Litter - A Century Ago

[hc4361]

I've been looking at a lot of old photos of city scenes in the early 1900s and the streets do seem to be very clean and litter free.

Is this because people were better behaved or simply because there was a lot less stuff to litter with? Pop came in bottles and were returned for the penny. There were no cardboard coffee cups, pizza boxes, burger boxes - I don't think people ate and drank on the go as they do now. There would have been chips wrapped in newspaper but were these more likely to be eaten at home, the used paper thrown on the fire?

No plastic bags. There was certainly smoking paraphernalia but the cigarette packets didn't have that nasty plasticky coating nor the plastic film. No chewing gum before WWII.

There would have been lots of horse muck but neighbours with gardens would almost fight over it - so good for the roses. I do remember in the 60s and 70s seeing LOTS of dog mess - usually white. :)

There seemed to be a lot of braziers on the streets and pavements even when I was a child, so maybe people chucked their rubbish on to them.

Back to my question - were people better behaved then, or was there a lot less stuff to litter with?

[ummmm]

Chris...I don't care. It's rare I'd ever need a litter bin on a platform, the train has them. I just hold onto my litter.

[CrapAtCryptics]

With the majority of ladies staying at home in those days they cook good simple meals and no one seemed to snack apart from tea and bickies. People didnt see the need to carry water bottles everywhere and knew where their rubbish went.

[Barmaid]

PP the RCJ has a designated area. Not so with the Rolls Building. But I cpuld show you where every stubber and butt bin is in that area!!!

[sanmac]

It's funny how you gauge time as you get older. Whenever I read something concerning a century ago I immediately think of the 1800s; but, hold on, a century ago was 1919...Wow! Yes, of course there wasn't as much garbage, and I guess most of the reasons for that have already been mentioned in the thread. I remember as a kid scouring the gutters, along with my delinquent friends, for cigarette butts!

[anagram]

As a youngster I remember taking empty bottles, lemonade etc, back to the off licence and being paid a few pence per bottle. Chips in newspaper....have they ever tasted so good? And am I alone in remembering collecting food waste as pigswill?

[EDDIE51]

My grandparents were the same hc4361.They kept every bit of string and every bit of packing paper and all boxes! I assume it was because they had lived through 2 world wars with all the rationing and shortages !

[Spicerack]

Nobody's mentioned importing Roma, 3rd world peasants, etc.
But, possibly the main reason, which no-one has mentioned again. The end of corporal punishment for kids. Remember when kids listened to and learnt from adults.

[Peter Pedant]

why hasnt anyone said that this has a lot to do with the unnecessary delay in a hard Brexit ?
this would convert this thread only into (a badly needed) sixth thread on the subject today

[vetuste_ennemi]

Seventeen wasted votes littering our streets has certainly contributed to the general filth.

[vetuste_ennemi]

Wouldn't you agree, Peter?

[Mamyalynne]

A truck for swill used to come to our school for waste food as it had it's own kitchen Anagram, unlike others that had external catering.

[Spicerack]

It's illegal now, isn't it, feeding swill to pigs?

[Mamyalynne]

It is now, yes.

[Smowball]

I live just a 7/8. I Utd walk from a Lidl and then a local parade of shops. Just that small walk and the amount of litter on the floor is horrendous. Crisp packets, takeaway boxes, cigarettes...... and it often blows onto my driveway. So I clear it all up, plus anything on the pavement outside my house. I cannot comprehend people simply dropping their rubbish onto the floor, I really can’t.

[Smowball]

*minute walk.

[Spicerack]

Seems a waste. But I suppose if it's dangerous.
Must have fed swill to pigs for centuries without realising.