A Load Of Rubbish

I think one of my big pet peeves is litter. It’s unsightly, unnecessary and often dangerous. I see quite a lot of litter left around when I’m walking the dogs. It’s not unusual for one of them to pick up some discarded fast food container or even some semi-discarded food. In a way they are helping to clear up some of the mess but it doesn’t really do me much use when they are regurgitating the stuff hours later all over the floor. Eddie even managed to find a whole string of link sausages the other day – God knows where they came from.

In fact some dog owners are amongst the worst offenders. I always pick up any mess after my dogs (I think most dog owners do) but there seems to be a significant minority who just let their pets crap at will and expect other people deal with the mess – whether this is some poor sod standing in it or property owners clearing it up themselves. If I am picking up after my dogs and there is other mess I will pick it up as well. I know quite a few other dog owners who will do this and I appreciate that sometimes it can be hard to see where the dogs have been (e.g. if it's dark or they have dumped in a pile of leaves) but I am convinced that some people just leave it – since it is often in the middle of the pavement and whatever creature defecated must have been the size of a small horse.

I think what really annoyed me recently was a pile of rubbish dumped in Carron Dam which is now supposed to be a nature reserve. This consisted of a Pringles canister, a semi-full can of Red Bull and a broken bottle of Bucky (as they always seem to be). I actually took it on myself to remove this and stick it in the litter bin. The only problem is that I didn’t have a bag with me so I had to carry the rubbish to the entrance of the Dam - juggling the litter as well as two dog leads. For some reason, by the time I had made it to the bin my left hand had developed a cramp which seemed to stay with me for the rest of the day.

If it wasn’t bad enough dealing with rubbish left by other people I had the joy this morning of clearing up after myself. The previous night’s storm had blown over our recycling wheelie bin, leaving the best part of a fortnight’s food packaging all over the back garden. I think someone has got it in for me.