Why Do People Litter? (Pittsburgh, Baldwin: school, floor, yard)

[greg42]

Originally Posted by jay5835

I don't know. I don't litter. I chose "morons," because it's such an easy thing to not do, it's hard to imagine why anyone would do it. I think it's pretty snarky of you to think to blame it on "yinzers," though. I don't think it's a class issue.

I must say this (again): I didn't notice litter until you moved here and began ranting about it.

I went ahead and chose that too, for the hell of it, and it's the most popular option. There are morons everywhere; why there are more of them here that litter I really don't know.

I have to say, I mostly STILL don't notice it. I am blessed with some sort of selective sight on this issue, apparently. But maybe I don't often drive or walk through the worst-affected areas. My workdays are spent downtown (less affected) and I drive up 279 and 79 (usually ok) and mostly around the north areas when not at work. In front of my house, which is on a through road, I do get a notable piece of trash here and there, but the time between them is measured in weeks or months. I could count on my hands the number of times a year I pick something up, and hell sometimes it might have blown out of someone's trash can or recycle bin up the street. I don't believe that is unusual in comparison to other suburban to rural transition areas with a middling level of through traffic.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by jay5835

I did this yesterday at a bus stop. This smoker flicked his cigarette, still lit, into the street. There were no cars coming, so I stepped on it, picked it up, and threw it in the trash receptacle he was leaning on. One of the other people gave me a "thumbs up," and that really bothered the smoker.

Nice!

I can't figure out the smokers. Most of them are in fact people who would never dream of littering something else, but a cigarette butt is somehow exempt from their thinking.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I really don't see what's so difficult about keeping a small trash bag in your car and emptying it periodically.

The essence of laziness is not doing things that would only take a small effort. My wife doesn't call me lazy for not lifting a car over my head, she calls me lazy for leaving a used glass on the counter right over the dishwasher.

[raubre]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

My wife doesn't call me lazy for not lifting a car over my head, she calls me lazy for leaving a used glass on the counter right over the dishwasher.

I do the same thing, only because I'll rinse that glass out and use it again throughout the day.

[SammyKhalifa]

I don't think it's laziness as much as it is self-centeredness and disregard for other people. Almost everything wrong with the world stems from the tendency for people to not give a crap about anyone other than themselves. Most of the time, people that cause the issues are so full of themselves that they don't even realize that they're causing a problem.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by raubre

I do the same thing, only because I'll rinse that glass out and use it again throughout the day.

That's what I keep telling her!

In general, I tend to accumulate clutter and then deal with it all at once. But I have a higher tolerance for clutter than my wife, so it drives her a little nuts (she apparently loves me anyway).

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by SammyKhalifa

I don't think it's laziness as much as it is self-centeredness and disregard for other people.

I understand what you are saying, but I think those are often two sides of the same coin. Not lifting a finger for the benefit of other people can be, and often is, described as both laziness and self-centeredness.

[SammyKhalifa]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I understand what you are saying, but I think those are often two sides of the same coin. Not lifting a finger for the benefit of other people can be, and often is, described as both laziness and self-centeredness.

Yeah, probably true.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by SammyKhalifa

Yeah, probably true.

So the correct answer was lazy and self-centered . . . although neither was a poll option, unfortunately.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

That's what I keep telling her!

In general, I tend to accumulate clutter and then deal with it all at once. But I have a higher tolerance for clutter than my wife, so it drives her a little nuts (she apparently loves me anyway).

We are reversed in my house, at least when it comes to the kitchen. She likes to accumulate the clutter and deal with it at once. I like to not have the clutter accumulate. With the rest of the house, though, I am less successful with this.