do you think pitching an apple core or banana peel out the car window is littering?
 

i was up in the redwoods a few days ago, and this was a heated discussion at a local coffee shop. zero tolerance to littering, or is biomass ok?

I don't have a problem with it as it gives bugs and animals something to eat. This assumes you are actually throwing it off the road and into the brush.

How about taking a dump in the woods?

Not littering IMO.

Riding down a country road and lands in a ditch - NO
Riding downtown and lands on the sidewalk - YES

Apple core will be gone in a short time....not so sure about banana peel as I doubt animals will eat that.

I have no problem with it. The problem is that as soon as you say it's legal, you'll have some jerk dumping 4 yard truck loads of compost in the woods.

if it decomposes, something is having a dinner from it...

While on a bike ride I tossed my banana peel into the bushes along the road and was read the riot act by an angry motorist who concluded I was a littering A hole. Whatever dude :rolleyes:

Obviously I don't have a problem with small food items. I DO have a problem with cyclists who toss their paper goods (wrappers, containers, etc...) That is littering.

apple core, no.
banana peel , maybe. depends on location, as stated above.

i do throw empty peapods out the window while driving[not in town],one at a time. i try to get them to land on the double yellow lines, or as close as possible.
i usually wait to do it so nobody is behind me. seems harmless to me, like a falling leaf.

I'm working on a shallow breath technique so I don't litter the air with too much CO2.

Simple rule: If it came from the Earth, it can go back into the Earth. Corollary: just don't make it unsightly for others.

If you clip a cyclist, who lands in the woods, is it littering? It may be different where you guys live, but there is a really big problem with bikes and roadways. The cyclist pushed for a veloway in Austin, they got it, but still ride the highway.

i was tought to be sure to toss well off the road so as to mitigate potential vehicle/animal encounters.

sucks when you're the passenger and the driver is pounding through a 1/2 lb of chicken wings.

If it's indigenous to the area, then it's not littering.

I saw a article the other day that the tallest mountain in Great Britton is littered with banana peels. It is something like a 4,400 foot mountain and people walk to the top. It takes up to two years for a banana peel to degrade according to the article.

http://www.grough.co.uk/magazine/2009/09/19/nevis-rubbish-drives-volunteers-bananas

Like was postulated above some biomass OK, some is not. I always look at it like it was the half mile of country lane in front of my property. If, on one of my walks, it's something I'm gonna object to being there, I won't throw it. How tough is it to keep it until the next trash bin.

Height of fire season right now, my property is at the bottom of 4 miles of twisty switchback two lane climb. I usually find 5 to 7 beer cans, and 20 or so cig butts every month in grass alongside my side of road. I used to joke that the local rednecks had a choice of what to chuck out the window (beer or cig) as they are gonna have to stop steering with their knees, and actually downshift to go up hill. Needless to say, we keep that section weed-whacked to within an inch of ground, and spray no grow all along fenceline.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1253549605.jpg


Believe it or not, there is a caution attached to this product.


"NOT FOR USE WHILE VEHICLE IS IN MOTION"

That would be what I call 'Nature weeding out the stupid'

:D:D:D sorry that made me laugh out loud

Even an apple core or banana peel is unsightly, and tends to give the next guy the idea that it is okay to pitch his trash which may be a can or bottle. So depends if its going to be visible.
Tossing an apple core in bushes or woods - ok.
Tossing onto open ground or path - no.
Tossing into city street - no.

Here in Texas, even biodegradable stuff like banana peels and apple cores can get you a litter ticket.

I see lots of banana peels on the road where I cycle...

It also depends where I am.... if I am out in the woods, of course i would pitch it off into the bushes. If I were out in Moab on the slickrock trail, I probably wouldn't pitch a banana peel off into the microbiotic soil.

I think throwing anything out of the window of a moving vehicle isn't really a good idea.

no.

This thread reminds me of a float trip I took down the middle fork of the salmon river a few years back--it was pack-in pack-out EVERYTHING. Even when washing hair(bio-shampoo of course) you had to do it above the high water mark on the bank. It was definately different, but was worth it when seeing such unspoiled country and wildlife up-close(bears and mountain goats right on the river bank).


What I still can't comprehend how so many folks feel it is "okay' to throw a butt on the ground, out the window, on the beach, etc...truly disgusting. I wish they would all get slapped with mucho fines for doing that.

When ya gotta go...you gotta go. Does a bear...?

Unless it's the recently used and thoroughly wiped down hand gun in your pocket!

Did I say too much??

;)

:D

I have hated litter since I was a little kid. My Grandparents lived on a rural road that was becoming more and more traveled. Every morning when we stayed with them we had to go to the front yard and pick up all the trash from the night before. I never litter.

Several years ago I was driving in my 914 with the roof off. I had a passenger chunk a empty aluminum can out the window. I did not say a word but I turned the car around walked over to the can and put it on the floor board of the passenger side. He later told me that was a moment he will remember forever.

only if it is indigenous to the area so the usual answer is don't throw it, pack out what you brought in.

I think we are all looking at only one object, once their is one, say a banana peel its not that bad. Now lets say the same person throws out a peel everyday on his drive to work at the same spot. After a month their might be 20 all in the same area. Compound this by the number of other drivers that see it and think it is ok and it can get pretty ugly. I treat it as my front yard and what would I like having thrown on it

Bingo

Exactly!

If someone threw it on your front lawn or driveway or front porch, would you mind?
If the answer is yes then it is littering.
It does not matter if it is biodrgradeable. It does not matter if some creatures can eat it. It is still littering.

We can debate all day long if it should be illegal or if there should be punishment involved, but it's still littering.

I've worked in the wilderness all my life , in 21 different countries and it always amazes me the litter you find, I hate it and just wish people had more respect, cigerette butts are also litter. We have $2,000 dollar fines in Canada for littering, but I'd bet there are few charges, that's another thing I'm adding to the list of "things to change" when I'm Prime Minister, bigger fines and more charges. If you throw it in the garbage it isn't litter , if you throw it anywhere else it is.

I do it if I were out in the woods. No harm done, really. I would not like it if its done right outside my door. I live in the hills with lots of trees.

< shifty eyes and a nervous twitch >What about pesky neighbors that just don't know when to mind their own business?< /shifty eyes and a nervous twitch >

When I see someone throw a light cigarette from a car (pretty much a daily occurrence) I fantasize about walking up to their car when stopped at a stop light and pouring a bucket of cig butts and ashes into their lap through their open window and telling them "I've been following you for a while. You dropped these."

You have seen Canadian Bacon (the film with John Candy) right?

If not you have GOT to see it!

Johnny Apple Seed didn't think so.

People who let their dogs crap on the footpath or beach REALLY anoy me.

Haven't you ever had the secret urge to crap on the beach?

Betcha, somewhere deep down you have.





Not that I'm saying anything, really.

I had this argument with a friend while gearing up at a trailhead in the Adirondacks. He was peeling an orange and tossing the peels on the ground. He said its natural and bio-degradable. I said until it decomposes it is litter.