Stafford - Drowning under a sea of litter

Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt

Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt

Well-Known Forumite
Hi all,

Whilst I regularly visit the site to see what is happening I don't usually post but feel really strongly about this and was wondering if others feel the same. Our town is literally disappearing under its own feculence. When you walk around the litter problem just seems to be getting worse and whilst I commend the Borough Council in their efforts they just don’t seem to be getting on top of the problem. I regularly walk around streets that are local to my house and I can quite literally pick up handfuls of empty beer cans, bottles, crisp bags etc within a few yards – it is so soul destroying as I know that when I next venture out the following day it will more than likely all be back again. People look at you as if you are mad but I just can't walk past and leave it there - litter attracts more litter and so picking it up and putting it in the bin seems a must.
The situation is the same in the town centre and in more or less all areas around the town, there is no escape.

We have such a lovely town with so many areas of interest I just can’t understand why people wish to mess it up in this way. In bad economic times it hardly shouts “come live, work, visit and invest here” when you are constantly faced with walkways strewn with rubbish. It really gets me down.
 
Bob

Bob

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I know what you mean, it's everywhere, not just in the town, we live out of the town, off down the lanes to the middle of nowhere! Everytime I come out of my drive there's random bits of McDonalds/KFC/Fish and chips papers that have just been chucked out of car windows and pop bottles and sweet wrappers, there's no excuse for it, surely they'd be driving past a bin at some point, of better yet, their own bin when they get home!

Even worse is the odd sofa/fridge/TV that gets dumped a couple of hundred yards down on a semi regular basis - the fact that they've had to load it onto a vehicle and drive it out this far means that they are capable of driving the thing to the blinking tip!
 
Lucy

Lucy

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There are a vast shortage of bins in the town centre, certainly outside the takeaways, but I agree, I walked down the alley at the back of my house the other day and it's such a state. I have previously rung the council to come and clean it, and they did, but you'd think they would do it from time to time without being prompted.
 
tek-monkey

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
It doesn't help that the younger generation really don't seem to think litter is an issue, I'm forever seeing them chucking stuff without a thought. A bit like old people and their dogs muck, most just ignore it.
 
wizzard

wizzard

Well-Known Forumite
A bit like the young idiot the other day who threw his coke bottle down the street, drifted into the road right in front of my car.
 
Admin

Admin

You there; behave!
Staff member
Welcome to The Forum, Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt. A controversial topic to open with, which will hopefully stimulate a lively debate! :)
 
Lucy

Lucy

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There's one bin on that stretch though isn't there? That's largely the problem.
 
speak65

speak65

Well-Known Forumite
Went to bring my blue bin back in after being emptied, and spent 5 minutes picking up papers and plastic bags left around it on the pavement.
All was in the bin 10 minutes before they arrived, it wasnt windy this morning - and it was def partly mine, as I recognised post etc.

Maybe its a plot to ensure their jobs are not cut, they litter the streets discretely, and then are obviously irreplacable as they are needed to clear up all the mess.
 
Gadget

Gadget

Well-Known Forumite
Litter is a big bug bear for me, my kids are drilled in not dropping the stuff. I frequently walk around with pockets full after i've been handed wrappers etc and have then forgotten to empty it. The times i have to explain when, i've cautioned them not to drop it and the reply of but everyone else does comes... Not just kids though. Most of you know roughly where i live, yup Jeremy Kyle street backing onto Jerry Springer Ave lol The folk opposite had a uhm..gathering shall we say on fri or Sat night. Lots of the usual, next morning, the state of the street around the garden they had hung around by was disgusting, with food wrappers, cans and bottles. These are grown adults for f's sake. Sadly it seems just another symptom of the F U society that has evolved. I think maybe litter wardens with heavy fine powers or the like is in order.
G x
 
United57

United57

Well-Known Forumite
Lucy said:
There's one bin on that stretch though isn't there? That's largely the problem.
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More bins would be useful but the problem is that some people do not care.

No bin , then carry it to a bin or take it home.

If there was a deposit on plastic bottles, that may help. http://www.litterheroes.co.uk/bottlebill.htm Most states in the US have this

If we fined people more and put their names in the paper. Again the US not only fines you but you have to spend 8 hours picking up litter.
 
My Name is URL

My Name is URL

Well-Known Forumite
Its the dog s**t that pisses me off.... what is possibly even worse (or at least as bad) as people who don't pick their dogs crap up, is the people who pick it up, put it in a bad and then chuck the bag in the hedge?!?? Whats the flamin point....

Rant over.
 
Scoot Doggy Dogg

Scoot Doggy Dogg

Well-Known Forumite
Lucy said:
There are a vast shortage of bins in the town centre, certainly outside the takeaways, .
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The whole casual littering issue gets on my tit-ends too. I would say that the routes out of town need more bins since folk leave the takeaway and then discard shiz as they wander? Doubt it would help much because people really don't care.

When I worked in Derby, I used to do a walk back in to town that started with the kebab paper by the halls of residence, then came the odd bit of donner meat/ yoghurt/ naan, the salad was usually around 100-200yards from the kebab shop itself and finally the poor old chili was virtually on the doorstep.

The thing I never understand is the virtually untouched pizza discarded whole in the box. I think it is worth setting up a Badger Watch style web cam to understand that nocturnal activity.
 
basil

basil

don't mention the blinds
.
Lucy said:
There's one bin on that stretch though isn't there? That's largely the problem.
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Just checked, as i was leaving the Sun and counted 2 bins both outside al karims.........
 
Wolfie Girl

Wolfie Girl

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I think a lot of cities/towns removed bins when the IRA started putting bombs in them. In France the bins have a metal frame with a transparent thick plastic bag for the rubbish so that it is obvious what is inside. I hate rubbish and think it spoils our streets and countryside. So many people today just use the floor for their rubbish and I particularly hate it when some car driver winds down their window and throws out cans/boxes etc. I will never understand what is so difficult about taking your rubbish home with you or at least hanging on to it until you see a bin.
 
Gadget

Gadget

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Speaking of cars, what makes me almost vomit is the pile left on carparks where the dirty car owner has decided to empty their ashtray. Blugh.
G x
 
Withnail

Withnail

Well-Known Forumite
Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt said:
People look at you as if you are mad but I just can't walk past and leave it there - litter attracts more litter and so picking it up and putting it in the bin seems a must.
Click to expand...
There is a guy up here on Wildwood who is always out and about doing the honourable thing. I happen to know that his tour of duty arose from an initiative to get people involved in cleaning up their own communities - one that you can get assistance for via Streetscene;

If you are interested in borrowing some litterpickers, gloves or bags for a community litterpicking exercise please call 01785 619368.
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If and when our resident litter-meister hands in his litterpicker i will seriously consider grasping the nettle, keeping calm and carrying on - as you say it is one of life's more disagreeable aspects.

Good on you FDR - i couldn't agree more. :)
 
Miss Red

Miss Red

Well-Known Forumite
If you want to see some litter, take a walk from littleworth along the "leisure route" to town!! I did for the first time on friday, taking my dog to the vets. Rubbish everywhere, weeds along the path 2ft high you couldnt see where the path ends and the river bank starts and alge that would put a top class sci fi movie to shame!
 
MyCult

MyCult

SEO to the FACE
Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt said:
Whilst I regularly visit the site to see what is happening I don't usually post but feel really strongly about this and was wondering if others feel the same. Our town is literally disappearing under its own feculence.
Click to expand...
Stafford point for posting and another one for teaching me a new word: feculence.
 
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