What's with the litter?

[morty]

Originally Posted by Volant

Whenever I see someone flick their still-lit cig-butt out their car window I want to pick it up and flick it back in the car while stating, "You dropped this."
I just don't get it.

A few years back, my boyfriend saw a couple sitting inside their car at a fast food restaurant parking lot when one of them tossed a half-empty shake out the window onto the pavement. He walked over, picked up the shake, which was now leaking out all over, and pitched it back inside their car saying "You dropped this."

While I wouldn't recommend this risky approach, especially if you're as skinny and near-sighted as my boyfriend, it did give him a nice, warm fuzzy feeling

Unfortunately, some cyclists are just as piggy as their beer-guzzling, cigarette-puffing, junkfood-munching brothers & sisters

[Peter P.]

Yeah; trash steams me, too.

I won't bore you with the details, but I wound up being the sole volunteer for our city's Adopt A Park program beginning in January last year. My task is to hike the trails of my town's preeminent park about once a week and pick up trash. It's the park I cut my mountain biking teeth in. I then send an e-mail report to a city commission and a town councilor. I take a photo of the full garbage bag, just to give them an idea of how much people litter on the trails.

With each piece of trash I pick up, I get even more P.O.'d. But when I finish, my hatred tends to turn into a little self gratification because I did something good.

So, when you're on a ride and you stop for any reason, make it a point to pick up or properly dispose of one piece of trash. It'll make you feel good and it's likely more than the next guy picked up. I'm not posting to glorify myself but sorta to say you have to bite the bullet and do something about it once in a while.

Here's me in action-that's a chainsaw in my backpack, by the way-ya' gotta have a little fun! ;-) :

[Lurch]

Adopt a mile programs are pretty low key to maintain if you can get a decent sized group to split up the work. Doing it at least quarterly is a big improvement for some areas, and only takes a couple hours of time.

I guess one thing to appreciate about Alabama, chain gangs that clean up hiway garbage.

[Sandy]

Originally Posted by morty

A few years back, my boyfriend saw a couple sitting inside their car at a fast food restaurant parking lot when one of them tossed a half-empty shake out the window onto the pavement. He walked over, picked up the shake, which was now leaking out all over, and pitched it back inside their car saying "You dropped this."

While I wouldn't recommend this risky approach, especially if you're as skinny and near-sighted as my boyfriend, it did give him a nice, warm fuzzy feeling

Unfortunately, some cyclists are just as piggy as their beer-guzzling, cigarette-puffing, junkfood-munching brothers & sisters

Your boyfriend is either one tough fearless dude, or he ran track in school.


Sandy

[Ahneida Ride]

Originally Posted by Volant

The thing that blows my mind is that we shouldn't even need clean-up crews. Why do some people think the world is their ashtray or garbage can?
Whenever I see someone flick their still-lit cig-butt out their car window I want to pick it up and flick it back in the car while stating, "You dropped this."
I just don't get it.

It's kind of like shopping carts (called buggies down here); return them to the store or an outside corral.

Today ... It's all about ME ... The ME, instant gratification society ...

People seldom think of secondary consequences

[Louis]

Not litter, but road kill bugs me even more.

I feel really sorry for the little buggers and if they aren't squashed too badly I stop the bike and toss them over to the side so they can decompose in peace. I feel kind of guilty, since I too am a driver, but I do my best to avoid the critters.

If it's a turtle trying to cross then I'll stop the car (or bike) and try to figure out where they are headed and give them a lift.

Earlier this year there was a freshly hit deer in the middle of the opposite lane so I stopped the bike and tossed the carcass over the fence (I'd say it was about 75 lbs) into the woods.

I know it's kind of sick, but I feel better if they aren't being subjected to the indignity of being run over and over and over.

Dust to dust.

Louis

[konstantkarma]

Careful Louis. I once tried to help a 20" snapper across the road and almost lost a hand! Someone told me how to pick them up, but I forgot!

The squirrels are on their own .

Originally Posted by Louis

Not litter, but road kill bugs me even more.

I feel really sorry for the little buggers and if they aren't squashed too badly I stop the bike and toss them over to the side so they can decompose in peace. I feel kind of guilty, since I too am a driver, but I do my best to avoid the critters.

If it's a turtle trying to cross then I'll stop the car (or bike) and try to figure out where they are headed and give them a lift.

Earlier this year there was a freshly hit deer in the middle of the opposite lane so I stopped the bike and tossed the carcass over the fence (I'd say it was about 75 lbs) into the woods.

I know it's kind of sick, but I feel better if they aren't being subjected to the indignity of being run over and over and over.

Dust to dust.

Louis

[fiamme red]

I see a lot of trash on remote country roads, far from any houses or trailers or stores. It's not hikers and cyclists who are dumping beer cans and McDonald's bags by the side of the road, it's people in cars. Most littering is done from motor vehicles, not from sidewalks. When people travel on foot, they don't carry food long distances from fast-food outlets. Most of the litter will therefore stay within a small radius of where it originates. It's somewhat difficult to eat while walking anyway. Most people who are on foot prefer to stop and eat.

The reason why automobiles turn people into litterbugs is probably that automobiles go fast and disconnect people from their surroundings. A person who is on foot or on a bike is a part of the environment and can sense the trash by the side of the road. It doesn't whip by in an indistinguishable blur. Plus it's just harder to carry a lot of stuff when you don't use a car.

[Kevan]

Originally Posted by konstantkarma

Careful Louis. I once tried to help a 20" snapper across the road and almost lost a hand! Someone told me how to pick them up, but I forgot!

The squirrels are on their own .

grabbing the tail and a rear leg works. The big ones weigh too much for me. I've moved a turtle or two myself.

May 2nd for many towns is clean up day. I got a call just the other day reminding me. So the plan is to do my morning ride and then stop by town hall for my bags, have lunch and then hit the curb.

[WadePatton]

Irked by litter as well.

Keeping it short here: I routinely pick up others' litter, mostly from autos, but ESPECIALLY from bike trails-where we always share the trail with someone and have a land manager to appease as well.

And I simply don't care to see it.

And and I don't get it. I simply don't get the mentality of pitching something out the window without remorse (unless you're removing evidence or trying to hit a target. ).

My truck is full of bottles and wrappers just because I pick them again up when they fall out of the open doors. note to self

it's everywhere. I'll also note that I've never been to a public access fishing site where I can't find enough discarded monofilament, hooks, and other gear to "survive". I pack lots of that out too.

[572cv]

Roadside litter is a problem everywhere. In Vermont, we have had an annual event to pick things up, statewide, called Green Up Day. Usually, its the first or second Saturday in May. Green Up Bags are passed out at town hall, or some designated place. Enough people participate so that things get amazingly well picked up. The towns organize their road crews to help fill dump trucks with the picked up stuff. In my town, I think we got 3 tons of stuff last year- that included tires and engine blocks, sofas, etc. It is amazing. The effect lasts for a good part of the summer. It is also the case that people see the work being done, and are less inclined to toss stuff for a while, at least. Anyway, organizing some participatory event to make it both reinforcing and broadly productive is good. Good luck everybody....

[csm]

for some reason, I've been thinking about this since I first read the op. another example I've noticed is the spent shotgun casings I see when out hunting birds. even when shooting fast and furious at doves I still police my brass (so to speak as shotguns don't really eject brass) and wonder why others don't. and they seem to last forever.