Unintended Consequences in Litter Control?

[MikeG22]

Originally Posted by piece-itpete

I've always considered cleaning the roadside in front of my place part of life, even sweeping the gutter, thanks dad.

I don't want to make Indians cry.

Pete

Leave Zeke out of this.

[piece-itpete]

LOL! I didn't think he was that old

Pete

[piece-itpete]

You mean, TV lied to me?

[Wasillaguy]

Years ago I was in line at one of our famous road construction sites, waiting for the pilot car. In front of me is a dually pulling a big camping trailer with California plates, and the guy opens his door and dumps his ash tray on the road.
I walked up there and squatted down and picked up each of the butts. As I stood, he's rolling down his window trying to apologize. I just held out my hands and he instinctively cupped his as I poured the butts in his window.
He was still mumbling as I walked back to my vehicle, and kept glancing back to make sure they didn't hit the ground again.
Assholes. Come up here to see pristine nature and shit on it at the same time.

[MrPots]

Topeka does not have a litter program. People throw their trash out the window with impunity. People fill their yards with (white) trash and it blows every which way. Picking up other people trash from my yard is done almost daily. But that's what I get for living in a trashy republican city located in a trashy republican state.


They have inmates patrol the highways in their neon vests occasionally picking up trash. They are delivered on site in vans pulling a flatbed of port-a-potties.


My wife and my daughter and one of her ex boyfriend were driving home from Kansas City one day and he opened the window and threw a bag of trash out the window exclaiming he was keeping the inmates busy.

The missus, sitting behind him back handed him upside the head. (LOL!) I won't repeat what she said to him. Soon after I found he like to beat puppies. I banned him from the house. My daughter and he broke up soon after.....

Another time, sitting in a Sonic (a local drive in chain) a guy across the lot dumped his bag out the window onto the lot. Again, the missus got out of the car, went over, picked up the trash and dumped it right back into the guys car. I didn't hear what was said but she was mighty pissed and I know not to say much when she's like that.....

The local cowboys like to dump their trash in the backs of their pickup trucks so it flies away on the highway. Keeps them from having to hire trash a removal service.

[donquixote99]

There is a city up north known as 'Toronto the Good' for the excellence of it's governance and culture (current incumbents excepted perhaps....) One thing I noticed on my one visit was the immaculate unlittered streets in the densely-built downtown area where our B&B was located. Was up early one morning and saw part of the reason why. A crew of on-foot street-sweepers hustled through. These guys were NOT the old dour sorts you often find doing clean-up work here. They were uniformed all in white, white overalls and stuff, with shiny little badges, and they worked with great speed and efficiency, descending on and sweeping up any little gum wrapper or cigarette butt. They were there and gone pretty much at the speed of a fast walk down the street.

I'm sure this was a decent-paying city job, but the interesting thing is the street was pretty damn clean before they zoomed through. The Toronto folks were NOT dropping stuff on the street all day 'for the sweepers to get.' I think part of it is like the 'broken-window' effect, that says if a window goes unfixed in a place, then the neighborhood goes to hell fast. Since Toronto is kept clean, people like it clean, and they don't mess it up so much. A 'reverse' broken-window effect, and an argument for employing cleaners.

[piece-itpete]

I noticed the same thing, Toronto is a remarkably clean city.

Pete

[finnbow]

Littering isn't too bad around here. However, when I moved to New Orleans (long ago, 1975), I was aghast at the amount of litter in south Louisiana. When I'd go fishing in the marshes south of New Orleans, people would dump all the trash they generated in a whole day in the water before they'd motor back to port in Empire, LA. You'd see a whole case of floating empty beer cans, along with sandwich wrappers, etc. floating around a beautiful, otherwise pristine tidal marsh. Feckin' disgusting.

[MikeG22]

Originally Posted by piece-itpete

I noticed the same thing, Toronto is a remarkably clean city.

Pete

And their mayor's a hoot!

[Tom Joad]

I would like to see military snipers strategically placed in tree stands in recreational areas with authorization to shoot anyone who litters. It wouldn't take many litterers to have their heads exploded with .50 caliber rounds before the rest of them would get the message and clean up their act.