Litter

[eardstapa]

Don't know if this is discussed elsewhere already but thought it worth mentioning. Someone I know who regularly climbs Ingleborough from Chapel le Dale says that following the three peaks race he can fill two carrier bags with litter. This is different from the everyday litter he picks up - gel packets etc.

[DrPatrickBarry]

Alas there are people out there that show no respect for the beautiful areas they are allowed to visit.

With a walking group in Ireland many years ago I let a woman know she had drop her plastic water bottle. Her reply was "It's all right". I let her know that it was most definitly "not all right", peronally I would have banned her from the walking club for life.

[Wheeze]

At race registration, clear plastic sacks full of running related litter should be hung in clear view of everyone with a big sign saying Litterers will be DQ'd. All RO has to do at briefing is just repeat that anyone causing litter will be DQ'd.

Anyone reading this who has littered is NOT a fell runner, so clear off this forum NOW!

[bigfella]

At race registration, clear plastic sacks full of running related litter should be hung in clear view of everyone with a big sign saying Litterers will be DQ'd. All RO has to do at briefing is just repeat that anyone causing litter will be DQ'd.

Anyone reading this who has littered is NOT a fell runner, so clear off this forum NOW!

How much of this is accidental? I know it's not that hard to stow an empty gel wrapper in a bum-bag but I can also see it's easy to drop one whilst trying to stuff it into a mesh pocket. You often see this in cycle events where the cyclist misses his back pocket or pulls an empty wrapper out whilst fumbling for another full one. I know, a little more care and thought for the environment and this shouldn't happen. It's also common in road events to discard plastic cups / bottles, hopefully within the feed station zone, but it does give the impression that throwing things down is ok.

[RaceTheSweeper]

At race registration, clear plastic sacks full of running related litter should be hung in clear view of everyone with a big sign saying Litterers will be DQ'd. All RO has to do at briefing is just repeat that anyone causing litter will be DQ'd.

Anyone reading this who has littered is NOT a fell runner, so clear off this forum NOW!

Here Here for this one! It doesn't seem to happen so much in the fell races but it is a massive problem in trail races that go up onto our beautiful hills. I live on the Limestone way in the Peak District and regularly do a little pick bagging up at least a carrier bag full (much of it recyclable so it goes in my recycling bin). It is mostly walkers that cause the problem. At road sides it's where litter has been thrown from car windows. At least one empty litre bottle of whisky I pick up from the side of the road each month so someone has a secret drink/drive problem.
It makes me so blooming angry as who the hell do they think clears up after them? The wombles?

[Bob]

When cycling I have a pocket/bag of unused food and one for empty bags/wrappers. Take item from one pocket/bag, remove/eat contents, put wrapper in other pocket/bag.

[Jez Hellewell]

Don't even get me started on the new dog walking trend of bagging your dog poo & leaving it on a wall, stile, branch etc.

[Wheeze]

Bigfella, its not accidental. Just lazy, thoughtless, careless or worse but not accidental. Take care when putting a used wrapper back in your bumbag. If it was your whistle or compass, you wouldn't drop it, would you?
This gel craze is just that...a craze created by the food industry, Nowt wrong wi' jelly babies!! (or infant-shaped gelatine based confectionary for our PC bretheren!)

[johnmc]

Can't disagree that littering is wrong, but I'm sure that over the years the odd bit of stuff has fallen out of my pockets etc accidentally. To ensure good litter karma I make a point of picking up at least 1 bit of litter every time I'm out; if I know I'm close to a bin then I might pick up more. It can prove worthwhile, last year picking up a few beer cans (just yards from the bin by the river) I found a watch!
Interesting how there is a cycle to litter - late December it is the wrappers from Quality Street and Heroes; Jan 1st burnt out Chinese Lanterns; end of school year alco-pop bottles. Foil birthday balloons are an all year round thing though.

[sore legs]

I would have thought that on big events like the 3P that the organiser would have swept the route. A moral duty of care.

Perhaps these should be set in the conditions of authorising such a large prolific event.