So much litter everywhere

[Hedgehog]

I feel that in Britain we are drowing under a mountain of litter. What can be done to reduce litter? No matter where you go it is impossible to escape this scourge of modern society.

[franbee]

Hi Hedgehog, I agree with you. We need to reduce packaging, encourage recycling, educate people about disposing of things correctly, and getting the bin men to clean up after themselves.

[Crocus]

I think this may be a problem in many countries. Packaging definitely need to be reduced, or produced from recycled material. We have the recycle truck coming by every Thursday morning, but there was a report in our village paper a while ago that they caught these people out dumping the recycled material, and not taking it to the recycle depot! There was a bit of an outcry and hopefully it won't be done again.

It staggering if one thinks about the billions of people globally using some kind of material that could and should be recycled every second of every day - how many people really bother to dispose of things the correct way or even bother at all?

[sunflower]

Many food products seem to have a double amount of packaging which I'm sure is not necessary. Often this double layer is hard to unwrap...I do'nt know how people with weak fingers and hands get on. Sometimes I wonder whether it would be a good idea to have a bin in the supermarket where, after buying products we could unwrap and throw away unecessary packaging and bring our containers to transport the products home. I resent having my recycling bin filled up with this packaging. Also, it's not good for the food. Bananas, apples, potatoes, none of these need to be wrapped up in plastic, and that's just a few. Also, what about toothpaste? Why are they in boxes? There are alot of products where the packaging could be reduced.

[dragonfly]

Litter is one of my pet hates. Nothing lowers an area more than litter, except graffiti. All the lanes around us are always covered in litter that people throw out of cars. I regularly go out and get a bin bag full of cans and take-away packaging. I think anyone who drops litter should be made to do community service and spend many hours collecting other peoples litter.

[dragonfly]

Talking of packaging. I bought a punnet of strawberries this week and the punnet was made of recycled cardboard which I could put in my compost bin. There was a sleave around it made of thin card which I also put in the compost bin. I think this was a really good idea and the way forward.

[franbee]

Cardboard is good in the compost bin, but the amount we seem to get is just too much. We have a new bin now for paper and card, instead of a bag.

There are some who would leave their packaging in the supermarket regardless whether there was a bin or not. I do avoid products with a lot of wrapping if possible, but the things I buy in the supermarket need some wrapping, toilet rolls for example are better wrapped in something!

[dinger]

I think a lot of the litter on our streets comes from fast food shops . if I walk round our shops early morning there are cartons paper and food scattered everywhere even though there are litter bins right there for it to be put in .

[jazzactivist]

We don't seem to get a lot of litter here in the Lakes, but I don't know whether that is because it is a tourist area famous for its beautiful surroundings so people don't drop it or whether the Council is very good at clearing it up. Now and again I see a single bottle or packet to tut about and put in the nearest bin, but not often. It was one of the first things that OH and I liked about the place.

I know people who unpackage plastic wrapped items and leave it in the supermarket before they get to the checkout. Another thing to do is choose the loose fruit and veg and paper bags if its there. I only shop in small shops and buy items that aren't overpackaged, but sometimes it isn't your choice. Even in the health shop most dry goods are prepacked in plastic bags, although not double wrapped. Cardboard boxes are a bit of a problem for me too, as most of my silver and tools come packaged in several thick layers to protect them. We can't put cardboard in our bins and there is usually too much for the compost bin, so we have to take our cardboard to the nearest recycling depot. We are still trying to reduce a big mound of cardboard boxes from our move, as there was nowhere to store them and they had to go outside and get wet. We did try advertising them in the Co-op for free pick up for another house-mover, but had no takers.

[Crocus]

Our village is very nice and clean, bins all over and we don't really have a problem with litter. I take my own bags along to the fruit and veggie shop or grocery store. Of course the fruit and veg itself are put in very thin plastic bags but goes in the recycle bin at home.

[souter girl]

I believe that "thinking" people are aware of how litter is blighting our towns and the countryside, but there are still some who seem to think that rubbish "disappears" as soon as they throw it out of their car window, and as for kids - don't get me started!! When I used to ask a kid to pick something up in school I would immediately be challenged with "Well I didn't drop it!" - to which I would say "Neither did I" if I didn't have cast=iron evidence that they had been responsible. However these would be the same kids who would bleat on about Saving The Planet and Environmental Pollution - what was that German saying Ivy or Buech quoted? Something about keeping your own doorstep clean.....? Don't today's kids care at all? And do their parents ever make them pick things up? (Rhetorical questions)

[Pippa]

Fly tipping is the biggest nuisance in the countryside, that means dumping rubbish by the side of the road, not tipping flies into the hedges. You do not have to pay to take stuff up to the tip so why bung a fridge or mattress in the hedge when the tip is only 10 minutes away.

[Crocus]

Many times when traveling behind someone, the next thing you see is either an empty soda can, or some papers, sigaret packets even take-away containers come flying out the window. I can just scream when I notice this. Who must pick it up?