...would be a reasonably fair description of my long run on Sunday but that's not really what this post is about.
While out on the run, I noticed a lot of litter at the side of the road and even a little on a couple of the forest trails and it really made me think that it's an absolute disgrace that people are so happy just to dump their garbage in this way. I suspect that the worst culprits are drivers who simply toss empty bottles, cartons, cigarette packets etc out of the window, but some of the blame must be shouldered by cyclists, walkers and even runners who occasionally drop wrappers where no vehicle could have been.
I noticed that during the D33, a woman in front of me put an empty gel wrapper on a bench where someone had already left a similar item. What is that all about? Are the local residents or other users of the path expected to be happy to tidy up your litter because you placed it on a bench rather than just drop it? And that's assuming that it didn't get blown away by the wind in the first place. I'm sure someone once told me that a lot of products come in biodegradable wrappers. That may be true, but unless it degrades within about 5 seconds, it's still unsightly litter and you should take it home and bury it in your garden/window box/plant pot and let it degrade there.
So please folks, whether you're a driver, a cyclist, a runner, a walker or any other sort of visitor to the great outdoors, take your litter home with you or carry it to a proper bin and dispose of it there - you were able to carry it full, you should be able to carry it empty.
