3 ms·

But last week it was fishing gear. Although, it's bullshit that so many smokers think it's perfectly OK to throw their butts just about anywhere.

onetimemanytime 8y ago
I think nothing should beat plastics used for food /bevs, but who knows.
fyfy18 8y ago
In the UK it can be met with a £80 fine but I've never heard of anyone (other than the sensationalist news articles in the likes of The Sun) ever getting hit with it. I guess it's not worth the red tape for police to hand out fines.
- friendly_chap 8y ago
  I have been hit with it in London... so it definitely exists. Makes friday drinks (and being stupid and inconsiderate) way more expensive (it was £85). I always thought cigarette butts were something that are harmless and break down easily.
- megablast 8y ago
  I know people who were hit with it, and I don't feel sorry for them at all.
- DanBC 8y ago
  > I guess it's not worth the red tape for police to hand out fines. It's not normally police who issue the penalty notice, but local council staff. This means there's a lot of variation across the country. Some councils outsource this to companies who are a bit too vigorous in giving penalty notices. The aim is to prevent litter, not to raise revenue, so they're supposed to give you a chance to pick up your litter to avoid the fine but some don't do that. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/fixed-penalty-notices-issuing-and-enforcement-by-councils https://www.gov.uk/guidance/fixed-penalty-notices-issuing-an... The advice about when to, and when not to, issue FPNs covers the point about giving people the opportunity to pick up litter: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/enforcement-officers-issuing-fixed-penalty-notices https://www.gov.uk/guidance/enforcement-officers-issuing-fix...
  - throwawayjava 8y ago
    > so they're supposed to give you a chance to pick up your litter to avoid the fine but some don't do that. That seems like an ineffective mechanism. Just litter and pick it up in the very rare cases where you get called out. If I were council dictator for a day, I would make the fines stiff and immediate but require that 100%^1 of the revenues are refunded to all residents at the end of each year. That way there's still a stiff disincentive to littering, but no significant incentive for abusive/dishonest enforcement. [^1]: (perhaps sans some low and more importantly fixed amount to cover enforcement costs)

onetimemanytime 8y ago

I think nothing should beat plastics used for food /bevs, but who knows.

fyfy18 8y ago

In the UK it can be met with a £80 fine but I've never heard of anyone (other than the sensationalist news articles in the likes of The Sun) ever getting hit with it. I guess it's not worth the red tape for police to hand out fines.

friendly_chap 8y ago
I have been hit with it in London... so it definitely exists. Makes friday drinks (and being stupid and inconsiderate) way more expensive (it was £85). I always thought cigarette butts were something that are harmless and break down easily.
megablast 8y ago
I know people who were hit with it, and I don't feel sorry for them at all.
DanBC 8y ago
> I guess it's not worth the red tape for police to hand out fines. It's not normally police who issue the penalty notice, but local council staff. This means there's a lot of variation across the country. Some councils outsource this to companies who are a bit too vigorous in giving penalty notices. The aim is to prevent litter, not to raise revenue, so they're supposed to give you a chance to pick up your litter to avoid the fine but some don't do that. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/fixed-penalty-notices-issuing-and-enforcement-by-councils https://www.gov.uk/guidance/fixed-penalty-notices-issuing-an... The advice about when to, and when not to, issue FPNs covers the point about giving people the opportunity to pick up litter: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/enforcement-officers-issuing-fixed-penalty-notices https://www.gov.uk/guidance/enforcement-officers-issuing-fix...
- throwawayjava 8y ago
  > so they're supposed to give you a chance to pick up your litter to avoid the fine but some don't do that. That seems like an ineffective mechanism. Just litter and pick it up in the very rare cases where you get called out. If I were council dictator for a day, I would make the fines stiff and immediate but require that 100%^1 of the revenues are refunded to all residents at the end of each year. That way there's still a stiff disincentive to littering, but no significant incentive for abusive/dishonest enforcement. [^1]: (perhaps sans some low and more importantly fixed amount to cover enforcement costs)