Is it Littering?
By missybear
@missybear (11391)
United States
January 9, 2011 2:33pm CST
If you're walking down the road and you see a piece of paper or something shiny and you pick it up.....don't like it or need it and trow it back down, is that consider littering?
It's already been on the ground so If I trow it back I don't think I should be called a Litter bug do you?
6 people like this
19 responses
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
10 Jan 11
Um, I ask my mom..and she said yes. That once it is in your hand and you toss it back down it is considered you littering now. 
Sorry..I guess it is best to either take the toe of your shoe to push it around...and then bend real close to it to check it out...so that it isn't considered littering..when you find it is just junk.
1 person likes this
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
10 Jan 11
I guess if you touch it on the ground and keep it on the ground while looking at it, or just a few inches from the ground maybe it wouldn't count but it seems once it is more then a foot off the ground it is considered re-littering..which as some stated a cop wouldn't care if it had been on the ground previous to you re-throwing it down. I guess once it is in the hand and off the ground for more then three seconds it is considered yours...lol...
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
9 Jan 11
I dunno that you could consider yourself a litter bug when you are not the person who placed the item there initally anyways. Though if you have a baggie handy why not pick it up? I have an elderly neighbor who is a shut-in we walk past her house everyday to the bus stop we see litter from time to time and I take an old plastic bag in my pocket and dispose of it for her. Plus it helps makes my neighborhood look decent and keep our values up, it's when people don't care that it becomes a problem.
1 person likes this
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
10 Jan 11
I think it's just that people don't feel it's their problem. Someone else will come along and take care of it for them. You know like putting things back in the store in the wrong spot, someone will come along and put it back correctly someone else does it KWIM?
If you have the time, a bag handy, and it's not gross why not pick it up?!? I will pick up sharp objects and dispose of them. As the other week I found a box cutter on the ground in a grocery store parking lot. It was rusted but just the same I picked it up and put it into the trash. I wouldn't want a child to find it or for it to puncture anyone's tire.
There are litter bugs wherever you go. However, I've noticed in some areas it's no big deal. Or at stores that are considered discount or bargains or certain cultures patron tend to have alot more litter in their parking lots. Wich again makes the place look run down, lack of values, and no sense of community. Then some people shout from the roof tops about things needing to change but they get their 5 min of attention and do nothing about it nor does anyone else. Such a sad cycle.
@missybear (11391)
• United States
10 Jan 11
You see that a lot were I'm from {Germany} elderly people walking down the sidewalk picking up trash.
Here in Vegas it's really bad with littering.
Were I live people just throw their trash outside and leave it their.
@scarlet_woman (23465)
• United States
10 Jan 11
well..it's re-depositing the litter technically.but if a cop sees you throw it back down,i'm sure you'd get the blame for it being there in the first place.which is exactly why if i pick something up,i'll look for a can instead.our cops would think nothing of writing a ticket and not believing it was already there.
1 person likes this
@_sketch_ (5742)
• United States
9 Jan 11
Technically, I could see the argument go either way. Legally, I believe it is, so be careful doing that if there could be police around. Of course, I don't think most police would care, and if they did charge you I'm sure you'd have a good chance of getting out of it, but still.
1 person likes this
@missybear (11391)
• United States
10 Jan 11
I guess it would depend on the cop .
I always check around before I throw something back.
If it's my own trash I look for a trash can first.
@Valene82 (89)
• United States
9 Jan 11
Wow, that's a good question. Most of the time when I see something that I think is valuable on the ground and it's not, I just drop it again. I feel like it was already on the ground, so how can I be littering? I don't think it even occurs to me most of the time. But sometimes if I've held in my hand for longer than a few seconds, I feel like I need to throw it away and look for a garbage can. Especially if it is something like a soda can or something more substantial, or if I see a trash can near me, I will just throw it away.
@missybear (11391)
• United States
10 Jan 11
That's how I tend to look at it too....it was already on the ground so I shouldn't get in trouble for putting it back.
@MisterTickle (130)
• Canada
10 Jan 11
if i do pick something up, i wouldn't just throw it back on the ground. i would most likely throw it in the garbage can. then again, i hardly pick things up from the ground especially garbage. however, i do call it littering as it's just as bad as the first person that threw this piece of garbage on the ground if you do the same.
@missybear (11391)
• United States
10 Jan 11
It there was a trash can near by I would throw it away there but otherwise I put it back somewhere not so in plain sight.
@EvrWonder (3571)
• Canada
9 Jan 11
Absolutely. I would say this is second hand littering.
Id any obtained trash, regardless of how one obtained it, is thrown anywhere but in the trash, this is littering.
Littering in my Country of origin, is punishable by law with a hefty fine.
@missybear (11391)
• United States
10 Jan 11
It is here too if they catch you doing it, I'm not sure how much the fine would be.
@EvrWonder (3571)
• Canada
12 Feb 11
Littering is just so uncool, irresponsible and a disgrace. No matter if it is first and or second hand.
@shaggin (71634)
• United States
10 Jan 11
I always worry that if someone sees me throwing garbage back down that I have picked up off the ground and dont want that they will think that I was the one who littered in the first place which I would never do. If I am going for a walk sometimes I carry along a plastic bag with me and pick up garbage as I go and then I drop it off in a trash can somewhere. I dont think that if you throw garbage down that was already on the ground that it should be considered littering.
@missybear (11391)
• United States
11 Jan 11
Like someone said, it's almost like second hand littering or guilty by association
@cream97 (29087)
• United States
5 Mar 11
Hi, missybear. I would think that the first person littered. If I see something on the ground, I will not pick it up. Not with my bare hands. If I really wanted to see what it was, I would look at it closely. If it is something like money, I will pick it up with something wrapping around it. But not with my bare hands.
@Shar19 (8231)
• United States
10 Jan 11
Well I've actually done this before and have thrown it back on the ground before. I have also picked up the paper, looked at it, and thrown it in a trash can or held onto it until I could throw it away. So I think I do think of it as littering if you throw the paper back down on the ground.
@missybear (11391)
• United States
13 Jan 11
i guess it's a 50 - 50 toss up , you can look at it booth ways.
@sender621 (14894)
• United States
10 Jan 11
Littering is still considered littering. it doesn't matter if you pick it up and then throw it away. If you discard something on the street, you are still guilty of littering.@missybear (11391)
• United States
10 Jan 11
I'm sure that's probably how the law would look at it too, but if it wasn't mine to begin with I shouldn't be responsible for it.
@lady1993 (27225)
• Philippines
10 Jan 11
I don't think so... but it would be really nice if you put it in a trash bin instead of putting it back on the ground. 
I rarely pick up things from the ground anyway- and when I do, most of the times there's a trash bin quite near so I just throw it.
I rarely pick up things from the ground anyway- and when I do, most of the times there's a trash bin quite near so I just throw it. @missybear (11391)
• United States
11 Jan 11
If there's a trash can near by I surely throw it away in there.
Sometimes I pick up trash in my apartment complex when I'm leaving for work just cause people throw stuff all over the place and it looks bad.
@Suggar (3606)
• Bulgaria
9 Jan 11
Hello Missybear,
i usually don't pick things from the ground, but if i do, i first watch what is the thing and move it with my leg, because i don't want to touch random things touched from people who might be sick or like that.
When i find something i'll look at it good while walking to container where i can throw it. It doesn't sound like people who touch things situated on the streets are littering people, but anyway you picked it up ... you didn't felt disgusted for doing it, if you got container close to you, you can throw it there. 
@missybear (11391)
• United States
9 Jan 11
That sounds good, if there's a trashcan around I would trow it in there too.
1 person likes this
@missybear (11391)
• United States
13 Jan 11
That's what I do if there's a trash can near by, if not i try to throw it somewere not so out in the open.
@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
9 Jan 11
No I don't think so either, but the real question should be if a cop sees you could you say "It was already on the ground." and would they still consider that littering?
@wonttakelong (3555)
• United States
9 Jan 11
actually yes it is!
I know it sounds crazy but it is littering
Once you pick it up it becomes YOURS so doesnt matter how long it had been pon the ground before you had it in YOUR possession and then threw it down
@Jennlk84 (4206)
• United States
9 Jan 11
I guess I would say it's not considered littering since it was already "littered." BUT I would suggest that if you take the time to pick it up that you might as well keep it in your hands and dispose of it properly! That is what I would do anyways :-)
@missybear (11391)
• United States
10 Jan 11
I try to look for a trash can but if there's none around I put it back in a less obvious place.
@missybear (11391)
• United States
10 Jan 11
If there was a trascan near by I would throw it in there but if there's not I'm not gonna carry trash around till I find one
@SIMPLYD (90722)
• Philippines
10 Jan 11
Maybe you can throw it in a trash bin if you see one nearby. However, if there's none, then maybe you can just throw it somewhere, where you think it will not be so much of an eye sore.
