[Closed] State of our roadside verges!!!!

I cover hundreds of miles a week, mostly around the south-west peninsula of England, but also up into the midlands, London, South Wales, etc, and I never fail to be amazed at the trash that litters the roads. One thing in particular, the outer tread of tyres - usually lying in the central reservation of motorways and dual-carriageways, but in other places as well, then there’s the hi-viz vests, dead pheasants and badgers, lumps of wood, eight-foot alloy ladders in the outside lane, empty bottles...

Aye, just reading the recycling thread re the subject of returning plastic bottles!!!! Could make a fortune from Gretna to Stranraer........

I guess the increase in HGV traffic, the increase in HGV weight limits = more tyre debris?? However you would expect tyre technology to catch/keep up??? We have the “Euro-route” from Stranraer to Gretna so lots of tyre debris and lorries falling off the road etc.....

https://www.dgwgo.com/dumfries-galloway-news/2018-action-not-words-a75/

Pheasants, Badgers, Deer, you name it are normal road kill in D&G....

whats it like around your part of the country???

Just as dreadful.

Is there an answer???

CCTV and automatic fines. It's expensive but can be used at hotspots.

Heard on the news a £150 fine is to be introduced(proposed?)

Have you ever witnessed someone chucking their KFC/Costa/BigMac/Subway/bottle full of urine etc waste out of their car/truck/van window????

Yes, it’s disgusting.

I drive in a lot in Europe and you don’t see it at all, along with no middle lane hoggers.

You come back into Dover for the next 300 miles home there’s crap everywhere.

The EU is well rid of us.

As an auld guy it’s easy for me to blame the “youth” of today but so many people of my generation have such bad attitude towards society, Law, authority etc I do wonder if it is “us” to “blame”

It's not the youth, it's people of all ages and backgrounds. A selection of knobs from across all society. I've seen it from lorry drivers, business people, mothers and tourists dropping litter from their car when at traffic lights, roundabouts and junctions. I've even seen litter dropped from the passanger side of a police van. Anywhere you have stationary or slow moving traffic on a regular basis will be covered in litter. There was a timelapse from Highways England a while ago showing them de-littering a junction then it quickly becoming littered again in the space of a few days. It's constant. It's so bad that they can't even cut back the vegetation on the verges before doing a litter pick first due to the bottles of pish, soiled nappies and god knows what else that becomes a biohazard when hit with a brush cutter or flail. It's not even unique to our roadside verges, it's flippin' everywhere.

The amount of litter on my commute is disgusting. I ride between Northampton and Milton Keynes which is a shade over 20 miles. If there was a 5p deposit on drinks cans there would be enough scrap to pay for a decent new bike. The amount of empty beer and cider cans is staggering.

Is there an answer???

Why yes! Mass extinction.

I get depressed by this as I see rubbish pretty much everywhere around the roads of the UK. I now find myself scouring the roads by sight as I drive along and am continually made sad.

I suspect it reflect society's attitudes to responsibility, each other and - to some extent - the concept of authority. I.e. the problem is deeper.

It's time for some kind of civic action, be it a media campaign or government action.

I saw rubbish being thrown out of the window of a passing car recently and pulled alongside on my bike to speak to the culprit. As I began to let them know of my disgust, the door opened and I was surprised to see a circa 8-year-old girl emerge - presumably being dropped off by a parent. I think they were as shocked as me...

Really bad around Brighton. I find it so depressing. Fines and a TV campaign are required.

Its everywhere.

i was at a tiny, book able Forestry Comission wild campsite in Trossachs National Park yesterday. We picked up four bin bags of litter in ten minutes or so. This having been there in November and having done similar.

The UK just seems in general to be disconnected from the natural world, from personal responsibility and from citizenship. Seems greed, DILIGAF and active selfishness is the order of the day for many folk.

Yep, you're right there myti...we went down to the Cuckmere Haven on Saturday and the roadsides on the A roads were just incredible for the amount of litter 🙁

I think as well as all the cockwombles who throw litter, the main culprit is recycling boxes in our area. People put their waste out the night before collection is due and the wind then blows the contents out of the boxes and all over the road. Putting a lid on the box seems to be beyond the capability of most people.

I'd happily ban takeaway completely.

Education. Tackling excessive packaging. Stop seeing everything in terms of ££. Cleaning the verges isn’t economic - find a way to make it so. On a side note - where does worn tyre rubber go? It must wear, then blow/get washed away. Does it biodegrade?

Maybe they should make it compulsory to print your name and car reg on drive through takeaway packaging.  Fine doubles everytime for repeat offenders..

Or get caught twice and you get 100 hrs community service of roadside litter picking.

Maybe they should make it compulsory to print your name and car reg on drive through takeaway packaging.

^^ this

Maybe they should make it compulsory to print your name and car reg on drive through takeaway packaging.  Fine doubles everytime for repeat offenders..

What a great idea.

Aye, cos all the wee kebab shops all over the land will gladly print boxes, it's not all McDs and KFC you know, I see more of those white polyfoam boxes than anything else.

Just make it sit in only, or home delivery in refundable containers, sounds ridiculous, I know, but radical change needs to happen, education doesn't work.

And ban ****in bottled water while we're at it.

Was back in the UK in February for the first time in since moving to France .

No bike so went for a 20km run .

Area between Dartford and swanley in north kent . It was disgusting , rubbish everywhere .

I guess I was used to it when living in the uk , but that was shocking .

Have you ever witnessed someone chucking their KFC/Costa/BigMac/Subway/bottle full of urine etc waste out of their car/truck/van window????

yep the driver of a council mini road cleaner hurled an empty bottle into the hedge as I was walking past. I handed it back to him the look on his face was priceless.

Going to get worse in Norfolk.

Yesterday, 'Pay to tip' at recycling centres started (not April fools joke either).

Pay to take DIY waste, glass, wood etc.

The title 'Fly Tipping County of the Year' awaits!!

I would like to see community payback teams clearing litter. They use them in my local park so why not extend it around town and beyond?

To counter it doesn't seem to be any worse than its always been around here. Any litter is too much litter though. What I find unacceptable is the excessive use of the question mark 😉

currently in singapore, the place is spotless, people are polite. Must be a cultural thing not looking forward to my return to UK tomorrow.😕

we're a filthy country for being so "developed", I really noticed it after living in Australia for a few months and coming back to the UK, litter everywhere here, people not even bothering to walk to layby bins. Brits expect everything do be done for them by someone else, including picking up their own waste. A kiwi mate says the UK is filthy compared to NZ too though I've not been there.

We are a nation of slobs.

Just get used to it and join in in not GAS..

Stoner Jrs and I every few months do a litter pick along the verges of the main road across the common near us.

We were out a week ago and filled two bin bags in 1km.

I mumbled to myself that it doesnt matter how "Pure" your water, or "Organic" your crisps, or "Healthy" your Kronenbourg 1664, once it's packed up in a plastic wrapping it's an eyesore and hazard to livestock when you chuck it out the car window.

I drove past the next day and said to myself: "Well that ******** Stella can wasn't there yesterday"

I don’t understand why people can’t stand to have litter in their car until they find a bin but are happy for their environment to be strewn with it forever. I was out on my bike yesterday and on one particular road the hedges and verges were full of cans, plastic bottles, kfc and Macdonalds rubbish. It’s been there a very long time judging by how weather worn the cans were.

What do you expect?

Massive cuts to public services, so no one to clear them and up and no one to enforce the rules.

The stuff I see daily with regards to people and their driving makes me think that, basically, anything ‘lesser’ than rape or murder means you will pretty much get away with it.

More scumbags, less coppers, inevitable results.

The title ‘Fly Tipping County of the Year’ awaits!!

Or maybe the land-fill will fill more quickly as everyone breaks it up and puts its in the putrescibles wheelie bin. Friend (yes really) did that with a concrete corrugated garage roof. It took 4 months to avoid overloading the bin and triggering the sensor on the wagon but it all went to landfill.

Well done Ipswich BC and Suffolk CC for introducing a charge for hardcore tipping at the waste centres.

What do I expect? There shouldn’t have to be people paid to clear up litter. I expect folk not hurl litter out of cars in the first place. Surely not too much to ask?

What do I expect? There shouldn’t have to be people paid to clear up litter. I expect folk not hurl litter out of cars in the first place. Surely not too much to ask?

This

Last year there was a spiritual/earth/hippy festival up the road from me called Finding the Light or something. There was a poster for it near my place banging on about saving the planet, taking responsibility for our actions and considering others. Good stuff, common sense, very commendable etc.

You should have seen the amount of litter all over the field after it finished! Even now there's still some stuck in the hedges. And none of the organisers bothered collecting any of those oil-product-plastic-laminated posters held up with dolphin garroting cable ties..

If a bunch of sanctimonious tree huggers don't care about littering then it probably doesn't even cross the minds of most people.

Totally agree with everything here. It's pretty terrible around where I live (NW Durham) and even worse in the lanes around Gateshead. Durham County Council has an online reporting system and I end up reporting entire lengths of roads. I get automated emails back saying they have "added it to our programme of works" but how long that list is and how long it takes for one at the bottom to reach the top Lord only knows. I suspect the council is simply spending nothing on the problem for a year or two to make savings.

Solutions:

Deposit schemes

Ban drive-through restaurants

Microchip everything from coffee cups to car tyres. If we can put them in our pets it can't be too difficult to do this.

Education

Enforcement

Kill them.

Do away with all packaging. Food and beverages carried by hand. Yes, some will moan about first degree burns from having a hot vanilla latte poured directly in to their cupped hands, but those types will always find something to whine about.

Came back from the states at the beginning of March and the comparison is staggering. For a nation who are apparently so "proud" of ourselves, we sure shame ourselves by not looking after the landscape. Disgustingly filthy, selfish assholes. In Florida they have signs along the freeways saying that there are fines for littering of $75 or something. We need that here, even though most people know they shouldn't litter, I rarely see any notices which may dissuade idiots from doing so.

Deposit schemes will go a long way to preventing and clearing up much of it - bottles and cans will become valuable. But there is so much else - wrappers, food containers, kids toys I've seen a lot of.

It's horrendous round this way in Midlothian. My commute saddens me - recently, this time of year, no overgrowth and it's all too apparent.

I used to organise litter picks but it's gone beyond that now. The best I can think of is the fast food restaurants offering free food for bags full of returned rubbish.

We need that here, even though most people know they shouldn’t litter, I rarely see any notices which may dissuade idiots from doing so.

Plenty of signs up in laybys - just that there's no CCTV, no-one there to enforce it and therefore no chance of being caught. People park up for whatever reason - check the map / their phone, let the kid go to the loo, have a quick sandwich or even park there to go for a walk (cos it's free unlike the local village car park) and when they come back the litter goes out the car window and they drive off.

I'm unsure with cyclist litter (gel and bar wrappers mostly) how much is intentional and how much is accidental from putting a wrapper into the pocket and as you pull your hand out the wrapper comes with it. Or reaching in later to get a second bar and the first wrapper comes flying out.

But yes, as soon as you actually start looking for it, it's everywhere in the verges. Just disgusting.

I saw a teenager/early 20s guy throw a metal bottle lid off onto the verge as he and his friends walked along.

"Oi, don't do that."

"Well I don't see any bins, do you?"

"Just put it in your pocket you ****ing moron."

- threats of violence

- carry on riding making "yappy mouth" sign with my hand

The real answer is probably death squads.

I approached the local council about the amount of litter in the local verges & hedges. They simply don't have the manpower or funding to keep them clean all the time. They offered me a set of grabbers and half a dozen big poly bags. So one morning every six months or so I go litter picking about quarter of a mile either side of my house. The council come out the same day and remove the full bags.

Funny thing's happened though. Now the verges are clean they don't get littered with anything like the frequency they did before. There the odd bit of rubbish but a lot less than there used to be.

#Winner

Plenty of it round here in rural Devon ☹️ definitely seems to have got worse recently.

What really annoys me is less the rubbish by the roadside, but when you find crap that someone has obviously carried into the middle of nowhere and then dropped.

I was in the middle of some local common land on Saturday, probably 1km from the carpark, only accessible on foot or by bike, and found 3 Costa cups and lids scattered in the middle of the path.

So some ****s have walked there sipping their crap coffee and just dropped the cups when done. ****s.

*Edit* I picked the cups/lids up btw and took them home. Endura short pockets are just the right size 😉

I’d happily ban takeaway completely.

I'd happily ban McDonalds & Costa that's for sure. Round here those two are the stuff I see the most of, & there's neither outlets within 10 miles!

I agree with the reg printing idea as well, fair enough your local kebab shop might struggle but they aren't the big suppliers, It's McD's, KFC, Costa etc & their crap is what I see the most of.

If you chuck shite out of your motor your'e just a scruffy tramp. Fact.