Bill Bryson. Britains litter problem. Part one.

Bill Bryson looks at possible solutions to the growing litter problem in Britain.
Excerpt from the BBC Panorama production August 2008.

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Education

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• Litter
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[667jaymz]

Why should we need adverts to tell us not to do it? It all comes down to general politeness and being aware of the wider world and being less selfish. People are generally so self absorbed and ignorant of the effects of their actions that the entire country is in a total state; not just about litter but everything

[jensww22]

After having ingratiated himself with the British with his bogus English accent and his germanophobic slurs in almost all his books he thinks that the time has come for taking a less romantic outlook on his host nation. I'm surprised he doesn't find anything typically Teutonic in keeping streets clean.

[WhiteWashMusic]

NYC had a really bad litter problem as well some time ago. NYC has always had a bit of a bad rap for being dirty, but then when Giuliani was Mayor, he (among others) made it illegal to even spit gum out on the sidewalks and NYPD could fine you much like the gentlemen in this video did the man with the cigarette. And today, NYC is the cleanest it's been in years! Keep at it Britain! :D

[Jenjenilou]

Bill I agree with you so much. I'm a Brit and when I go out for my daily walks I get so depressed. I find myself picking up litter but I've had to stop myself and try and ignore it, otherwise what is supposed to be a daily constitutional turns into collecting bags of rubbish instead. The council come around where I live, they clean it all up, cut the grass, tend the flowers, the place looks beautiful ... for a few hours .. and hours later its back. I'll sign up to your campaign like a shot!

[cochranexyz]

@ccccrsraasfsdf He does, doesn't he!

[Fredfrancoiss]

Just visit BBC in white city in London and see how dirty it is... There should be intelligent people working in, but obviously they are not. Looks really awful and its a real shame. After living in London for a year I noticed that people dont care at all about how they live... I seen so many dirty flats, people leaving traces of ketchup and cheese on the carpet without cleaning it... Absolutely astonishing, and I seen this also in posh parts of London such as South Kensington or Chelsea....

[rodcosmic]

It also doesn't deal with the problem properly. We should be instilling pride in the population or rewarding them for good behaviour rather than this current pencant of threatening people with punishment for bad behaviour. Why is it that I wouldn't dream of dropping litter ANYWHERE no matter how grubby the place, but someone of a similar age, education, background and upbringing might. It would be great if someone like Malcolm Gladwell could write a chapter thin-slicing this litter phenomonen.

[rodcosmic]

How has it come to the stage when we have people looking like law enforcement officers pulling people up for dropping litter? I don't really have a solution to the problem but this just doesn't sit well with me for various reasons. Just as Bill says, the problem with fines is that people are willing to take the risk because on the whole the chances of getting caught are minimal.

[pittyshrew]

Well done Bill. Shame it took a non Brit to draw people's attention to the disgraceful litter problem in the UK. Thanks for the download.