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[Abrowneyegirl]

On my way to work the other day and I was listening to a converstion on the radio that made my blood boil.

Callers were aurguing that throwing cigerette buts out of their car window or on the ground when outside smoking is NOT littering because they biodegrade quickly.   !!!!!!!!

I can not believe how many callers were CLUELESS about this.  

The filters are made of cellulose acetate fibers- they take 2 to 12 years to decompose.

Not to mention the fire hazards in drought areas.

   (((((banging head against wall))))

[circles]

at the risk of offending some posters....smokers are rude...thoughtless...inconsiderate people....

[IamMrsG]

In my state, throwing an apple core -- 100% biodegradable -- will get you a $500 littering fine.   As it should be, imho.  

[Nataliesgramma]

Sometimes when I get out of my car in a parking lot....I see where someone has emptied their ashtray there......

[gardenman]

We get everything thrown out in our yard. There have been soiled diapers (both adult and child), bottles, cans, fast food bags/wrappers, pizza boxes, losing lottery tickets and more. Our local communities now all charge for trash pickup, so lots of people just throw their trash out along the road. Whenever the fee for trash pickup goes up, so does the volume of junk that gets thrown out along the roadside.

[Peaches McPhee]

Back in the 60s or 70s there were a number of commercials/ads for keeping the environment clean and against littering.  The crying native american was the most famous, but there were several.

I often wish we'd bring those back.  I think people need to be re-educated.

[Abrowneyegirl]

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@gardenman wrote:

We get everything thrown out in our yard. There have been soiled diapers (both adult and child), bottles, cans, fast food bags/wrappers, pizza boxes, losing lottery tickets and more. Our local communities now all charge for trash pickup, so lots of people just throw their trash out along the road. Whenever the fee for trash pickup goes up, so does the volume of junk that gets thrown out along the roadside.

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This is a disgusting shame!  

I do not even understand this.  I have always paid for trash and recycling pick-up.

 I have always lived in communties where there was no choice; a contract was issued to the highest bidder and that is who and what all the homeowners are charged.  No options, live here and pay for trash removal.  Maybe that helps with illegeal dumping in some areas.

I am sorry for you Gardenman, you should not have to put up that!

[gardenman]

I'm thinking an angry homeowner with a shotgun might be more effective than a crying native American these days. Ah heck, give the homeowner an Uzi instead of a shotgun. I kind of like the idea that every time they throw something out of the car, you get to fire a shot back into the car. I'm thinking that would be pretty effective at stopping littering. Oh sure, there might be a bit of collateral damage, but those things happen. (If you can't tell, I'm more than a little fed up with littering.)

[wilma]

Littering is just plain lazy IMO.  There are plenty of garbage cans and recycling bins around for items.

[Mominohio]

It is really bad out in the country as well, because people think no one is going to see them, when they either litter, or more aggressively, dump along the roadsides.

And it seems to cut across all socio economic levels of society. I see it in wealthy areas, economically disadvantaged areas, rural and city. Even the Amish in our area, who people believe to be stewards of the earth (oh so not!) will be  routinely seen tossing trash out of the buggies as the drive down the road.