How often do you pick up other peoples rubbish?

rowan222

What I'm mostly referring to here is arriving at some local spot to walk the dog or go for a walk yourself and finding a drinks can, plastic bottle, fast food container just discarded on the ground. It really annoys me that people defile such beautiful places in nature!

I was always brought up not to litter as were many others. But in recent years it seems there has been a bit of a culture change in society. Historically if I saw some piece of rubbish on the ground whilst out walking I probably wrinkled up my nose thinking "how awful" but would walk past leaving it. Nowdays though if I see a discarded bottle or can etc I try to pick it up and do my bit and put it in a bin later on. I often carry a small plastic bag in my rucksack for that purpose. 

It seems more people are doing this these days which is great. There seem to be some great  community schemes doing this as well. I guess I was particularly inspired one day a few years ago when I was walking along the coast and came across an elderly couple going around with a big bin liner and a litter picker collecting every single piece of non natural rubbish. I chatted with them and then joined in helping for a while.

So  now when out and about on walks I try and pick stuff up. Just curious how many others do this?

subjecttocontract

I have a large plot of land and get quite a lot of paper rubbish blown into it, from time to time.
* Do I pick it up ? Yes
* Does my neighbour pick up rubbish in her garden ? No

I've discovered that building a wall around the garden means the rubbish usually gets blown onto someone else land. If you can't beat it then its best to avoid it.

kimwp

Sadly I think a lot of public places are only litter free because there are people (employees or volunteers) picking up the rubbish that others leave behind.

You can get bags that are dedicated for this and can be left at pick up points I think.

libra10

Almost always

Each morning while walking my dog, I usually pick up litter (cans, cartons, paper) on our travels.  

We live in a village, and I know someone else who also does the same.  I agree with the OP that areas look much better without discarded junk that people thoughtlessly leave lying around.

subjecttocontract

Given the fact that we don't all walk around with plastic bags in our pockets i  guess I have to ask the questions........
* Does rubbish dropped elsewhere that ends up on your property become your responsibility ?
* What determines wether an item can be described as rubbish ?
* Would it be reasonable to return an item of rubbish from where it came from ?

mistyface

Almost always

Yea I think that there has been a change in societal attitudes. The OP is right there was once a time when we just put up with this or ignored it. Today more people are picking up. We shouldn't have to but ts awful to see plastic drinks bottles and other rubbish just tossed on the ground so i try and pick up when I am out walking  (obviously if its something really gross I have to leave it). The other day when walking on a path over the field I came across a pile of about 20 used shotgun cartridges. I'd have thought someone out shooting would have more respect for the countryside.

Its good to see more people doing this!

subjecttocontract

I was out last week and found a £20 note blowing along the pathway ......its amazing the rubbish that people discard these days.😁😁

Murphybear

subjecttocontract said:

I was out last week and found a £20 note blowing along the pathway ......it’s amazing the rubbish that people discard these days.😁😁

That reminds me that in the early 60s my mother came home from shopping and said she’d found a £1 note.  In those days 19s11d could buy you a cheap tea service.  So she did 😺

Jude57

Almost always

Some years ago, a friend's mother was waiting for a bus and a group of young teenagers were hanging around, eating food and throwing the wrappers etc on the ground despite there being a bin right next to the bus stop. This woman had four grown up children so wasn't hesitant about taking the youngsters to task, telling them to pick up their rubbish and asking "don't you WANT to live in nice surroundings?" The teenagers answered that they did so she told them they were responsible for keeping their town tidy. I'm not sure how that would go down today!

cannugec5

Sometimes

I pick up rubbish in our village occasionally. Fortunately it’s not too much of an issue but nonetheless every so often I take a bag when I’m walking the dog specifically for collecting the litter. 

What bugs me is when I see drinks cans that are lobbed from moving cars and reach places I can’t reach. 

rowan222

Almost always

Yes drinks cans by the edge of the road/in ditch are annoying. One of the places  we park to go walking it seems to be energy drinks and beer cans. Keeps us busy!  One time we walked to the top of a mountain in Wales. Sat down to eat our lunch and noticed several empty beer bottles stuffed in the rocks! We took them to recycling.