Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Challenging litterbugs - is it worth it?
Walking down the road, I see a plastic cup being thrown out of the window of a parked black Range Rover. I peered in and said 'aren't you going to throw that in a bin where it belongs?'
The youth inside said 'no', then 'you put it in the bin then'. I said 'no, of course not, I'm not your servant. I'll pick it up and put it back in your car though'.
He says 'go on then, do it' - so I pick it up, and he's ready to tip a cup of pink juice over me - so I ask 'are you really going to pour that on me?' and at this point his friend comes along and starts filming me and calling me a weirdo. Of course at this point I was so riled I instead threw the empty cup on his bonnet and marched off. He then drove along me, threw the juice at me from a distance, until I got to a crossing, at which point he made to turn into my path but waited - so I said 'I've got your licence plate number [XLG was all I had] I'll call the police if you drive into me' and the driver's girlfriend pipes up 'no I'll call the police on you! For throwing a cup on our car!'
At which point irritated drivers behind honked so much he drove off.
I really despair at the world sometimes. I see people throwing rubbish out of their cars every day. Does no one have a sense of civic responsibility anymore? Haringey looks like a dump because of selfish people like these three. If no one challenges them then things will never get better, or maybe this guy will be even more inclined to throw rubbish on the street to piss off other do-gooders like me?
God knows what they are going to do with the film clip of me...
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Shar on
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So far this sign seems to be doing its job.
However I didn't put up a sign saying "Please don't pee on our doorstep even though the hedge provides good cover", and therefore overnight...UGH.
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Permalink Reply by Maddy on
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Shariq I saw your sign and thought it was a really good idea - I might do the same for the dumping spot by the doctor's surgery carpark (we get bottles of pee there, dumped by who knows?). It can't hurt, and if framed politely might 'nudge' someone in the direction of a bin.
A 'cleaner Haringey' campaign, eh?... I try to pick up some litter whenever I am out, especially in the park - though it seems a drop in the ocean I think there's definitely something in the 'broken windows' theory, that dropped rubbish attracts more littering.
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The bottles of pee are most likely Uber drivers. They have nowhere to go (see what I did there) between jobs without having to pay for parking, buy a coffee to use the facilities etc.
The above would apply to all of London but if an area is already dirty maybe people are more likely to take advantage.
We do offer delivery drivers a glass of water and the chance to use our loo. The only one to take us up on the latter was a female delivery driver who was extremely grateful. Which was nice and all but leads me to wonder if male drivers simply use other options.
I do pick up litter sometimes but the sheer volume is overwhelming esp when say you make it to a bin in Finsbury Park and find it overflowing.
The broken windows theory does seem to apply. The council's cleaning staff do seem to work pretty hard but perhaps there simply aren't enough of them.
Partly I think it's also cultural. For example I'm from Mumbai and can explain (not condone!) the cultural and political reasons for the filth there. I don't mean to single any particular group and don't know of any one group that can be held responsible. I need to think about this some more because there are many other extremely diverse areas in London and elsewhere with a high proportion of fresh arrivals, which aren't anywhere as filthy...
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Permalink Reply by ThaiDi on
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I think rubbish attracts rubbish. For example, one of my neighbours left out a black bin bag that wasn't collected by the bin-men, by the end of the day others had piled empty cans, cigarette packets, wine bottles etc on top. I removed this extra rubbish from the bin bag so it looked less like a tip, and that seems to have deterred others from placing extra rubbish on top (though we are still stuck with this black bin bag that doesn't fit in a bin...)
So if the pavements are strewn with rubbish already, people will think it doesn't matter if they add some more - and there just aren't enough street sweepers to keep up.
Good on you for offering toilet and drinks to delivery drivers - that has never even occurred to me but it's very kind of you.
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Yup rubbish does attract rubbish exactly as you described. Though throwing rubbish at one's own doorstep or even feet is something I can only describe as some sort of dissociative disorder.
Re delivery drivers it hadn't occured to me either until recently when someone I know who once worked as one pointed out that a brief glimpse of humanity can be very meaningful in the midst of a gruelling and thankless job...
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Permalink Reply by Sarah on
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My mum has been staying with me for the past week, she puts me to shame always picking up litter on my estate. I just say "I pay a fortune in service charge and council tax for someone else to pick this stuff up!" (also I'm cutting right back on single use plastics so I don't carry a packet of wipes around like Mum does) What really annoys me is that the young men littering the estate hang out on right above the general waste bins...
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Permalink Reply by ZNers on
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Hi Shariq
This is a good idea. Mind sending me this so I can print it?! Littering in this borough is out of control. It's not like this in most other areas of London. It's a culture that the council seem to tolerate. Purpetrators range all the way from primary school children to taxi drivers making use of lax parking permits to sit idle, eat and then throw their rubbish on the kerbside. The council themselves litter our pavements with their silly bag leaving policy agreed with veolia. They also do not comply to their weekly sweep policy. I have raised this with my local councillor.
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Permalink Reply by Martin (Woodside) on
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It's sh_t wherever you go, this morning one of the fields in Hertfordshire where I help run a leisure activitiy had twenty dumped fridge-freezers in it.
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We ought to have a protest down Green Lanes, beginning in Ducketts Common which is currently a disgrace.
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Permalink Reply by Dan77 on
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What about some sort of campaign though - six weeks when we aim to... I don't know, hand out leaflets and do lots of clearing up, organise groups of volunteers go out daily and make the place really sparkling
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