Litter . Keep Britain Tidy ?

MacCavity I should have remember those notices!!

My granddaughters’ school (infants) have a litter picking system, the children get stickers for picking up rubbish in the playground/field when it’s their class’ turn

Queueing outside Tesco’s before it opened this morning, we watched the cleaner emptying the outside litter bin, and picking up bits of rubbish including cigarette ends from the ground with a ‘grabber’.

She had hardly got back in the store before the woman behind me lit up a cigarette, and proceeded to drop it down on the ground when she had finished it.

She had arrived puffing and panting, saying how breathless she was.

I only shop there weekly, she’s always in the queue and always has a cigarette.

No, I said nothing, coward that I am.

From new Zealand.

One thing that really annoys me is litter, when my daughters were young and we were out for a day, I would go home with a bag full of rubbish for my own bin, why other people can't do the same I really don't understand, taking along a carrier bag that can fit in a pocket isn't something that's hard, my girls even used to come home from school and promptly go empty their pockets of the papers from school snacks because their school bins were overflowing. x

I agree Gwenisgreat1 I always taught my children as soon as they understood what I was saying that litter goes in the bin or your pocket until you get home. If they dropped litter I would just tell them that if they drop it it means someone else has to pick it up. Worked to a certain point because as grown ups they don't drop litter in the street but the floor inside their cars is a different matter. Bless.

Very difficult to stop people coming. I live in a village and couldn't believe the amount of rubbish that had to be cleared up - hundreds of bags left by "visitors. toilets were closed so you can imagine the filth left behind. Just so people could sit by the river. Not sure about toilets being closed everywhere - perhaps more could be done about this and charges made.

Sorry to say but we cant do anything because it's the way a lot of people are it proves it by the way they have behaved during the coronavirus lockdown

Going off the initial point for a second but in relation to the Japanese teacher washing a child's hair (who had nits) - here (UK), it would be classed as assault. We're not even allowed to tell the parent their child's head is crawling. We can, however, send a generic 'We have an outbreak of nits in school so please check your child's head' letter which inevitably becomes screwed up in the bottom of their bookbags and remains unseen. Those people (not commenting on this post, as yet) who are derogatory about teachers not being able to stop nits in schools; we can't - and believe me, we want to. Our hands are tied (much as they are concerning Covid-19 and returning far too soon).

I grew up outside Glasgow in the 1950s and 60s. Both at the council school I went to first, and two different private schools, at home and at the Brownies we were taught that we should never drop litter, but carry it until we found a public waste bin.

The grown-ups constantly supervised us on outings to make sure this rule was obeyed.

My father taught us that matches used out of doors had to be broken in half after use and the ends stuck into the ground. Nothing was ever thrown out of a car window, either by us children or by our parents.

There were notices up reminding you to use public waste bins and it cost £1 in a fine ( a lot of money in the 1950s) if a policeman saw you dropping litter.

All this did help, although you did see litter in the poorer areas of Glasgow and around the railway stations.

Perhaps we need to try and reapply the attitude to litter that we grew up with.

Bring back Petunia and Joe on the TV..Just talking about them the other day after our local beach was left in a disgusting state.

Sorry teachers, but I think children should be taught from an early age to tidy up after themselves until it becomes ingrained in them to tidy up.
What are the homes of these litter louts like? Are they free of mess because they dump it elsewhere? Or do they live in pig styes?

It has been so lovely down on the coast during lock down. The beaches and cliff tops have been so clean and we have enjoyed our regular walks. Over the past two weeks the rubbish left behind has really been noticeable. Understandably people bring their own food and drinks but once the bins are full they leave their rubbish in plastic bags at the side. If the bins are not cleared immediately they are ripped open by foxes, gulls and rats. If they come by cars why can't they take the rubbish home with them? On our last walk we had to step out into the road to avoid all the left over food and rubbish scattered across the pavement.

People who leave litter or fly tip are utterly beyond my comprehension. I once saw a sign by a motorway exit which said DON’T BE A TOSSER, and thought it was a great anti litter slogan, but it doesn’t seem to be in use.

I think the litter is especially bad at the moment because those of us who normally pick up litter where we see it are reluctant to do so because of cross infection. I usually take a plastic bag with me on a walk to collect litter but not at the moment. I wish people could be educated with a bit of civic pride.

I have just asked my son what he does with his cans when he and his friends meet on the foreshore for a bevy. Somewhat surprised he answered, "I put them in the bin of course." Further discussion revealed he also insists his friends put their rubbish in the bin.
When he was a little boy, one of the only times he got into real trouble was when he threw his rubbish into the pond where there were swans and ducks after specifically being told not to because he could put it in the bin when we saw one. After he recovered from his shock of me being so cross, I explained to him what it did to the wildlife and he didn't do it again. My other children were also brought up not to litter. It is up to their parents to teach them adequately when they are young the reasons for not being a litter lout. Schools can back that up but most real lessons for things like this come from role modelling by the parents.

A couple of years ago l was riding my bike when l was overtaken by a car, a greasy half eaten bag of chips landed in front of me, thrown from the passenger window. A few minutes later l caught up said car at the traffic lights. The window still down, l asked the young man who did he think was going to pick up his rubbish. I was told to F* OFF ! ???

In the large city near me they introduced "litter wardens" - there was a huge outcry and accusations of being "Nazis". One person who was issued with a fine complained to the local paper saying all they had done was throw a cigarette packet in the direction of the nearby waste bin, others complained all they did was drop a cigarette end. There was even advice on how to avoid paying any fine. With those attitudes what chance is there of a second Keep Britain Tidy campaign being successful

In Austria we were amazed at the spotless state of the town. We left the hotel one day and saw a drink can in the gutter opposite - it stood out like a beacon. By the time we had bought a newspaper and walked back, minutes later, it was gone. The lake was as clear as drinking water and shopkeepers washed the fronts of their premises, and the pavement, every morning before opening. (As they do in Holland and France in my experience) Trains were clean - the tired looking youth opposite us put his feet up, having removed his shoes and placed a magazine on the seat. Why can't we do this? Are we so lazy and dirty as a nation?

I live within a few hundred yards of the edge of a moorland fire. This was started by a disposable BBQ ( that is obviously wrong, it was started by the user) I have watched for several days helicopters water bombing the fire and one day of watching 4 fire engines driving up and down our lane every 1/4 hr presumably to deliver water. How much has this cost? will the person responsible bear the cost. I expect it will all go on the water rates.
On another point. I have to get in my car and drive 1/4 mile to put my rubbish in the refuse bin. The bins for this area are often full with rubbish brought by people from surrounding areas. I suppose we should be thankful that they are putting their rubbish bags in the bins and not next to them.

Always take my litter home with me but very wary of picking up anbody else's nowadays for some of the reasons mentioned above. A practice I noticed in the US was various companies adopting a stretch of highway and the staff regularly taking time to go out and litter pick, might work here maybe?

I completely agree that litter is an absolute scourge. Just one more thing to make me ashamed of this country.
We live very near to a big playing field where crowds of people have been picnicking. On the ground beside the bins there were huge piles of litter, which got scattered by the many dogs scavenging.
Why couldn't the picnickers take their litter home?
I'm a member of a local litter-picking group, but we haven't been working during lockdown. This thread has reminded me to contact the leader and suggest that we should maybe start again, socially distancing of course.

I taught my kids if there isn't a bin nearby put rubbish in your pockets or bring it home. Even now with the GS we stand up, tidy up and do a last check before we walk off. This really is a blame it on the parents issue, kids learn by example.
I work in a country park and the mess people leave is appalling, they either just get up and leave it or can't be bothered to put it in a bin. We litter pick as a team and also have wonderful volunteers that help us. It doesn't stop people having a go at US for the litter - we didn't drop it!

Apparently we are not supposed to pick up litter for health and safety reasons,that is what i was told by the local council.
I ,dh and step d were walking around Cannock Chase and the litter was horrendous,and there was only one bin which was full so i think the Council are at fault on this occasion for not emptying on a regular basis.

Some years ago I was in Geneva and a person threw cigarette packet on the ground. policeman appeared and he was fined on the spot.
When I came back to England after twelve years in Europe I was disgusted at the amount of litter everywhere. If other countries can be litter free why can’t we.