Sick of Snowdon Walkers

[mananddog]

There are far too many plonkers walking up Snowdon! 

At the weekend we were working on out Club hut, this is the last building on you right as you go up Snowdon via the tourist route - the building after Stephan's café and before the big barn.

I have just put out my recycle bin (a very large one) and it is full to the brim of all the bottles and cans we picked up on Saturday. My regular bin is half full of the unrecyclable or the plain too filthy to sort through.

Lots are energy drink bottles from the [censored] who think they are Olympic athletes just because they have walked up a bit of a hill.

All this stuff had been thrown over the wall into the trees that surround the hut or stuffed into the drystone wall. We clear up regularly but I am damned if I will be the rubbish collector for these people and try not to get into the habit of picking up stuff on the road - it would be a fulltime job.

If you look in the grit bins they are full of rubbish even though there is a bin at the bottom opposite the Vic Hotel.

I wish I could catch someone doing it and I would find a suitable orifice to stuff their rubbish.

Walk - don't litter!!!!!!

[ljmeerkat75]

Amen to that mananddog gets to me when i see litter on the mountains and as you pointed out its mostly bottles and wrappers which weigh nothing so it should be no trouble to put them in your rucksack till you reach a bin

[domtheone]

Does not surprise me given the amount of people i see at the summit that are not real walkers who, by and large, have more respect for the mountain(s).


Dont really want to see signs everywhere saying no littering as that shouldn't be neccesary.


Sad though when the side of a mountain resembles the average street in the city, litter wise.

[route2rock]

There is a group of people trying to tackle this issue and spread the word with social media, radio interviews etc.

https://mobile.twitter.com/hashtag/mountainmagpie

[Lakeland Lorry]

Here's another group that are doing their best to clear up the litter on all three National Peaks.

http://www.grough.co.uk/magazine/2015/10/14/volunteers-clear-half-a-ton-of-litter-from-ben-nevis-scafell-pike-and-snowdon


I hate seeing litter when I'm out on the fells, but my biggest bug bear is orange peel and banana skins.   Why do people think it's OK to chuck banana skins all over the fells, and to leave little piles of orange peel everywhere?

According to Keep Britain Tidy, it takes 2 years for orange peel and banana skins to biodegrade.

Here's a list of how long it takes for other different types of litter to biodegrade:

 Paper bag - 1 month
Apple core - 8 weeks
Orange peel and banana skins - 2 years
Cigarette end - 18 months to 500 years
Plastic bag - 10 to 20 years
A plastic bottle - 450 years
Chewing gum - 1 million years


I've heard all sort of comments, when I've been out litter picking on the fells, including a classic one when someone asked me why didn't the council provide rubbish bins on the fells?   Would love to see the council's bin lorry trying to get up to the top of Haystacks on it's weekly run.

[youradvocate]

Litter is a problem everywhere. Nothing changes, even the Romans complained about it. The ones I dislike the most are the people who just lob their rubbish out of their car windows!

[midweekmountain]

Every night we go out climbing /bouldering on an evening we take a plastic bag and pick up rubbish it always goes home full, this includes Brimham Rocks which is run by the National Trust who ALWAYS have a recruitment bod hanging around but never clean the place up.

What really makes my blood boil is that the bins 20ft away from the National Trust Cafe are often overflowing and the staff cannot be bothered to empty them.

Typical of the National Trust they are happy to take your money and sell you rubbish but they never clean it up.

[Cairncamper]

I've only started walking and camping this year and I'm disapointed by how much rubbish I see. Banana skins are the main thing.


I walked around the shore of Llyn Cau Cadir Idris a bit and noticed something in the water, and it was a blood crisp packet that had been there god knows how long.


I alway's take a bit of other people [censored] out with me when walking or camping but be careful not to spend all mt time litter picking and winding myself about it.


I think there's a lot of people who go walking more for the challenge and to say they walked up this, or climbe up that, and don't give a [censored] about the environment and lovely surroundings.


I like a bit of a challenge but I mainly do this because of the natural beauty of the places I visit.


PS


Lakeland Lorry, is that serious about chewing gum or are you joking lol?


Can't believe gum could take that long to breakdown.


And plastic bags, like crisp packets definitely  take longer than that to breakdown.

[Slogger]

I'm afraid it is an ongoing thing and always will be, no matter how much anyone tries to educate these thoughtless idiots. The only thing we that care for the outdoors can do is to get into the habit of picking up other peoples rubbish. I usually do this on the way back to the car, ie: on the way back rather than be picking stuff up during the entire walk.

[Lakeland Lorry]

Cairncamper - I found the info about the chewing in an article in The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/sep/24/bananas-litter-hikers-mountains-scotland


It's probably correct, because chewing gums are made from a gum base, which itself is made up of plastic, rubber or wax.   None of which are biodegradable.

[midweekmountain]

I'm afraid it is an ongoing thing and always will be, no matter how much anyone tries to educate these thoughtless idiots.

Are we talking about the National Trust Staff here!!!!!!!!

[chrisj]

I'd like to think you are preaching to the converted on this forum, and that we would all agree with you mananddog.

[altirando]

Agree with you and Domtheone.  I think we have to accept that the world and his wife view Snowdon as something to achieve especially with the café, and trudge in line up the obvious path. We can not claim exclusive rights. Try the south ridge next time, straightforward, nothing like Crib Goch.

[FOX160]

Its the same problem with the younger Mountain bikers leaving gel/health snack wrappers/Banana skins on there way round the Trail centres throughout the UK.   I mainly blame the City Folk as they are used to people picking it up for them, which is no excuse.

[swanseamale47]

I'm always amazed by the amount of orange peel I see about, lets face it it's not exactly heavy, and the other thing a see is beer cans on the tops of cliffs......   wonder how many drunks fall off... not enough I suspect.