Litter - Your views

[-Eyeless-]

Hey guys and girls.

I wanted to discuss what teenagers views are on litter. I would like to know who you think is responsible for the majority of litter within the UK. Why you think people Litter, which groups of people are most likely to influence people to either litter or not care about litter.

If you have any views then please post them here http://wittyteens.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

Will Young

[Smits]

People litter out of pure laziness. They can't be bothered to look and walk to a bin, therefore they drop the rubbish on the floor to avoid carrying it out.

In my school [before i left] i noticed lots of people littered even though bins are everywhere, i figured itsbecause they do not want to be seen as the one who walks to the bin to put soemthing in, it's almost anarchy, oh i'm gonna drop this on the floor ebcause i can and i don't care what you think. Ha, look at me..

[-Eyeless-]

People litter out of pure laziness. They can't be bothered to look and walk to a bin, therefore they drop the rubbish on the floor to avoid carrying it out.

In my school [before i left] i noticed lots of people littered even though bins are everywhere, i figured itsbecause they do not want to be seen as the one who walks to the bin to put soemthing in, it's almost anarchy, oh i'm gonna drop this on the floor ebcause i can and i don't care what you think. Ha, look at me..

I agree with you, it is mainly out of pure laziness, people just can't be bothered to find a bin and it is quite sad. For instance the other day, I saw somebody drop their BigMac right next to a bin and it doesn't make sense why they wouldn't put it in the bin as it was right there. It seems to me to be caused by peer pressure to "look cool" or to be seen as not caring, as if that is somehow the new perception of cool.

[Smits]

I agree with you, it is mainly out of pure laziness, people just can't be bothered to find a bin and it is quite sad. For instance the other day, I saw somebody drop their BigMac right next to a bin and it doesn't make sense why they wouldn't put it in the bin as it was right there. It seems to me to be caused by peer pressure to "look cool" or to be seen as not caring, as if that is somehow the new perception of cool.

Yeh exactly, for some reason people may feel pressured to drop it on the floor, especially around friends. Maybe it doesn't look cool to go and put it in the bin. But really, it's just lazy.

[Disaronno]

Hmm being forced to do this at knife point by VBT :(


Umm my views on litter is just, like most have said, peer pressure. Nobody wants to put a mars wrapper in their pocket and walk up to a bin, to look like they dont care. Some people are lazy and most are just trying to look fantastic. If im playing football and there isnt a bin, i usually put it in a bag then take it to a bin after. ;)

[-Eyeless-]

Hmm being forced to do this at knife point by VBT :(


Umm my views on litter is just, like most have said, peer pressure. Nobody wants to put a mars wrapper in their pocket and walk up to a bin, to look like they dont care. Some people are lazy and most are just trying to look fantastic. If im playing football and there isnt a bin, i usually put it in a bag then take it to a bin after. ;)

YAY! lol sorry its just that I need to get teenagers opinions for my teenage litter ad campaign :)

[Dan2nd]

I normally put my litter in the bin I don't understand why people just don't do it. If you go to other countries they seem to respect the enviroment a lot more than we do in th UK

[-Eyeless-]

Of course that depends which country and where you look...

[-Eyeless-]

In addition - Are there any things that would draw your eyes to an anti-litter poster? Any slogans or any incentives or punishments that might get people to not litter?

[Hitman]

If I have some litter I'll always keep it in my pocket until I find a bin. People who litter are just lazy and annoying.

[-Eyeless-]

If I have some litter I'll always keep it in my pocket until I find a bin. People who litter are just lazy and annoying.

That is exactly what people should do. I just wait till I find a bin or get home and empty my pockets... But what do you do with bigger things, like Fast Food containers, pizza boxes etc...

[Blinger1]

I litter at school, and that is it! But, only when I am playing a game because rubbish in my pockets are annoying.
But if I am walking down the street I don't litter..

[-Eyeless-]

I litter at school, and that is it! But, only when I am playing a game because rubbish in my pockets are annoying.
But if I am walking down the street I don't litter..

Well thats just as bad, it doesn't matter where, its more about our environment than where you do it. It is a factor of pollution and it should be dealt with.

[Blinger1]

It gets cleaned up that day anyway..
We have people (students) who change each day and walk around and pick it up..

I also throw my fruit waste out

[Hushie]

Well thats just as bad, it doesn't matter where, its more about our environment than where you do it. It is a factor of pollution and it should be dealt with.

It changes nothign about pollution. Infact it's probably better on the floor of a street then being burned releasing gases into the atmosophere

[-Eyeless-]

It gets cleaned up that day anyway..
We have people (students) who change each day and walk around and pick it up..

I also throw my fruit waste out

Fruit waste is not so bad as it is mainly biodegradable, but its very unfair of you to throw your waste on the floor just because you know somebody will pick it up... Its both selfish and childish..

[Blinger1]

Why is it selfish?
They have a job to do. It isn't compulsary the job, they choose to do it.

And this is the wrong section because what is there to debate about?

[-Eyeless-]

It changes nothign about pollution. Infact it's probably better on the floor of a street then being burned releasing gases into the atmosophere

Of course it has something to do with pollution, Litter can contaminate water, it can destroy quality of soil. Most rubbish isn't burned it is put into waste sites...Which is not good either, but at least it isn't ruining the look of streets or taking up millions of pounds of government funds to clean up.


Why is it selfish?
They have a job to do. It isn't compulsary the job, they choose to do it.

And this is the wrong section because what is there to debate about?

Yes they choose to do the job because they want to do something good for the environment and set a good example, but it isn't fair of you to take advantage of the fact they do it. There would be no need for them if you didn't litter. It is selfish because they could be doing better things with their time than picking up litter...

[Hushie]

Of course it has something to do with pollution, Litter can contaminate water, it can destroy quality of soil. Most rubbish isn't burned it is put into waste sites...Which is not good either, but at least it isn't ruining the look of streets or taking up millions of pounds of government funds to clean up.

Industry pollutes water.

[-Eyeless-]

Any waste that ends up in rivers or the sea can pollute it.

[Blinger1]

Yes they choose to do the job because they want to do something good for the environment and set a good example, but it isn't fair of you to take advantage of the fact they do it. There would be no need for them if you didn't litter. It is selfish because they could be doing better things with their time than picking up litter...

Are you naive? A kid who is between the year levels 7 and 10 do not want to pick rubbish up to do something good for the environment :rolleyes:, they do it to get out of class and I help them stay out of class, they are happy and I am happy :)

[-Eyeless-]

Are you naive? A kid who is between the year levels 7 and 10 do not want to pick rubbish up to do something good for the environment :rolleyes:, they do it to get out of class and I help them stay out of class, they are happy and I am happy :)

Are you an idiot? How am I supposed to know it gets them out of class or that they are between 7 and 10... :rolleyes: Still I stand by it being an immature thing to litter.

[Blinger1]

It is immature to litter out of school, but not at school because it gets picked up.
Doesn't hurt anyone, not even the birds

[-Eyeless-]

Of course it is immature to litter anywhere, thats almost like saying its not okay to graffiti in places where it gets cleaned off afterwards.. Its not alright anywhere or anytime..

[Hushie]

Of course it is immature to litter anywhere, thats almost like saying its not okay to graffiti in places where it gets cleaned off afterwards.. Its not alright anywhere or anytime..

Actually its allowed in lots of youthclubs at anytime

[-Eyeless-]

Just because it is allowed doesn't make it alright, if anything it is probably making them think, oh its ok here so it must be ok elsewhere.

[AgnesIO]

Hmm hard groups of people that want to look cool, litter the most.

And I am not being funny, but there are posters about gum being dropped, but cigerettes are dropped everywhere - Surely these are also litter?

[-Eyeless-]

Cigarette butts are the worst :(

[N-Dubz]

oh im afraid i litter does this make me a crinimal :(?
i dont really care about litter, if im near a bin ill put it in one if im not then ill drop it on the floor, its not a big deal lool theres much worse things happening.
:):):)
An lots of people litter in the world not just ******* groups of kids on way home, in school or somewhere else.

[-Eyeless-]

Ok I have all the info I need :)

And technically it does make you a criminal as you can get a fine for it ;)

[N-Dubz]

if you get caught. :D

[-Eyeless-]

lol good point then again it is bad and I should hate you :( but I dont :)

[Jaiisun]

I saw an old guy pick up a few pieces of rubbish dropped right next to a bin (it wasn't full). Once he'd put them in the bin, as I walked past he said "easy" and it just made me think - he's right.

It's hardly an effort to stuff that mars bar wrapper in your pocket, or to hold onto that coke can until you find a bin to put it in.

You wouldn't do it in your house - so why do it in the street? It's nobody elses responsibility to put your rubbish in a bin - even if it is what some people are paid for. Maybe if people started putting their rubbish in the bin, there'd be no need for cleaners.

;].
Jay x

[Purple]

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Roughly the size of Texas (Though some estimates put it at the size of the US) is a gigantic waste dump in our ocean. Garbage that gets in our water just kinda floats out there.


Our Grandkids are screwwwwwwed.

[Abzii]

Littering is discusting. When I have an empty wrapper, I just shove it in my bag or pocket if there isn't a bin around, and put it in the bin when I get home.

[Geraint]

About 2 weeks ago, we had a sustainability morning for our year, in school. One of the rooms, was a talk about litter. The man who was running the room was telling us how long things take to break down etc. He was saying that a carrier bag would take 30 years to break down with sunlight but on landfill it would take up to 300 years. Glass bottles take something ridiculous to break down, about 2 million years, might have been 20 or 200 million years. Then, we went litter picking in our school. At the front of the school there's a massive hedge that runs halfway. All we did was spend 20 minutes by that hedge. The amount of rubbish that 30 of us collected in the space of 20 mins was unbelievable and there was more rubbish left. Other classes had been litter picking that day, I'm not saying they did it in the same area but if they did, the amount of rubbish we collected is unbelievable.

Personally, I try to keep all my litter in my hand and put it in the bin but I know people who drop litter then complain that there are not enough bins around. Literally, they have to keep it in their hand for 10-20 seconds until we reach a bin. What do they want? A bin that moves with you? Every day, I go out for dinner and the amount of rubbish that I see strewn everywhere is incredible. If only people would bother to walk that extra bit with a piece of litter in their hand. Then, they say that if they didn't throw their litter, people would be losing jobs. WTH?

[-Eyeless-]

Thanks for all the comments guys :) Really good stuff ;)

[wummer]

Sometimes i drop it on the floor when there no n around, sumtimes i put it in my pocket then when i come home, i remember i have a full pcoket of wrappers im like omg, sometimes if i reliaze it i drop it if im in streets.
So i do both. btw i aint lazy.

[Havoline]

Most of the litter around our town centre is alcohol, my summer job involves picking up litter and I've found that most of it is beer cans and bottles. Theres also a lot of chip wrappers and boxes which sorta suggests its mainly the people that go out nights get drunk and eat chips that do most of the littering.

[Bun]

i'm not going to say i've never littered, but i'm trying to stop it now i'm 16. everybody sees it as everyone elses job to bin it, but it's everybodys job. how can you expect other people to do it if you don't yourself, that's immature.

[Janczyk]

People who say people who litter are lazy - this isn't true. I'm not going to carry garbage around in my pockets or bag if I have one etc for a period of time because it's completely unhygienic. In my village, I have realised we have around 5 bins and my village is pretty big as well, not your generic tiny village. On the 2 miles walk to school and the 2 miles walk back to my house there are no bins. If there are no bins how do the government expect us to bin it? In America, I think, there are more bins and recycling stations which is helping the economy. So yes, I do litter if there are no bins around or if I'm a long way from where I'm getting to.