Are cyclists litter bugs?

[Bigtallfatbloke]

As i ride along the hedgerows of southern England I often see litter on the side of the road. So what.....but I notice that a LOT of it is empty plastic energy drink bottles & banana skins etc....the Banana skins are no big deal, but the energy drink bottles....hmmm....I doubt they come from the motorists, or the pedestrains....so maybe...just maybe ...it's US?

 

[alecstilleyedye]

i always take my wrappers etc home. if one falls out of my pocket then i don't know 'till i get home.

once had a mars bar fall out of my pocket on a club run, and it just would not have been safe to stop and retrieve it.

 

[Twenty Inch]

Unfortunately on the tri scene you see a lot of this. Very annoying. On the Isle of Arran tri we were threatened with dire penalties for littering, but there was only 14 of us.

 

[walker]

You get alot of litter along the same runs as sportive's, so much it could become a little dangerous.
I'm a culprit of dropping litter, especially Banana Skins, I could fill a compost bin with the amount I've dropped in my time.

 

[Twenty Inch]

Actually, why don't you post this in the Roadie section and see what responses you get? : )

 

[pzycoman]

I always try and shove mine back in my jersey - although every now and then I dont succeed and off it goes, once it got stuck in my brakes and i was wondering why i wasnt slowing down fast enough...

 

[bof]

Something that struck me about Paris-Brest-Paris was the lack of litter - despite 1000s of cyclists, while I have been on other events where it's pretty bad.

I only chuck away banana skins in places I think they'll rot OK, though once I chucked one over a hedge in Somerset and didnt realise it was someone's garden. When I heard "wtf was that" I moved on sharpish.

 

[piedwagtail91]

you can almost follow the route of any of the sportive rides by just following the rubbish. the pendle one being a good/bad example.

 

[Tim Bennet.]

Yes, cyclists are collectively far from perfect. I have a friend who runs an outside catering company that specialises in sporting events. When they're done for the day and everyone has gone home, they pick up round where they have been.

After orienteering or fell running events, there is not so much as a match stick left on the whole parking field, but in contrast, she always comments how sad it is that so much is left after similarly large cycling events.

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

..always one to spot (then do nothing about it) a business opportunity...how about I ride along on those sportifs with my panniers operating as litter bins at 50p a 'throw'....I may need to ride around the course in reverse though

 

[Big Bren]

I never litter - everything goes in jersey pockets til I get home. Easy.

Bren

 

[Ben]

I don't litter when I cycle - as a tourer I stop to eat anyway - but when walking I used to dispose of banana skins or orange peel by tucking them into the dark crevasses of drystone walls or under rocks, until one day upon a stop on the Pennine Way I saw the wall I was leaning against was already full of rubbish from previous walkers - and not biodegradable stuff either - most of it was crisp packets. Since them I don't leave anything.

 

[barq]

People obviously shouldn't litter even in race conditions, although I can better understand why it happens. But where I find it absolutely unforgivable are the mountain biking centres where 99% of the time no one is racing. I'd also say that on the whole mountain bikers have more places to stash rubbish (pockets, Camelbaks...).

Actually on a more humorous note, I was on a night ride at Coed y Brenin a few months back and the number of chunks of amber pedal reflectors glinting in the beam of my lights was astounding! I'd never noticed them by day.

 

[Fab Foodie]

After athletics meets at our local track, the area is usually a complete bottle-fest. Why people can't take their bottles home is beyond me.

 

[Tim Bennet.]

but when walking I used to dispose of banana skins or orange peel by tucking them into the dark crevasses of dry stone walls or under rocks

So it was you! The number of summit cairns I have taken apart and rebuilt to remove the tons of rubbish in them. Not only does orange peel take seven years to rot away in the hills, there is still the visual impact. Why should people have to sit around in other people's waste while is slowly rots?

There is much more discussion about waste and rubbish in the outdoors in the States than there is here. They have very different waste strategies for 'human waste' depending on the climate and the popularity of the area. In high use camping areas, like on sand bars on rafting rivers, nothing is allowed to be left behind at all. Everything, and I mean everything, had to be packed out.

In warm forested areas, burying human waste (but not toilet paper) is allowed in the active humus layer, but on high Alpine environments, in very remote areas above the tree line, they recommended smearing the 'waste' as thinly as possible over the south facing sides of boulders and rocks. Within a few days the light and sun had reduced it to dust, whereas burying it in an inactive cold soil layer would only preserve it.

They have even built 'composting toilets' in remote parts of the back country where unusually high numbers of people might camp, such as on junctions on long distance trails. These are often well hidden in sympathetically built rustic structures. I think there is a case for similar ideas to be tried here. One at say Sprinkling Tarn, Fords of Avon or Corrour Bothy might be preferable to walking passed endless small boulders with the tell tale sign of toilet paper peaking out from underneath.