[lord flynn]

I was parked outside our village shop one day (back in E Lothian). Hot day, family in car in front (nice, new SUV) had an ice cream each-car, 4 windows came down, four wrappers thrown out. I picked them up, popped them back through the driver's side saying 'think you've dropped something'. I didn't stop for the barage of abuse I was bound to get!
Its not too bad where we are, there's noone here which helps! what we have is mostly wind driven but we do get the odd bit dropped in a passing place where someone's stopped-which I pick up.  We have a lot of cyclists and walkers and am glad to say, doesn't seem to be a problem.

[Lesley Silvester]

Maybe someone at roundabouts and sliproads with an air rifle to take out the tyres of those chucking stuff out the car windows?

I think it's just possible that this wouldn't be allowed. Shame.

[SallyintNorth]

[quote author =Rosemary link=topic=58103.msg489538#msg489538 date=1428161694]
Maybe someone at roundabouts and sliproads with an air rifle to take out the tyres of those chucking stuff out the car windows?
[/quote]

Yeah...  .. that seems proportionate, lol. 

[MAK]

I returned to the UK last week and was struck by how true a tv report was that the UK is the dirtiest country in Europe.
Not sure of the solution but it is very rare to see people in France eating or drinking on the hoof. It is difficult to buy fast food and yes there are teams of people walking the roads who are not too proud to pick up litter or weed a verge.  I suspect that the only solution in the UK is to employ litter pickers and levy fast food shops to pay towards litter collection based on packaging they use to sell grazing food and drink.
In fairness I did see 3 people strolling around kings cross station picking up fag buts and even waiting for a smoker to Finnish his fag. There were no bins or ashtrays !!!!
The little and waste at the side of railways en route to London was appalling  with areas near small factory buildings being the worst.

[Buttermilk]

We once had the solution.  Road Lengthsmen.  Each man had a stretch of road that they were responsible for, grass trimming, ditch maintenance ect.  I will always remember Clunk our local one telling me off for treading in one of his grips from road to ditch by riding my pony over them.  He did not mind if the pony jumped cleanly but putting feet on the edges and breaking them was the crime.

Now his neat even grips are replaced by shallow scoops with a digger that are not even in the right places, his trimmed verges are weed infested wastelands covered in rubbish.  He will be spinning in his grave. 

Another of his doings was as the local grave digger.  He told the vicar to tell the sick they could not die one week as he was having a few days with his daughter by the sea so could not dig the holes.  however if they wished to dig their own holes first he would not bother them not to die.

[Louise Gaunt]

I agree there is a growing lack of pride in our environment, and we have allowed post Thatcher generations to expect the nanny state to clear up after them. It is pertinent that NONE of the party leaders, even the Green Party, made little or no reference to environmental issues in the recent leaders debate. We have a street cleaner in my local small town, but up the private road to our hamlet, we get loads of rubbish dropped, some from white van men eating their lunch and the rest I assume from walkers as the road is a public footpath. And dig walkers who bag up their dog faeces and then just dump the bag!

[Greenerlife]

I live in alone off a main road and people use it as a rubbish bin.  I collect regularly as do my neighbours (some of them). Until I had cc tv put up outside my house I would regularly get fly tipping - now they just go further down the lane!


I did laugh last week though - there was a carrier bag which I picked up, full of lager tins.  When I picked it up I found out they were full!  Got home and opened the bag to find out it was non-alcoholic lager!  I did laugh!


I personally would like to see prisoner gangs out collecting off the roadside, although, obviously, I would prefer it if people would consider littering as a disgusting thing to do!

[Lesley Silvester]

 And dig walkers who bag up their dog faeces and then just dump the bag!

I've never seen the logic in this. After all, the worst part is the picking it up, so why not, having done so, just take it to a bin? Our town is full of bins that take ordinary litter and dog poo so you don't even have to carry it far. If you can't be bothered to dispose of it properly then at least leave it to break down naturally. Don't slow the process down by wrapping it in plastic.

[SallyintNorth]

A dairy farmer I knew used to get very upset about bagged poo being left in the fields - if the cattle ate them (and young cattle will try to eat 'most anything), it could make them very ill, possibly needing an operation or even dying.

In the countryside there are often not any bins so people need to carry it back to their cars with them.  I have been known to pick up a bag that's been left - perhaps to be picked up on the return journey, perhaps not - and put it on the bonnet of the owner's car.