Littering (that's a polite term)

In spite of the efforts of so many to keep the sides of our roads the way they should be, the *heads
in our society still seem to take pleasure in dumping stuff out of the car window. I have been counting
the plastic bottles on the way home tonight, dear oh dear!
I think we should attach cameras to hydro poles in bad areas and try to collar these antisocial idiots.
A suitable punishment might be to dress them up in prison attire and make them clean the sides of the
roads every Saturday for a year or two. Start maybe at Lerwick and get a cup of tea in Cunningsburgh if
the road is clean. If not start again.
It would help to have a regimental sergeant major type to hit them with bits of wood from time to time
for motivation purposes, though that may be frowned upon.
Just an idea of course, but hey! we need some action here, and without the bleeding hearts brigade.

The folk on community service should be permanently on roadside rubbish clearance, we have more miles of road to keep the verges and ditches clean than we have folk of CS to physically get around.

It would serve multiple purposes in one, keep the CS squads purposely occupied, and if they moaned to all their mates about spending a damp weekend picking up other folk's used Pampers, Durex, knickers and drawers, it would soon spread through the jungle drums where it most likey matters that leaving so much sharn behind you isn't the coolest thing this season.

I completely understand what you are saying brochbuilder.  I spent two weeks walking in the ditches along both sides of our single track road clearing up for the annual Redd Up.

Now when I ride my horse past, I can look down and see the litter coming back - the bloody same stuff (tins, biscuit wrappers, etc) in the same places too.  There seems to be no let up.

It infuriates me.

In my day-dreams, I want to take finger-prints off each piece of litter and then match it, find the culprit and dump it into their house.

There is absolutely no need for any of this litter.  I can't get my head around how anyone would just chuck something out of their car on a road in the middle of scattald.  Who thinks like that?  How can anyone believe this acceptable.  Don't they care?

(my blood pressure is going up).

I totally agree GR community service should be picking up litter on the roadsides all over Shetland.

 

If Shetland Islands Council used the money that they collect from us as council tax correctly and collected and disposed of the refuse as they tell us that they will, then there would be no need for us to redd up every year. After all, the S. I. C. have already taken payment in full for that job to be done and claimed that they would do it.

Makes no difference though, there's still a lot of *hite all over regardless of what they claim will be done for what we pay for. It proves yet again just what the S. I. C. is really worth.

So....

I'm hoping that whoever this belonged to dropped it be accident and didn't realise they'd lost it.....

However, the evidence suggests otherwise. Almost nobody walks along this kerb, the pavement is on the other side of the road, and curiosity poses the question, just how far spaced out does someone need to be to be able to lose a bag of slester and not realise it anyway.....

Apart from that....Why......Why bother picking it up, bagging and tying it up all nice and pretty, only to wap it to the kerb. Especially when if it been wapped a couple of feet further it would at least have ended up in a relatively deep ditch out of the way, and there's a communal wheelie bin at the other side of the road it could have been thrown in to if it was too inconvenient to carry further, numerous other folk do.

Started happening in Mossbank as well.

I can't understand it if you go to all the trouble of taking a bag, pick up the keek. Why would you just leave it lying?

One recently was only about 10 yards from a bin.

I don't get the mentality of people who deliberately drop litter either but I think it all has to start at home. I was brought up with a very strict view on the subject from both of my parents & it was explained to me from a young age why it mattered. We were told "bring your rubbish home in your pockets & if you don't have any (pockets)then you've got two hands, use them!" Adults have bigger pockets, a bag or a car usually when they are out & about so even less excuse. The idea of making use of people on community service may pay some dividends in the short term but for our size of population there are probably not enough to do more than scratch the tip of the ice berg & you will always get some people who think that because somebody is available to clean up that it gives them an excuse to justify their littering. It's this attitude that needs to be changed. If you have any young people in your life that you have any influence with, be it relatives, friends etc. then speak to them about it & for that matter also adult children &/or grandchildren etc. A lot of this littering is clearly being done by adults as well. Don't assume that everybody knows or has been told why they shouldn't drop litter because clearly the message hasn't got through to all. Human influence is much stronger than any "dunna chuck bruck" poster. It will only be seen as uncool when society as a whole or at least a vocal majority of it makes that view well known.

I would say most of the littering is done by adults and from the windows of cars. The amount I pick up when dog walking is incredible.

I actually caught a guy the other week pulled over at the Graven turn off. As I was walking towards him I could see him collecting all his crap together to throw it out. So I just stood there with the dogs. He sat for a couple of minutes before driving away muttering and shaking his head. Probably threw it out further on though.

There is someone in Mid Walls who eats a packet of crisps, flattens said packet, then ties it into a single knot and chucks it. 

Whoever you are, I am coming for you!

I recall speaking to a janitor at the Anderson high school some years ago. I was doing a job there

and the bell rang, then all the kids came out to the tuck shop. They stood around in groups eating

crisps and drinking juice, etc. then finally the bell rang again and they all dispersed.

I was astonished to see everywhere where the kids were standing was a mess of crisp packets sweet

papers, etc. It had just been dropped at their feet.

I spoke to the janitor: "Does this happen every day?" He replied: "yes, we have to clean it up!"

Apparently, when the janitor had first started, he tried to tell a young lad to pick up something

he had thrown on the floor. The lad replied: "I'm not picking it up, that's your job!" The janitor

had tried to force him to pick it up and wound up being reprimanded. So he just accepted the fact

that the pupils could do as they wished. No wonder they threw stuff around on the street.

I wonder if the pupils do the same now in the new school.....

They should bring in on the spot fines for littering and for dog fouling

Brochbuilder - that is just so depressing.  I am now depressed.

I recall speaking to a janitor at the Anderson high school some years ago. I was doing a job there

and the bell rang, then all the kids came out to the tuck shop. They stood around in groups eating

crisps and drinking juice, etc. then finally the bell rang again and they all dispersed.

I was astonished to see everywhere where the kids were standing was a mess of crisp packets sweet

papers, etc. It had just been dropped at their feet.

I spoke to the janitor: "Does this happen every day?" He replied: "yes, we have to clean it up!"

Unfortunately, that's nothing particularly new, Brochbuilder. It's been going on for a wee while now, and it doesn't look like changing - unfortunately.

^ Changed days. Back in the dark ages in the 70's there were some AHS janitors who'd not stood for that for one minute, and if it got past them, it wouldn't have got past Nessie.

I recall speaking to a janitor at the Anderson high school some years ago. I was doing a job thereand the bell rang, then all the kids came out to the tuck shop. They stood around in groups eatingcrisps and drinking juice, etc. then finally the bell rang again and they all dispersed.I was astonished to see everywhere where the kids were standing was a mess of crisp packets sweetpapers, etc. It had just been dropped at their feet.I spoke to the janitor: "Does this happen every day?" He replied: "yes, we have to clean it up!"Apparently, when the janitor had first started, he tried to tell a young lad to pick up somethinghe had thrown on the floor. The lad replied: "I'm not picking it up, that's your job!" The janitorhad tried to force him to pick it up and wound up being reprimanded. So he just accepted the factthat the pupils could do as they wished. No wonder they threw stuff around on the street.I wonder if the pupils do the same now in the new school.....

Slightly off the subject, several years ago I witnessed Anderson High School pupils deliberately throwing chips into the road for the gulls to get hit by vehicles. I reported this to the head teacher as soon as I could. The reply was that because I couldn't identify the exact culprits that nothing could be done. My view on this is that the whole school should have been addressed on this subject at an assembly so as to put them on warning. I'm fairly sure this is how a similar incidence would have been handled when I was at school (I left in 1980). I also think a complaint from any adult would have been taken more seriously then. It's a shame the janitor didn't complain to the head teacher straight away but then again maybe he felt it wouldn't be dealt with seriously? Cleaning (& yes I know that is not all that janitors do) is often thought of as a lowly task, but consider how much more inefficient & time consuming most work places would be if they were not cleaned, bins not emptied etc. The attitude that the kids at the school displayed didn't come out of thin air, everybody in their lives that has influence on them clearly didn't get the message through to them about not littering. All teaching staff, particularly the head, should be aware of what is happening in their school. I would find it hard to believe they have never witnessed the mess before the janitor has had a chance to clear it up. If the kids are not spoken to about it even in general terms then the message they are getting is that the school condones it. Unfortunately I have seen plenty of adults too who think that just because they are in a public building with hired cleaning staff that it is acceptable to leave the sort of mess in their wake that they would probably have an issue with if someone did likewise in their homes. Cleaners usually have more than enough work cleaning up unavoidable mess like the muck that can be trudged in on people's feet or accidental mess like a spillage. Deliberately or carelessly dropping litter & untidyness is a selfish waste of the cleaners time. I guess you can tell I feel strongly about this subject!