Littering

HivemindXX

On the Wicklow 200 yesterday I was annoyed but unsurprised to see so many discarded gel wrappers and empty water bottles on the road. I'd be interested to know how many people here consider this sort of littering acceptable.

laraghrider

The only thing I find acceptable to throw away is a banana peel. Anything else well come on, is it that hard to bin it later on?

2x4

Banana skins are litter.

Lucena

2x4 wrote: »

Banana skins are litter.

In an urban area, yes it is. However if you’re out in the country, it’s actually more environmentally friendly to feck it into a field or a ditch, as it rots away naturally, assuming you’re not throwing it away at the same spot as everyone else.

jinkypolly

2x4 wrote: »

Banana skins are litter.

Don't agree. If they're thrown to the side of the road, not on a footpath or tarmac, I think it's fine. It'll rot away and help the planet.

High Nellie

In races I think Commissaires should fine for littering. I'm involved iocal Tidy Towns a and do a bit of litter pickin etc, and it really peees me off at our local race to see guys tossing away stuff that local volunteers will be out picki Cycling events are often a big enough imposition on local communities without littering them as well. Some of it probably comes fro watching pros on TV but that will have to be sorted too.

Lumen

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/sep/24/bananas-litter-hikers-mountains-scotland

A load of rot: how long your litter takes to biodegrade

Paper bag - 1 month

Apple core - 8 weeks

Orange peel and banana skins - 2 years

Cigarette end - 18 months to 500 years

Plastic bag - 10 to 20 years

A plastic bottle - 450 years

Chewing gum - 1 million years

From Keep Britain Tidy (keepbritaintidy,org)

ednwireland

Lucena wrote: »

In an urban area, yes it is. However if you’re out in the country, it’s actually more environmentally friendly to feck it into a field or a ditch, as it rots away naturally, assuming you’re not throwing it away at the same spot as everyone else.

still takes 2 years for orange peel and bana skins to decompose

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/sep/24/bananas-litter-hikers-mountains-scotland

A load of rot: how long your litter takes to biodegrade

Paper bag - 1 month

Apple core - 8 weeks

Orange peel and banana skins - 2 years

Cigarette end - 18 months to 500 years

Plastic bag - 10 to 20 years

A plastic bottle - 450 years

Chewing gum - 1 million years

Lucena

ednwireland wrote: »

still takes 2 years for orange peel and bana skins to decompose

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/sep/24/bananas-litter-hikers-mountains-scotland

2 years in a ditch or a field is not a problem. Won’t be visible after a week.

2x4

AFAIK banana skins are treated the same as any other waste and you can be prosecuted for throwing away the skin. It does not matter if you throw the skin away on a busy street, a country lane or into a ditch or field.

Planet X

Very good around your Rose Bushes,

http://www.ehow.com/m/how_7814677_add-banana-skins-rose-bushes.html

buffalo

I have chucked water bottles at the bottom of hills, and then go back to retrieve them. I couldn't find the second one at the bottom of Glengesh last weekend, but I suspect the horde of Errigal youth members that had passed by moments earlier with a rake of bottles may be to blame!

Otherwise I'm a scumbag litterer.


But +1 on the OP - sometimes I'll stick a used gel in in the back pocket, only to find my jersey has welded to my shorts/back/arse later, but I'll still take that over throwing it at the side of the road.

Lucena

2x4 wrote: »

AFAIK banana skins are treated the same as any other waste and you can be prosecuted for throwing away the skin. It does not matter if you throw the skin away on a busy street, a country lane or into a ditch or field.

Yes, that may be what the law says.

But in the same way as composting is more environmentally friendly than just throwing all organic waste in the bin, so is throwing a banana skin away. Ok, the difference is minimal. Just avoid throwing it away in an urban area or a busy spot in the country, for example a beautiful view where every cyclist stops will soon be less beautiful with bananas and gel packs all over the place.

Markcheese

Either the race organisers should organise litter pickers, and add that cost to race fees, or even better deliberate littering should disqualify ... How hard could it be to stow a few bottles and bags ,

petethedrummer

I like litter. It adds a bit of colour to the day out. The almost constant greenness of the countryside can get a bit boring IMO.

De Bhál

when I race (at A4 level) I have no problem throwing away all those wrappers as I know the fans love collecting that stuff...mementos like.

Fathead

I littered on Saturday. It was a tenner Didn't realise it was gone until i got home.

C3PO

I always put my gel wrappers in my pocket after use (much as I hate the way they leak and make a sticky mess!!) but I'm always conscious of the little tabs that you rip off with your teeth that inevitably end up flying away!!

Guill

Was at a race on Saturday, A DuAthlon. During the running sections they were water stations giving out small bottles of water. I couldn't get over the amount of competitors knackers that were taking the bottles, taking one mouthful and throwing the bottle away.

And they weren't just dropping them, they were throwing them into fields and ditches. Totally unacceptable. The organisers would have some hope cleaning if the bottles were dropped on the roads.

I brought a bottle with me that I ended up carrying around on the last 3k run because of the heat. I didn't enjoy carrying it but because of the heat I had to. I handed it into one of the girls at the last water station near the end and asked her to throw it in the bin. Simple manners , not hard to do.

The event was organised by the local tidy towns and I think they dropped the ball but not ensuring people had simple manners in this regard, otherwise a great event.

Inquitus

I throw banana skins away into a ditch, the rest I take home with me, or to the rest stop bin.

I also keep empty gel wrappers but do have to confess to letting the tear of top fly into the winds.

el tel

Banana skins are litter. That's why so there are many anthropoids imprisoned in zoos around the world, otherwise the place would resemble be a right tip.

DirkVoodoo

Inquitus wrote: »

I throw banana skins away into a ditch, the rest I take home with me, or to the rest stop bin.

I also keep empty gel wrappers but do have to confess to letting the tear of top fly into the winds.

I throw bananas away too. Sure, they take a long time to decompose but they are adding nutrients to the soil as they do so, wood chip takes years to break down and smells bad, but people love dropping it across flower beds. I consider throwing a banana peel into someone's front garden littering, throwing it into a field, not so much.

As for the gels, I use the powerbar ones and you only need to tear about 2/3 of the top off to get at the stuff.

fixie fox

I didn't like the options offered in the poll - while I don't like fellows littering I didn't think it was fair to call them 'scumbags' as they were just thoughtless and I wouldn't vote to call the scumbags.
But after reading some of the posts I'm beginning to wonder .... I didn't realise so many did it consciously and just don't give a F....

Surveyor11

Banana skins (in the countryside) are fair game IMHO, will always sling them as they're biodegradable. However, I always keep wrappers from bars, gels etc in the back pocket and get rid of them at the nearest bin. As ever, I'm shocked to see the wrappers discarded by cyclists - loads littered around Wicklow this morning after the 200.

Edit - surprised it takes two years for a banana skin to disappear, will always chuck into a hedge, not someone's front lawn.

petethedrummer

I'm shocked that anyone would eat a gel. I'd rather eat the packaging.

HivemindXX

fixie fox wrote: »

I didn't like the options offered in the poll - while I don't like fellows littering I didn't think it was fair to call them 'scumbags' as they were just thoughtless and I wouldn't vote to call the scumbags.
But after reading some of the posts I'm beginning to wonder .... I didn't realise so many did it consciously and just don't give a F....

Sorry, I kind of regretted the wording almost immediately after creating the poll. Not very scientific to colour the responses like that. In my defence the littering really annoys me!

To address your point I think there are three ways a gel wrapper gets on to the road.

+ Person tried to shove wrapper in to jersey pocket and dropped it without realising. I have no problem with that, like the guy who lost the tenner (hopefully it wasn't your only money to buy something nice in Greystones! <tangent>why isn't the milkshake, icecream, waffle shop open on that day! Huge missed opportunity</tangent>) you can't help accidents

+ Person accidentally dropped wrapper and realised but chose not to stop. I can sympathise with someone who is in a group or on a fast descent who chooses not to stop in moment of weakness. I think they are wrong but I can't say I would spend 100m breaking coming down off Wicklow Gap, walk back up the road and pick up something I dropped.

+ Persons plan for dealing with wrappers is to throw them on the road. They have no intention of doing anything other than littering. No sympathy for these guys and that is putting it mildly.

Unfortunately I think the majority of litter comes from people in the third category. They treat their cycling very seriously and they have no intention of wasting 0.3 of a second putting a wrapper back in their pocket possibly making their expensive jersey sticky.

Also on the littering front I saw a group of cyclists sitting on the grass outside the centre eating their pasta (much nicer than last two years imo). Came by a while later and the group was gone but all their litter was spread out all over the place. There were bins a few meters away.

rollingscone

buffalo wrote: »

I have chucked water bottles at the bottom of hills, and then go back to retrieve them. I couldn't find the second one at the bottom of Glengesh last weekend, but I suspect the horde of Errigal youth members that had passed by moments earlier with a rake of bottles may be to blame!

Otherwise I'm a scumbag litterer.


But +1 on the OP - sometimes I'll stick a used gel in in the back pocket, only to find my jersey has welded to my shorts/back/arse later, but I'll still take that over throwing it at the side of the road.

Try lining one of your pockets with a ziploc bag (I stuff my food into one which means that it stays open enough to use without fuss and the only stuff that gets gel onto it is other food).

detones

I think bananas in a hedgerow are fine even if they do take 2 years to breakdown. With gels it’s hard to keep the small bit you tear off but I do try. Yes it can make a mess in your pocket but so what. Witnessed somebody chucking a bottle on the tour of Louth recently. I thought I was seeing things.

Litter in general is a major problem in this Country unfortunately. It’s a cultural thing. When I started cycling, it became really noticeable. Some of the stuff I have seen people discard in hedgerows defied believe. We have a beautiful country with fantastic flora and fauna and to come across a mattress, rugs, bag of household rubbish, nappies, take away packaging etc is a disgrace (I personally seen all this on a spin yesterday by the way) I don’t know how you change peoples attitudes on this. People are obviously not willing or @rsed to pay for proper disposal routes and are unlikely to change there ways. You can only control what you do and try a be a positive influence on your own kids.

Surveyor11

detones wrote: »

Litter in general is a major problem in this Country unfortunately. It’s a cultural thing. When I started cycling, it became really noticeable. Some of the stuff I have seen people discard in hedgerows defied believe. We have a beautiful country with fantastic flora and fauna and to come across a mattress, rugs, bag of household rubbish, nappies, take away packaging etc is a disgrace (I personally seen all this on a spin yesterday by the way) I don’t know how you change peoples attitudes on this. People are obviously not willing or @rsed to pay for proper disposal routes and are unlikely to change there ways. You can only control what you do and try a be a positive influence on your own kids.

This is one of the issues - my local shop has 3 or 4 bins outside, kids will come out, unwrap an ice-cream of whatever and dump it on the ground, sometimes with the parent wit them. Our attitude to litter is truly embarrassing. As for litter in far flung places, my favourite is still the UPC box on the Kilakee road just above Glencree. Shows ignorance on so many levels.

feck sake lads

De Bhál wrote: »

when I race (at A4 level) I have no problem throwing away all those wrappers as I know the fans love collecting that stuff...mementos like.

in your dream pal .

buffalo

Surveyor11 wrote: »

my favourite is still the UPC box on the Kilakee road just above Glencree.

Do you never bring the telly to hook it up and take a break? Nothing like watching the Tour mid-spin!

MajesticDonkey

I always put my litter into my pocket until I get off the bike.

petethedrummer wrote: »

I'm shocked that anyone would eat a gel.

Surprisingly, they work. Which is why I use them.

petethedrummer

MajesticDonkey wrote: »

Surprisingly, they work. Which is why I use them.

I'll stick with food.

helimachoptor

I would throw bananas but everything else is kept in pocked.

After the TOL, it looked like i had a shooting case of the s**ts as the bar i'd half eaten had melted completely!

De Bhál

feck sake lads wrote: »

in your dream pal .

sure Sean Kelly said they love collecting that stuff.

MajesticDonkey

De Bhál wrote: »

sure Sean Kelly said they love collecting that stuff.

That's when you're Sean Kelly :pac:

jinkypolly

It does not take 2 years for a banana skin to decompose. It takes 2 to 3 weeks. I knew that article would be quoted and thrown up here, that article refers to littering on Ben Nevis.

This from the misquoted article on the John Muir Trust site;

Banana skins may take up to two years to biodegrade on the summit of Ben Nevis, which at 1334 metres is the highest peak in the country.

Because the mean temperature on the summit plateau of the Ben fluctuates between five degrees above and below zero degrees Celsius, the process takes significantly longer than it would at lower levels.

http://www.jmt.org/news.asp?s=2&cat=Land&nid=JMT-N10412

ford2600

jinkypolly wrote: »

It does not take 2 years for a banana skin to decompose. It takes 2 to 3 weeks. I knew that article would be quoted and thrown up here, that article refers to littering on Ben Nevis.

This from the misquoted article on the John Muir Trust site;


http://www.jmt.org/news.asp?s=2&cat=Land&nid=JMT-N10412

Just going to post similar info. When hiking in mountains zero rubbish is the moto due to temp.

As a farmer and cyclist I have no issue with cyclist pedestrian throwing a banana skin into ditch/field.

Rubbish such as paper and plastics drive me insane. Have quite a bit of road side ditches. The rubbish is incredible

GlennaMaddy

Good few bottles and gel wrappers on the Shay Elliott descent a week after the Ras, surely a race of that standard can organise a cleanup

killalanerr

ras did have a litter van not sure if that has changed

AltAccount

The state of the grass around the first stop was shocking. A disgusting show from a pretty mature group.

Wishbone Ash

ford2600 wrote: »

As a farmer and cyclist ......

.........Rubbish such as paper and plastics drive me insane

Have you ever seen the littering left behind by IFA members on protests in Dublin? They just discard the supplied water bottles and sandwich cartons at their feet. Somehow I doubt any of these farmers would appreciate rubbish being deposited on their own property.

ford2600

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Have you ever seen the littering left behind by IFA members on protests in Dublin? They just discard the supplied water bottles and sandwich cartons at their feet. Somehow I doubt any of these farmers would appreciate rubbish being deposited on their own property.

Have never seen it as I have nothing to do with them. Until some farmers go y paid through reps to look after their and our environment their disregard for the environment was shocking.
Your account doesn't surprise me.
As a nation we are somewhere between Austrian/germans and southern Italians.

Naples and Sicily are something else

riparooo

Going up the start of the Shay Elliot yesterday the amount of gels just dumped in the middle of the road was incredible. What did people think that the gel was magically going to help them up and the added gram or two of the wrapper was going to hold them back.

It is scumbaggery - pure and simple. Totally agree that littering is automatic disqualification.

luapenak

riparooo wrote: »

Going up the start of the Shay Elliot yesterday the amount of gels just dumped in the middle of the road was incredible.

I thought I was quite close to the back at that stage and I really didn't notice any of this, possibly just not very observant. All I saw was the odd bottle here and there, which didn't bother me too much. Given the amount of cyclists, I wouldn't be surprised if the odd person dropped one accidently

The tax man

buffalo wrote: »

Do you never bring the telly to hook it up and take a break? Nothing like watching the Tour mid-spin!

I recall the contents of someones living room strewn around the feather beds a year or two ago.
While shocking to see these items just dumped up there,I always got a chuckle from people arranging the chair and TV together as if still in the front room.

If I have Bananas out with me I do throw the skin into a ditch but I'm picky about where I fling it and feel somewhat guilty. I use shot blocks and all packaging comes home with me,even the top I tear off.

While restocking up on gels and hydro tabs last night I spotted that Clif gels are designed to keep the tab you rip off connected to the package.

detones

ford2600 wrote: »

Have never seen it as I have nothing to do with them. Until some farmers go y paid through reps to look after their and our environment their disregard for the environment was shocking.
Your account doesn't surprise me.
As a nation we are somewhere between Austrian/germans and southern Italians.

Naples and Sicily are something else

I don't think we're quite as bad as Naples yet. Though that problem has more to do with a historic bad waste management system, striking workers and a hint of Mafia involvement. Pompei, just outside Naples is possibly the biggest let down and sh1thole i've been too! However we as nation are pretty litter happy. Just look at any group of secondary school kids at lunch time and see the trail of cans of Monster (what ever the fork that is) and crisps left in their wake.

I seem to have really strayed of cycle related subject matter here. Sorry op.

Cookie_Monster

riparooo wrote: »

Totally agree that littering is automatic disqualification.

This, and it needs to be brought in at the level of the highest tours too. If people can watch their sporting heroes on tv chucking stuff away at will their clearly going to be influenced by it.

Red cards for bidon throwing!

Plastik

I was watching a recording of the Dauphiné the other day and one of the guys put a semi-crushed coke can back in his jersey pocket. I can't remember who it was, but possibly an ozzie in Lotto gear. I was impressed (though obviously not enough to actually remember who it was). The cynic in me would say he only did it because the camera was there, but I've seen other lads ditch them while knowing there was footage being taken.

ednwireland

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

This, and it needs to be brought in at the level of the highest tours too. If people can watch their sporting heroes on tv chucking stuff away at will their clearly going to be influenced by it.

Red cards for bidon throwing!

i only saw picked up 2 bottles on the ras donegal this year, usually end up with a car full, seemed to be less empty gel packs on the road as well (didnt find the garmin someone lost though)

smacl

Was on a walking holiday in Corsica with the wife some years back, and our rather snippy guide berated an elder gent for chucking an apple core in the ditch, giving him an extended spiel about environmental pollution. He was rather embarrassed until my wife muttered to him on the way past "Jesus Eddy, what were you thinking? Give that a few years and there'll be a f**king orchard!"

I hate to see litter after an event, and feel the onus is also on the organisers to to a clean up on the route the following day. While I always bring my rubbish with me, 2000+ cyclists are inevitably going to cause some littering.