Why do people drop litter? Name the sin. Is is because they are lazy or something more? What do they think will happen to a broken umbrella left in a country lay-by? I find plastic that has been carefully folded before being chucked into the New Forest National Park.
Does throwing unwanted stuff away give people a carefree feeling? Does it give them release, a drop of dopamine? Make them feel cleansed? Is it a symptom of something more? In her autobiography, Michelle Obama cites ‘bitterness’ as one outcome of what Barack Obama described as ‘a cynicism bred from a thousand small disappointments over time.’
I find quite a few glasses taken out of pubs and abandoned rather than returned. What’s this defined as? Isn’t it petty theft? Incarnate laziness? Drunken, callous behaviour that is becoming seen as normal, even acceptable? Or a mixture of all three. And what is the outcome? Broken glass on the pavements?Surely an increase in prices to cover the cost. I found a glass and took it to the local pub only to be told they didn’t want it back. A perfect, straight-sided glass tumbler that just needed washing. Their plan was to break and re-cycle it. I was shocked by the abject acceptance of waste. Break up a perfectly good glass? The bar staff gave it back to me. I filled it with flowers and gave it to a friend.
Tonight I decided to walk in the bluebell wood – possibly one of the most beautiful sites on this planet. I took my bucket doubting whether I would find much. I soon began collecting empty bottles of alcohol that had been tossed out of high vehicles into the wood. Had people been drinking while driving work vehicles such as vans or trucks?
I then came across more than I could possibly carry. Hub caps, lights and other vehicle parts had been dumped on this private property, just a little way from the road. I could tell by the date on the crisp packets that accompanied them that they had been there since 2005. It was heartbreaking. Most were still in good condition and looked to me as if they might have re-sale value. Was this theft or had someone been instructed to dump them? I have found more than seven different lots of stolen items in the past. You can find the list here.
When does throwing litter become fly tipping? In the relatively small area where I have been collecting litter I have found:
A broken security light
A piece of carpet and a bedspread
Huge bag of unused incontinence pads
Clothing of a dubious nature and an umbrella
A life-sized doll
A large rusty metal wheel-barrow
Lorry tyres
A huge number of vehicle parts including wheels
25 litre drums that once held bleach or other chemicals
~a drum that once held chemicals bitten repeatedly by a fox~
Fly tipping is outraging the New Forest community, where the National Park receives helpings of heinous proportions. It costs the New Forest District Council thousands of pounds. Why do people dump rubbish in beautiful, fragile areas? Is it because they find the municipal dump too expensive? or can’t get there? or are too lazy? Do they not understand that ditches are needed to carry flood water? Do they not see fly-tipping as a crime against farmers and the natural world? Or is it a form of rebellion? Do they mean to hurt us, cost society effort and money moving it on? Name the sin.
Some sites would be classified as abandoned, rather than chucked. You do find evidence of emotional distress. Can you see the pair of brand new walking boots to the right of this photo? Make out the tent? Much of the rubbish I pick up has been left by tramps. What’s the sin? Is it ours? Are we neglecting those in need? Not reaching out to the homeless and addicted?
~the result of homelessness and alcohol abuse~
This litter and rubbish is growing into the landscape. I find myself pulling plastic and rope out of the earth, especially in places once inhabited by tramps who are apt to pick quite scenic spots. I need help from someone with waders and crowbars to dig plastic out from the Solent shoreline.
Most of the litter I found related to alcohol had been flung out of vehicles. How many people are over the limit whilst driving? If I can find 200 empty bottles and cans in lone lane how many thousands lie forgotten in the New Forest? What’s the sin? Drunk while driving.
We need rubbish bins fitted in vehicles as standard.
John Wesley said, ‘Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.’
Sophie Neville 
Yes, deeply depressing. We have the same here in the South Downs National Park where the A27 runs past the south end of Lewes; we of Litter Free Lewes pick up just this sort of awful stuff from the ditches and vegetation along roads. Like you, we don’t understand all the alcohol-bottles (e.g. more than a dozen identical vodka bottles on the verge of the road running out of Lewes towards Brighton). And all the hub-caps and crummy apparel….
Thank you for taking the time to comment. I find a lot vodka bottles, many half full. There must be a number of drunk drivers. Do we inform the Police?
I could suggest Keep Britain Tidy ask litter pickers to keep a count of bottles of booze and tins of alcohol so that we gain national statistics. Any other ideas?
It’s difficult to know what the answer is to tramps abandoning stuff but the attitude of the pub is surely unforgivable. What’s wrong with taking in a glass, giving it a good thorough clean and re-using it?
Much depends on the attitude of the person at the bar. There is so much wastage in the work place.