Times They Are A-Changing

[barry1010]

Years ago I used to see piles of fag ends in the gutters where selfish motorists emptied their ashtrays.
Now it's piles of nitrous oxide canisters in the gutters. Doesn't make me laugh.

What unusual changes have you noticed in your area over the years?

[burlyshirley]

My budleia bush is almost in full bloom now, hopefully the bees and butterflies will arrive soon.

[Buenchico]

I'm surprised that many people say that they've never seen a nitrous oxide canister. When I was teaching, our school grounds were always littered with them on a Monday morning, from all the teenagers who'd entered the site over the weekend and used them - and that was over 30 years ago! I actually seem to see far fewer of them these days than I used to!
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/B4D1/production/_84598264_pa-22853545.jpg

Litter has never been a big problem, in the 30 years since I've lived here, in this small Suffolk town (pop. approx 5000). Most people don't drop litter and we've got an excellent litter picker, employed by the town council, who picks up what little does get dropped. Someone walking the full length of the main street (about a mile) might struggle to find a single dog end on the ground, with the housing areas being just the same. (My house and garden are as unkempt as it's possible to be but, if I see a piece of litter out in the street, I'll always pick it up and put it into my bin. Most other householders around here are equally vigilant).

In many ways I miss the big city where I used to live (Sheffield) but I certainly don't miss its litter. In those days, anyone walking anywhere near to the markets area on a Saturday afternoon would, quite literally, find themselves ankle deep in litter.

[barry1010]

I agree there is less litter today, Buen, but the NO canisters are fairly recent for me

[Bobbisox1]

No stray dogs wondering around, they ( thankfully );belong to someone

[piggynose]

You dont see dogs bonking anymore. It was a weekly thing in the 70s.

[barry1010]

And someone always felt the urge to chuck a bucket of water over them,piggy. The things we did for fun back in the day

[ummmm]

I've only seen the canisters after concerts. Never in the street.

[barry1010]

Back in the 70s used to see a lot of glue bags, and youths with scabby faces from sniffing the stuff