Litter.

[Adrian Williams]

We often complain on here about those messy beggars in our ranks who insist on leaving their litter behind them, it now appears that this is not just an anglers problem but is a problem with society as a whole. Last nights one show did a feature on the litter which is left during an average 48 hour period in Hyde Park http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0134gbt/The_One_Show_01_08_2011/ The litter segment starts at 2.30 through to 5.38 with the conclusion of the feature at 33.45.

I was shocked by what I saw but not really surprised.

PS Look out for the neatly tied bags artfully hung from the railings.

 

[Sam Lloyd]

I don't understand why bait companies don't use packaging that breaks down. I know it's not there fault people litter but it may help the situation a bit. I think Walkers found a way of making a packaging out of their potato skins. the only problem was it wasn't "aesthetically pleasing".

 

[Wayne Glossop]

This is a topic that really gets to me. If people can't take a carrier bag to the bank side or prepare there bait at home then in my opinion they don't deserve a fishing license not only is it unsightly it is also a massive problem to wildlife such as leaving sharp edged tins on the bank but mor disgusting than that is people who leave 200 yards of lines all over the bank get your act together and take your litter home I'm pretty sure you wouldn't open a tin of meat or corn at home and chuck your empty tins on your kitchen floor.

 

[Ramon San Juan]

I don't understand why bait companies don't use packaging that breaks down. I know it's not there fault people litter but it may help the situation a bit. I think Walkers found a way of making a packaging out of their potato skins. the only problem was it wasn't "aesthetically pleasing".

Packaging as a whole is stupid for some items... my pet hate is blister packs!

 

[Eddie Farrell]

point taken lads, we all know were going fishing and most of us think ahead, all my bollies and ground bait ,are always put in re-useable bags, so that way, i have no litter to bring home, me to hate litter on the bankside,theres simply no need for it,

 

[Mark Thompson]

Recently walked around a couple of small, pretty commercial ponds with a friend who is interested in fishing but not active.
I was embarressed at the amount of trash left by people who had been fishing.Virtually every swim was left with piles of rubbish ,some even neatly stacked.There were several bins around the place but some people must simply live in pig styes.I wont pay to fish at a rubbish dump.
I have yet to see a river swim littered anything like as bad as this and hope I never will.
Ponds attract persons that go fishing,,, rivers are frequented by mainly caring anglers.
Snobbery,,yep if you like .

 

[David Gauntlett]

I sometimes wonder when I am going round picking up other peoples litter whether I am encouraging them to be mind dead A-holes by doing it...but I don't see a way round it. There is no way I can stop myself clearing up their disgusting mess...I just can't leave it like that.

I try to console myself as I am picking their crud up with the thought that there are a probably a whole lot worse things in life that these morons could be doing....but then I get really ticked off by the realisation that people capable of despoiling the countryside with their rubbish are highly likely to be the same sub humans that do the other stuff as well

Cheers, Dave.

 

[Mark Erdwin]

There is no way I can stop myself clearing up their disgusting mess...I just can't leave it like that. Cheers, Dave.

Agreed David,

I have no idea why some so called "anglers" can't take their empty food packs/bait packaging home,instead of leaving it laying around for those of us who care about our venues to clear up,come winter time when bankside foliage has been denuded,some venues can look in a very sorry state,with tins and cans littered all over the place.

 

[Steve Gregson]

I spent 20 minutes picking other anglers litter up last week. I convinced myself the fishing gods would be looking down at me and repay my act of kindness and consideration with a healthy looking, hard fighting double....

I ended up fishless and covered in chewing gum

 

[Paul Garner]

Unfortunately not something that is only restricted to the UK.

Fished a local lake here at the weekend that has a nice little fishing pier with several rubbish bins on it and benches to sit on only to find it scattered with rubbish including an almost full family sized bag of crisps that was left on a bench right next an empty bin.

I picked the bag up to throw it in the bin only to find a rather nice Smith & Wesson ExtremeOps folding knife underneath it which obviously went straight into my pocket, so there is some justice.

 

[Neil Partridge]

its the luncheon meat tins that get to me after having cut my hand on one oce whilst setting my chair level. i didnt see it but i bloody felt it. i ended up having to trudge home again just to get it seen to & then trudge back along the river to fish. i ended up with a black bag half full of various cr*p to take home with me from along the legnth from the peg to the car.
nothing as fortunate as you though paul, i found nothing nice as a bonus.

 

[Chris Turnbull]

Littering is one of many symptoms of a disconnected, dysfunctional society made up of individuals who have no conscious grasp of their relationship with the world in which they live. Trouble is, I can't afford all the ammo required to correct the situation!

 

[Martin James]

It's not just anglers but the general public from small kids to pensioners, we are known as the dirty nation of western Europe. Its not a minority but majority.Outside the bookmakers in Clitheroe the ground is covered in cigarette butts as is the Asian taxi rank. I had a letter published in the local paper a couple of years ago on the problem. Nothing happened Enough said

 

[Adrian Williams]

It's not just anglers but the general public from small kids to pensioners, we are known as the dirty nation of western Europe. Its not a minority but majority.Outside the bookmakers in Clitheroe the ground is covered in cigarette butts as is the Asian taxi rank. I had a letter published in the local paper a couple of years ago on the problem. Nothing happened Enough said

Martin, if you bothered to watch the link in the first post that is exactly the point I was making with this thread.

Chris, your first sentence,
"Littering is one of many symptoms of a disconnected, dysfunctional society made up of individuals who have no conscious grasp of their relationship with the world in which they live"
has to be one of the best sentences I have read for a good while. I wonder how many other words could you use to replace the word 'littering'?

 

[Chris Turnbull]

Martin, if you bothered to watch the link in the first post that is exactly the point I was making with this thread.

Chris, your first sentence,
"Littering is one of many symptoms of a disconnected, dysfunctional society made up of individuals who have no conscious grasp of their relationship with the world in which they live"
has to be one of the best sentences I have read for a good while. I wonder how many other words could you use to replace the word 'littering'?

Too bloody many, Adrian!

 

[Lee Poultney]

I was out the other night and found a tied up bag containing bottles, pellet packaging, etc. Now, if you go to the effort of bagging it up is it too much to take the thing home. I wouldn't mind but there's a bin next to the kissing gate which is 12m from the car park. It's just laziness, I wouldn't dream of leaving stuff behind and pride myself on the fact that apart from some flattened grass/bankstick hole you'd never know I'd been there.

 

[Pete Marshall]

I wouldn't mind but there's a bin next to the kissing gate which is 12m from the car park.

Bins are just a part of the problems. They cost money to empty and are often left to overflow.
If society actually wanted personal responsibility then removing bins would be a step towards this. No bins, take what you bring back home with you. On the spot fines for any one littering anywhere. Refusal or inability to pay should lead to imprisonment until the fine is paid or worked of (by cleaning litter).
Kids littering should be immediately taken into care until parents pay the fine or work it of.
Instead of employing loads of people to clean up after everyone else, employ fewer people to issue the fines (big blokes, with tattoos....not some of the wimpy looking "community support" people we seem to have at present).
Those littering, fly dumping etc. out in the countryside should be placed in stocks. Shooting them on sight should be made legal, we could even make a sport out of it...perhaps get the BASAC on side as the AT has with cormorants.

 

[Chris Turnbull]

Bins are just a part of the problems. They cost money to empty and are often left to overflow.
If society actually wanted personal responsibility then removing bins would be a step towards this. No bins, take what you bring back home with you. On the spot fines for any one littering anywhere. Refusal or inability to pay should lead to imprisonment until the fine is paid or worked of (by cleaning litter).
Kids littering should be immediately taken into care until parents pay the fine or work it of.
Instead of employing loads of people to clean up after everyone else, employ fewer people to issue the fines (big blokes, with tattoos....not some of the wimpy looking "community support" people we seem to have at present).
Those littering, fly dumping etc. out in the countryside should be placed in stocks. Shooting them on sight should be made legal, we could even make a sport out of it...perhaps get the BASAC on side as the AT has with cormorants.

It is a pity we don't have a 'Like' button on here as there is with Facebook, as I do like this post. What gets me is the fact that anti-social behavior of all sorts is seemingly tolerated by the Police while all their efforts seem to be focused on the easy option of catching speeding motorists.

Also, it is high time that our consumer society was forced to deal with the huge amount of plastic packaging that is being produced. All plastic bags for example should now be biodegradable. Biodegradability and sustainability should be two key words in the way our society is governed and governs itself.

 

[Kris Spencer]

I cant stand litter, and discarded main line is my biggest hate, main line is most likely to cause suffering to the local wildlife and causing situations like that will never give angling a good name. Allot of venues are shared with the likes of the RSPB and the likes, it only takes a few idiots to ruin it for eveyone, they dont need much of an excuse to stop fishing on their waters. When i fish a peg i am responsible for how its left, its a sad fact of life if that means i have to pick up someone elses rubbish but i would rather do that than leave a mess behind.
At the weekend i left my swim with old luncheon meat tins, bits of line and even long lengths of leadcore, what the hell are people doing using 4ft lengths of leadcore on the rivers.

 

[Adrian Williams]

Bins are just a part of the problems. They cost money to empty and are often left to overflow.
If society actually wanted personal responsibility then removing bins would be a step towards this. No bins, take what you bring back home with you. On the spot fines for any one littering anywhere. Refusal or inability to pay should lead to imprisonment until the fine is paid or worked of (by cleaning litter).
Kids littering should be immediately taken into care until parents pay the fine or work it of.
Instead of employing loads of people to clean up after everyone else, employ fewer people to issue the fines (big blokes, with tattoos....not some of the wimpy looking "community support" people we seem to have at present).
Those littering, fly dumping etc. out in the countryside should be placed in stocks. Shooting them on sight should be made legal, we could even make a sport out of it...perhaps get the BASAC on side as the AT has with cormorants.

I always liked the Roman idea of decimating the populations of countries they had beaten in battle as a way of ensuring civil obedience. We could do a similar thing here by issuing the police with a humane killer and shooting on sight every tenth person caught in an anti social act, be it littering, graffiti, spitting in the street or just being an ashole. They would only have to execute a couple and show the bodies on tea time news for the message to go out that this behaviour is no longer acceptable......I'd start with that urban vandal Banksy.