Litter...... but not as we know it

As environmentally concious as us anglers are, even with the best will in the world the odd plastic bits and pieces either get left at a mark due to wind, darkness, accident etc.

Every piece of end tackle I have ever seen in any fishing shop has come in a little plastic bag all its own.

Macky feather packets and these little plastic baggies make up the majority of fishing-related litter.

Would it not be a good impression to the wider public if tackle companies introduced bio-degradable packaging?

I have no idea of how costly or feasible it would be, which is why I'm referring the idea here

I would have to agree with you there, there are always loads of those little feather packets on the rocks, especialy during the mackerel frenzied summer months. How hard is it to put them into a pocket and into the bin later, some people just couldnt care less?

points well made by both of ye.

it's the plastic bait boxes scattered all over the beach that do my head in. how hard is it to carry them BACK from the beach?

Obviously too hard for alot of people. The annoying thing is that on most beaches there are plenty of bins, besides their not exactly big packages.

even when there are no bins - it just sickens me the amount of people that just leave rubbish strewn all over the place - or try to start fires with plastic they find round the beach - reckless behaviour

you bring it - you take it home

My aim with this thread was to try and generate a few solutions for the problem.
There's enough threads already highlighting the fact that some people don't care.

Bio-degradable beer cans need to be the next issue addressed

i would imagine the bio degradable aspect would have to be cost effective for a company to engage in it

that hasnt happened yet - and legislation of similar will never see the light of day - its simply not going to happen

far more effective is bring your rubbish home - no need for crazy costly technology here - and dispose of it appropriately

Surely a rethink from the production stage could be incorporated.

I'd imagine the first guy to suggest 'let's package our products in little clear pastic bags', was told that would be too expensive aswell....

agree with partylikeits1969,there will always be people that WONT bring home their rubbish,and ive had plastic bags blown away on me by accident,it would be a good idea if the packaging was bio degradable! Although what i do is unwrap them at home,and put them on rig tubes,the less rubbish i bring to the beach the less chance of me losing it!

Here an excerpt what kind of impression this litter carelessness (not litter awareness) tourists and visitors of Ireland bring back home, to share with their friends:

Unfortunately, the biggest disappointment was the absolute disgusting mess the place had been left in after the weekend. Loads of brightly coloured line just lying everywhere for birds to get caught up in,, plastic bottles, general domestic rubbish and rubber gloves. I'm sure anyone who has ever fished there knows exactly what I mean and also knows exactly who is responsible for such a mess, however you simply can't say it out loud but safe to say it's a cultural thing. We have the same problem on our Piers at Dover for exactly the same reason and it's a great shame to see such beautiful spots in Ireland succumb to the same treatment. The irony is all the signs at Castle Point that state it is a litter free zone and there's a fine of 3,000 euros for dropping litter. Are these purely for decoration as not many seem to be taking any notice! It would only take one council official to sit up there at the weekend during the Summer and they would boost the council coffers immensely! I'm sorry to say it's an absolute disgrace that nothing is done about it, but we haven't found an answer either at Dover and if you say anything you find knives are drawn and threats made, so what can you do?

So as no one seems to care, maybe the only workable solution is stringent controls and enforcement of the law?

(the full post can be found here: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13471&hilit=poulnasherry for further reading)