Views On Litter

[Kevin Milkins]

Has anybody a view to express on litter?

[wifie]

How about laziness, disgusting and pointless!

[Kevin Milkins]

How about laziness, disgusting and pointless!

All of the above I think goes without saying , but do we as a society do enough to encourage people to dispose of ltter properly ?

[silverfox57]

Has anybody a view to express on litter?
my pet hate is dog ???? on road then go in car to get a bad smell in car:~(

[rfr10]

Has anybody a view to express on litter?

Name and shame I say. CCTV cameras record people dropping litter and then publicise their face. Also to people who don't pick up after the mess evacuates out their dog's bum all over the pavement and no it's never in one spot. The dog always has to have the dioreah and obviously the owner drags the dog along the pavement aswell as the other stuff.

[balto]

OMG this really really really annoys me it is just the height of laziness when people wont put their rubbish in the bin, oh dont get me started on this on .

[justine]

Its is disgusting and i cant see why people just dont keep their rubbish to themselves.To much trouble to get rid of rubbish themselves, they wait for others to do it for them................................

[Kevin Milkins]

The reason for starting this thread is that I was looking up the street this afternoon and the amount of sweat papers and juice bottles etc blowing about just looked terrible.I wondered if any time at school was spent trying to explain to kids the need to dispose of litter corectly.The guys on the council work hard and do a great job cleaning up, they must get fed up.

[DeHaviLand]

I was in Wick High Street a couple of weeks ago when a High School pupil came out of MacDonalds, took his pie out of the bag, and threw the bag onto the ground right in front of the bin. I was astonished, and told him so. Bad manners and a lack of breeding/education won over though, and he just walked on regardless.:roll:

[Sapphire2803]

I was in Wick High Street a couple of weeks ago when a High School pupil came out of MacDonalds, took his pie out of the bag, and threw the bag onto the ground right in front of the bin. I was astonished, and told him so. Bad manners and a lack of breeding/education won over though, and he just walked on regardless.:roll:

I would've called him and said 'Pick it up now!' If he didn't, I would've picked it up, run after him shouting 'Hey, you dropped something!' and if necessary followed him back to school and reported it to the rector, but then I'm known for being extremely stubborn and a tad insane. :lol:

[Julia]

Has anybody a view to express on litter?

I hear 'catsan' is good

[DeHaviLand]

I would've called him and said 'Pick it up now!' If he didn't, I would've picked it up, run after him shouting 'Hey, you dropped something!' and if necessary followed him back to school and reported it to the rector, but then I'm known for being extremely stubborn and a tad insane.


Yeah, like I really need to get a reputation for following schoolchildren:roll:. Anyway, read the post again and you will see that I did remonstrate with him, but there are limits as to how far you can go. Unfortunately, his rights to drop litter outweigh my rights to force him to pick it up:(

[Macwull]

Gotta say the council needs praise on this one as the streets around wick always seem clean and tidy, they must have a GOOD team that probably don't get a lot of recognition!!

[Kevin Milkins]

Gotta say the council needs praise on this one as the streets around wick always seem clean and tidy, they must have a GOOD team that probably don't get a lot of recognition!!

As I already said ,not enough praise can be heaped on the council lads for the thankless task they perform. The trouble with giving sombody a telling of for dropping litter is nobody likes to be belittled and it would proberbly serves no usefull purpose in the run. I just wonder if more can be done to educate people ,preferably from a young age as to what it costs to pick up litter after it has been thoughtlessly disgarded and the impact it has on the enviroment if not picked up. PSI still cant make my spell checker work so have giggle if you like

[Sapphire2803]

Yeah, like I really need to get a reputation for following schoolchildren:roll:. Anyway, read the post again and you will see that I did remonstrate with him, but there are limits as to how far you can go. Unfortunately, his rights to drop litter outweigh my rights to force him to pick it up:(
Oh, I wasn't saying you should have done differently. Just that my psychotic streak would've had me sprinting off to the high school with pie bag in hand.
Well done you for saying something, most people would've done nothing and then moaned about it.

[ywindythesecond]

Oh, I wasn't saying you should have done differently. Just that my psychotic streak would've had me sprinting off to the high school with pie bag in hand.
Well done you for saying something, most people would've done nothing and then moaned about it.

Many many years ago a law was introduced which allowed people to be fined £10 for dropping litter when £10 was a huge sum of money. I have never heard of anyone being fined for dropping litter, and the law has since been tightened up. It is a law which is not enforced. If Thurso police spent one hour a month at school lunch break enforcing the law, school lunch litter would stop. And if every Bobby was told to book one litterlout a week, it would stop everywhere. Save a fortune. Make this country a better place to live in.
ywy2

[Venture]

All of the above I think goes without saying , but do we as a society do enough to encourage people to dispose of ltter properly ?


We live in a village whose residents especially the children keep it litter free and tidy. Every weekend its littered with beer bottles and cans and takeaway papers from people in cars who just open their windows and dump it because they are too lazy to take it home or dispose of it properly. Just because they don't want it dosen't mean to say we do.

[Rheghead]

I once saw a guy (who was bigger than me) stood in a queue for a nightclub who dropped his chip papers on the street. I went over to him and grabbed him by the collar in front of his mates and told him to pick it up. He was so drunk and stunned, he did what he was told, so obediently, his mates just laughed at him and cheered at me because I was so determined that I was in the right.. I wouldn't do it now, perish the thought....

[ywindythesecond]

I have never heard of anyone being fined for dropping litter, and the law has since been tightened up. ywy2

Been checking if litter laws are enforced, and they are in some places. Can't find prosecutions for Highland
ywy2
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=prosecuted+dropping+litter (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=prosecuted+dropping+litter)
http://www.lancaster.gov.uk/News.asp?id=SX9452-A780B343 (http://www.lancaster.gov.uk/News.asp?id=SX9452-A780B343)
http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/Two-in-court--for.1971899.jp (http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/Two-in-court--for.1971899.jp)
http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/Two-in-court--for.1971899.jp (http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/Two-in-court--for.1971899.jp)

[2little2late]

I was in Wick High Street a couple of weeks ago when a High School pupil came out of MacDonalds, took his pie out of the bag, and threw the bag onto the ground right in front of the bin. I was astonished, and told him so. Bad manners and a lack of breeding/education won over though, and he just walked on regardless.:roll:

The easiest way to keep the streets litter free is for all the shops in the town that sell quick snacks to ban all school kids from their premises during school hours. I know the school kids spend a fair amount of money in these shops, but is it really worth it when we see the amount of rubbish strewn about the place? If I had a grocer's shop in the town I would ban all school kids from my shop during school hours.

The kids would have no choice but to either go home for their dinner or eat school meals.

[Rheghead]

The easiest way to keep the streets litter free is for all the shops in the town that sell quick snacks to ban all school kids from their premises during school hours. I know the school kids spend a fair amount of money in these shops, but is it really worth it when we see the amount of rubbish strewn about the place? If I had a grocer's shop in the town I would ban all school kids from my shop during school hours.

The kids would have no choice but to either go home for their dinner or eat school meals.

I agree, in fact, when I was a teenager, to buy a pie or a portion of chips in town was against the school rules and ended up with lines or worse...

[robynaus]

Here in South Australia litter is a $20 fine. Cans and drink bottles have a 5 cent charge so people save them up until they have a quantity and return them to the bottle yard to get their money back. Other states have much the same system.

Each year in March we have Keep Australia Beautiful Sunday and the community gets out and cleans up the enviroment. all this seem to work but you have to educate the kids from young and after about 30/40 years of teaching this in schools and on tv it's pretty good not perfect but good. It's very embarrassing to have your child say in a very loud voice "That person dropped that paper mum. Can I tell them to pick it up?" But it works.

regards robyn

[Kevin Milkins]

Here in South Australia litter is a $20 fine. Cans and drink bottles have a 5 cent charge so people save them up until they have a quantity and return them to the bottle yard to get their money back. Other states have much the same system.

Each year in March we have Keep Australia Beautiful Sunday and the community gets out and cleans up the enviroment. all this seem to work but you have to educate the kids from young and after about 30/40 years of teaching this in schools and on tv it's pretty good not perfect but good. It's very embarrassing to have your child say in a very loud voice "That person dropped that paper mum. Can I tell them to pick it up?" But it works.

regards robyn

This is the possitive sort of reaction I was hoping for. I am sure it would not be imposible to live in a society that has a different approach to litter.
Once again the council lads has been out having a good clean up this morning
WELL DONE THEM. Perhaps a litter action group might be called for.

[mccaugm]

I was in Wick High Street a couple of weeks ago when a High School pupil came out of MacDonalds, took his pie out of the bag, and threw the bag onto the ground right in front of the bin. I was astonished, and told him so. Bad manners and a lack of breeding/education won over though, and he just walked on regardless.

Terrible but unsurprising.

One of my friends children was with me one day and opened a packet of Starburst sweets and dropped the wrappers as he ate them. I raced him and made him pick them up. He was horrified that I expected him to do so. He acted as if it was perfectly normal to drop litter. His mum did not check him for it therefore it must be OK.:mad:

My particular bete noir is allowing school children down the street at lunchtime for them to almost obliterate the pavements with crisp packets, chip wrappers etc......GROSS![evil]

[cd1977]

Perhaps controversial, however........

Are the people dropping the litter not keeping someone in paid employment?

[Sapphire2803]

Perhaps controversial, however........

Are the people dropping the litter not keeping someone in paid employment?
No, They're just making the job harder. There will always be dirt and leaves to be swept up.

[cd1977]

Or perhaps they are keeping more people in paid employment than the dirt & leaves could justify?

[percy toboggan]

I detest litter.
I am surrounded by waste paper on a daily basis in my wuk.
I like order, cleanliness...but still pile my clothes on the floor of a neet.

People who habitually litter should be fined...and re-educated...if they ever were in the first place...throwing copious amounts of litter from a car should merit its confiscation and crushing.

People who empty their car ashtrays into the gutter without thought for anyone else should be publicly flogged.

[Kevin Milkins]

I am not sure flogging people would be a justified means of reducing litter Percy,but I do see how it gets up your nose.What really does worry me is that it seems acceptable to some that to drop litter in public is just an ok thing to do.

[percy toboggan]

I am not sure flogging people would be a justified means of reducing litter Percy,but I do see how it gets up your nose.What really does worry me is that it seems acceptable to some that to drop litter in public is just an ok thing to do.

Then a quick, and solitary flick around the buttocks might persuade them otherwise...if not that then perhaps the stocks. We dismiss olde tyme punishments at our peril...zero tolerance should be the norm.

Seriously: there seems little enforcement value in enlightened responses...
the country has gone soft , flabby and witless in the face of those who have no regard for it.

[pat]

If parents do not teach their youngsters to dispose of litter correctly how will they learn - do not blame schools and teachers for not teaching these acts, this should already be well ingrained behaviour by the time a child goes to playgroup.

Children should be taught as infants to dispose of and clear up, and clean up their litter after themselves - do they dispose of their litter in the same manner at home and parents pick up after them??

The folk who just open the car window and throw out their empty cans, bottles and papers astound me.

What about the folk who drive miles into the country to 'dispose' of an old washing machine, fridge, van, etc - if only they had contacted the council they could have had a free uplift and correctly disposed, not littering the countryside for other folk to have to arrange disposal.

A visit to Singapore would scare the litter droppers and chewing gum chewers. NO litter and NEVER chewing gum - huge fines or imprisonment, has been like that for many years. No arguments, not even cigarette ends are allowed - correctly discposed of at all times, everytime.

[Kevin Milkins]

If parents do not teach their youngsters to dispose of litter correctly how will they learn - do not blame schools and teachers for not teaching these acts, this should already be well ingrained behaviour by the time a child goes to playgroup.

Children should be taught as infants to dispose of and clear up, and clean up their litter after themselves - do they dispose of their litter in the same manner at home and parents pick up after them??

The folk who just open the car window and throw out their empty cans, bottles and papers astound me.

What about the folk who drive miles into the country to 'dispose' of an old washing machine, fridge, van, etc - if only they had contacted the council they could have had a free uplift and correctly disposed, not littering the countryside for other folk to have to arrange disposal.

A visit to Singapore would scare the litter droppers and chewing gum chewers. NO litter and NEVER chewing gum - huge fines or imprisonment, has been like that for many years. No arguments, not even cigarette ends are allowed - correctly discposed of at all times, everytime.

It seems there is a lot to be learned from other countrys and I would never suggest it is the fault of teachers or there schools.I was interested to know if there is any subject time spent on the issue of litter.I totaly agree with Pat about taking litter out to the countryside to dump it when the council will collect it.Which ever way we look at the problem it is not going to go away on its own and I was trying to see if there is enough people with a strong enough view on this emotive subject that would like to become more proactive?

[Highland Laddie]

If the streets do get very untidy, and the council guys can't cope,
we could always use the people who are on community service.

I often see in the court section of the groat about all these people that get community service, but does anyone actually know what people do on community service.

[ywindythesecond]

If the streets do get very untidy, and the council guys can't cope,
we could always use the people who are on community service.


I often see in the court section of the groat about all these people that get community service, but does anyone actually know what people do on community service.
Getting someone to clean up doesn't solve the problem. The problem is stopping people messing up. And Pat's got it just pat.
ywy2

[Sapphire2803]

If parents do not teach their youngsters to dispose of litter correctly how will they learn - do not blame schools and teachers for not teaching these acts, this should already be well ingrained behaviour by the time a child goes to playgroup.

Children should be taught as infants to dispose of and clear up, and clean up their litter after themselves - do they dispose of their litter in the same manner at home and parents pick up after them??

The folk who just open the car window and throw out their empty cans, bottles and papers astound me.

What about the folk who drive miles into the country to 'dispose' of an old washing machine, fridge, van, etc - if only they had contacted the council they could have had a free uplift and correctly disposed, not littering the countryside for other folk to have to arrange disposal.

A visit to Singapore would scare the litter droppers and chewing gum chewers. NO litter and NEVER chewing gum - huge fines or imprisonment, has been like that for many years. No arguments, not even cigarette ends are allowed - correctly discposed of at all times, everytime.

Very well said.
I was brought up to put my litter in the bin, failing that, carry it home to the bin. I still do, I hate to see the streets littered. I've taught my children to do the same and I can only assume that do as they're told because of all the rubbish I take out of their pockets when I do the washing :eek:
In the town where I lived in Ireland, there is a litter warden. It's an on the spot 10 euro fine for dropping litter and in Portsmouth they handed out strange little pocket ashtrays and started handing out fines for dropping litter or cigarette butts in the main shopping area. We could do with something like that.

[cd1977]

Let's get real here. Some of the suggestions above are ludicrous.

The only question to be asked is how best to manage the litter problem.

Far bigger culprits are those who overfill their wheelie bins, whereby in high winds the excess is deposited in all directions.

You cant and wont stop it. End of story.

[Ash]

you cant blame kids for all the mess, the mess outside sandras is disgusting and the mess is with cigarette ends, all the taxi drivers mainly pentland drivers stand and smoke there and throw there ends on the ground when there is cigarette bins right beside them oh and they have the pentland taxi sticker on the front, its disgusting

[grandma]

Anyway, read the post again and you will see that I did remonstrate with him, but there are limits as to how far you can go. Unfortunately, his rights to drop litter outweigh my rights to force him to pick it up:(
I have occasionally seen children at lunch time in Market Square dropping litter and have found that if you approach them and say "Excuse me, I don't think you noticed but you've dropped something" they automatically look down and it just seems to follow on that they pick it up to avoid embarrassment. It seems to work so far.
Apart from the lassie I saw dropping a coke can over the bridge!! Thought I would make her aware that what she had just done was illegal and that she could be fined for it. Her mother appeared from ahead "Lordy Jav, whit ye think yer doin til ma lassie. If she wants til drop f'ing litter then she can drop f'ing litter. Yer no gonna stop her." etc etc. Tried to explain that I wasn't making an attack on her daughter but just informing of what could happen. Gave it up as a bad job. Thought all her relations would be following me to sort me out. :lol:

[wifie]

The reason for litter is the total lack of respect in this country. The bottom line is there is a huge chunk of the population who just don't care.

[TBH]

I think they should bring back hanging for littering or at the very least a good public flogging.[disgust]

[twiglet]

Litter drives me nuts! We have such beautiful places up here and it is spoilt by litter and dog excrement. I clean up after my dog and take my litter home, why can't other people?

[helenwyler]

you cant blame kids for all the mess,

Very true Ash. But kids who currently drop litter without a thought are probably the children and grandchildren of adults who doubtless do the same. :confused

I agree with pat. Good for everyone that doesn't let their children drop litter, but we were doubtless taught from an early age not to, and that's how we're able to pass the message on to our children. We have internalised the idea that litter is bad.

If my parents hadn't been quite uncompromisingly expicit about not dropping litter when I was a child, who knows, I might have had a few floggings by now;).

[Ricco]

I absolutely hate litter. And it definitely isn't necessarily kids to blame - not many kids are out driving cars and chuck stuff out their windows! :mad: