an 'extended' family (more than restrictions allow) having a picnic or similar - the following morning it looked as if they had just got up and walked off leaving everything there including a small portable bbq

Same with some dog owners - pick up the dog's cr*p in a bag and then throw it in the trees / hedge - what is that about! And then of course there are those that don't even pick up

No respect for others nowadays and you are forever looking for litter to avoid so the dog doesn't stand in it or pick it up

[Thunder]

Lots of youngsters don't care about this. Two years ago, 4 well dressed youngsters

Define youngsters, are we taking under 15, under 20, under 30, or just anyone younger than we are?

Plenty of grown adults are just as guilty of littering so I wouldn’t be too quick to highlight one age group.

[raptor9]

OK. Lots of youngsters [not all] up to age 25, lots of younger adults [25 -45 not all] lots of more towards middle age [ 45 -60 but not all] older age 60 upwards [but not all]. The ones I have physically seen littering have all been in the first category. Quite obviously people of all ages are guilty at times. I hope this clarifies things.

[Rob666]

Morning,

I know people will say it's not spotters but last week at 27 end at Fairford, picked up a plastic bottle and tin can along with foil. The moron concerned clearly did not have the energy (both energy drinks) to take them home or what kept their homemade sandwiches fresh. I was there with my daughter and wife to let them experience a U2 landing and see what all the fuss is about or to justify my time away. If you bought it with you take the crap home with you or stay away from the airfield, as you will only spoil it for everyone else who has respect for the countryside and being allowed to witness the action so closely while they are over here.

Rob

[Condor68]

Regarding the bit about dog mess .Tere is a large carpark near our railways station and a friend of ours lives next to it.His wife got fed up with one moron who drove down let the dog out read the paper collected dog and left.For about two weeks she collected it in bags and eventually walked up to his car opened the door and chucked it in.He went mental until she said if you want to get it DNA tested it will prove its your dog. While he was pondering she smiled sweetly and said if you would like a cup of coffee come in and we can watch it on ths CCTV camera the covers the gate.Leapt in car never to be seen in that car park again

[Knife 04]

Plenty of grown adults are just as guilty of littering so I wouldn’t be too quick to highlight one age group.

Totally agree Scott - from what I have witnessed it is whole families that think this is acceptable!

Leapt in car never to be seen in that car park again

Probably not a conservative but certainly someone commencing with a small 'c'

If you bought it with you take the crap home with you or stay away from the airfield, as you will only spoil it for everyone else who has respect for the countryside and being allowed to witness the action so closely while they are over here.

I do - being a smoker I pick up my butts and stick them in a dog doo bag!

[Pune]

Regarding the bit about dog mess .Tere is a large carpark near our railways station and a friend of ours lives next to it.His wife got fed up with one moron who drove down let the dog out read the paper collected dog and left.For about two weeks she collected it in bags and eventually walked up to his car opened the door and chucked it in.He went mental until she said if you want to get it DNA tested it will prove its your dog. While he was pondering she smiled sweetly and said if you would like a cup of coffee come in and we can watch it on ths CCTV camera the covers the gate.Leapt in car never to be seen in that car park again

Great stuff, that's the way to treat them, a friend of mine followed a car out of a Macdonalds drive through recently only to see the driver throw the packaging out of the car, sadly for the driver he was stuck at traffic lights, out my friend got, picked up the rubbish, tapped on the guys window and lobbed it in, he didn't argue, my mate is 6'6"..happy days, and it was all on his dashcam .

[raptor9]

Be careful though!. Years ago, I was teaching an Asian youngster to drive [it's what I did for 39 years. ] I stopped outside his house at the end of the lesson. In front were four Asian lads in a Micra. All the doors opened, and they dropped their MacDonalds rubbish whilst looking at me. I started to leave the car, but my pupil grabbed my arm very quickly, and said 'Don't!. They're not from round here!'...Sometimes it's better to let things go. We are not going to change the world by getting a good kicking or worse. Did I feel a coward? Not really, just sensible in this instance. If you call me a coward over this then that's fine.... At least I am still here. Cautionary tale......I'm 6'1"....but......four of them?

[podge]

Not at all raptor9 it’s not worth getting yourself hurt or even worse.

These yobs of any age that can’t be bothered to put rubbish in a bin or take it home should of been educated at a younger age to have respect and discipline.

The problem will only get worse with time unfortunately, bring back national service I say.

[Blackcat1]

People stink !

[Mike]

People stink (present company accepted)

I think you mean 'excepted'!

[reheat module]

Be careful though!. ...I'm 6'1"....but......four of them?

Even up the odds a bit - and put one arm behind your back!

[Blackcat1]

People stink (present company accepted)

I think you mean 'excepted'!

I take it back! Yep id had a few , sue me spelling Police

[Condor68]

Had a new slant on disposal yesterday.While doing the voluntary bailiffing at our club fishing the people who clean the portaloos turned up and got on with it..Minutes later the guy came round and told me he had found 2 fish heads in the toilet.I said OK I will put them in the bin to which he replied they were not in the unit someone had actually flushed them into the chemical loo.My colleague and I sensed a wind up but no ,someone thought they could flush a fish down a portaloo.As its limited access didnt take long for culprit to be unveiled . Wonder what he flushes at home apart from the obvious.If he is on this site WHY?

[C-Harvey]

A neighbour takes the little plastic dog bag from their house to deposit it in the council rubbish bin a couple of hundred metres from their house..

Fascinating

[Sparts99]

Interesting that angling has appeared in the thread. I gave up the hobby years ago because I didn't want to be associated with the people fishing the Medway near me. The mess they left behind was incredible, the ignorance of how to treat fish when caught was astounding, when you tried to explain or help it invariably got ugly. Back to the bottles, there's a pair of youngsters near me that have started litter picking locally, they've been on the local BBC News and national Channel 5 news, there is hope. They've effectively shamed the local council into dealing with litter black spots and have gained an entusiastic local following.