Potential Banana Skin

A_Sober_Paddy

So I was walking home today, and I was eating a banana...

I threw the banana peel at the base of a tree in a small grassy area, and some old fella starts shouting at me, saying I'm littering...

But was i really littering? The peel is bio-degradable, it will break down and provide benefits to the tree...

I would never spit gum on the ground, or drop a rapper of a bag on the ground, but things like banana peel's and apple cores if thrown in a grassy area is that really littering?

antodeco

Its not litering! If that was the case all fruit trees would be fined!

kingtut

Was the banana nice?

Micky Dolenz

A public flogging isn't good enough for you Paddy.

smash

Why is the thread called "Potential Banana Skin"? It doesn't make sense.

seven_eleven

If its just openly thrown against something for everybody to see then it is littering to some extent. IT can look unsightly I guess.

However you were to throw it into some bush or into a ditch or something then I guess it would be fine seeing as its not an eye sore. I have no problem with disposing of fruit like so, just not when its blatantly throw in the open.

I came across an apple on the footpath earlier, I'm sure that was bio-degradable too.

People are so uptight these day's. I got an absolute bollocking after taking a sh!t in a public park.

lkionm

I have a general rule of not throwing rappers on the ground.

There is a law against it.

Dave0301

What if I took a poo, is that littering?.....It would wash away, eventually!:o

kingtut

Dave0301 wrote: »

What if I took a poo, is that littering?.....It would wash away, eventually!:o

Most vegetables are grown with the help of animal poo so I think it's exempt :pac:

krudler

nah, say you were eating an apple and lobbed the core into a bush or something, some animal could eat it, and it'll degrade in a day or two anyway. that's hardly the same as lobbing an empty can in there

Where To

Bananas are not native to this country, you wouldn't throw a kangaroo on the pavement would you? You have made me very angry Paddy, only Julian Lennon will calm me now.:mad:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWWKl1QJed0

Sensor

I think its less about being biodegradable or not and more about the attraction of rats and other pests.

fullstop

lkionm wrote: »

I have a general rule of not throwing rappers on the ground.

There is a law against it.

So you won't be throwing Dr Dre on the ground?

uch

lkionm wrote: »

I have a general rule of not throwing rappers on the ground.

There is a law against it.

What if you don't like their tunes ?

hoodwinked

i see nothing wrong with banana's/apple cores/potato skins, but i wouldn't throw a can or tayto bag into the grass...


littering is dumping rubbish, you were dumping tree nutrients, somebody must feed the trees and plants thank you OP!

Alun

Banana skins take a surprisingly long time to degrade, as does orange peel well over a year, or even more in cold conditions. I see loads of them up in the Wicklow Mountains, and they're an eyesore ...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/sep/24/bananas-litter-hikers-mountains-scotland

Apple cores only take a few weeks, so is just about tolerable.

danniemcq

IMO its not, if you throw it on the footpath then yes it is.

i use the same thought for dog poo, if its on the footpath or road i use the bag to pick it up. if its on grass then i have no issues.

If however its a park though i'd pick it up too.

kingtut

danniemcq wrote: »

i use the same thought for dog poo, if its on the footpath or road i use the bag to pick it up. if its on grass then i have no issues.

If however its a park though i'd pick it up too.

You pick up poo from other people's dogs GROSS!!!! :eek: :pac:

uch

Potential Banana Skin me asre, it either was a Banana skin or it wasn't

Duckworth_Luas

uch wrote: »

Potential Banana Skin me asre, it either was a Banana skin or it wasn't

Every soccer match on TV seems to be a potential banana skin for one of the teams, but then that's a different kettle of fish!

Custardpi

uch wrote: »

Potential Banana Skin me asre, it either was a Banana skin or it wasn't

Unless it was some kind of quantum banana of course....

Pudders

Was it an inflatable banana skin?

Brego888

I threw a banana skin under a tree as I was walking into the gym today.
My conscience is clear

Boombastic

I'm in two minds about this. A banana skin is biodegradable and will rot back to nature. It also has the potential to attract rats and other vermin. It makes the place look messy. One person sees a banana skin, throws a paper and so it escalates until the whole place is a rubbish tip..

A_Sober_Paddy

A_Sober_Paddy wrote: »

I threw the banana peel at the base of a tree in a small grassy area, and some old fella starts shouting at me, saying I'm littering...

But was i really littering? The peel is bio-degradable, it will break down and provide benefits to the tree...

Yep, that's littering.

If you throw it in a ditch or a bush that's fine, but not at the base of a tree where it's visible and there's less activity (with regards to bacteria and insects that will help break it down). Banana peels take a very long time to degrade too, especially in our cold climate. Just because something is bio-degradable doesn't mean you can dump it anywhere green and it will suddenly merge into the soil. If bio-degradable = throw at base of tree, then there'd be no brown bin and everyone would just throw all their fruit/veg/wet tissues/garden waste all over parks.

It doesn't seem like a big deal when you're one person with one banana peel but it's definitely littering.

ted1

A_Sober_Paddy wrote: »

So I was walking home today, and I was eating a banana...

I threw the banana peel at the base of a tree in a small grassy area, and some old fella starts shouting at me, saying I'm littering...

But was i really littering? The peel is bio-degradable, it will break down and provide benefits to the tree...

I would never spit gum on the ground, or drop a rapper of a bag on the ground, but things like banana peel's and apple cores if thrown in a grassy area is that really littering?

It's not indegnious to Ireland and a banana tree posts great trouble to our Eco system

hedgehog21

Boombastic wrote: »

I'm in two minds about this. A banana skin is biodegradable and will rot back to nature. It also has the potential to attract rats and other vermin. It makes the place look messy. One person sees a banana skin, throws a paper and so it escalates until the whole place is a rubbish tip..

This....seriously OP if you want to be good to nature get your own compost bin, if everyone was to do that the place would be riddled. If you wouldn't do it in your house(houseplant) or outside in your back garden, then don't do it in public.

enda1

kingtut wrote: »

You pick up poo from other people's dogs GROSS!!!! :eek: :pac:

Somehow other dogs' shit is more gross than your own dog's?

A_Sober_Paddy

Well it seems there is a split on weather its littering or not

kingtut

enda1 wrote: »

Somehow other dogs' shit is more gross than your own dog's?

It is when you don't have a dog :eek:

BUBBLE WRAP

OP the only time a banana skin should be pegged, is in mario cart.

enda1

It is littering. There's no excuse. Ultimately everything degrades over time so that excuse is not really valid.

LizT

enda1 wrote: »

It is littering. There's no excuse. Ultimately everything degrades over time so that excuse is not really valid.

Come on, there's a difference between something taking a few days to degrade and a few thousand years!

enda1

LizT wrote: »

Come on, there's a difference between something taking a few days to degrade and a few thousand years!

Then it turns into a game of how long is a piece of string.

So it's simpler just not to litter. Then there are the myriad of other issues such as
-it's an eyesore
-it encourages others to litter
-can be bad for the environment
-can encourage vermin
-etc.

And it takes about a year to degrade btw.

Pretzill

true-or-false wrote: »

Yep, that's littering.

If you throw it in a ditch or a bush that's fine

So you're okay once you can't see it? It's not littering, it's food for the soil, and any grubs that happen by (even rappers) - just like a piece of bread thrown out for the birds - littering is litter, thrown anywhere, bush or not - litter is trash, paper, cans, bottles etc.

coolhull

Dave0301 wrote: »

What if I took a poo, is that littering?.....It would wash away, eventually!:o

But if you it do it in the middle of a church during a service, a couple of people might object. Some people are funny that way...

LizT

LizT wrote: »

Come on, there's a difference between something taking a few days to degrade and a few thousand years!

We're warmer than high-altitude Scotland, but the two year quote in the guardian article already posted wouldn't be far off what we should expect.

If someone passed a tree only once a week, and three a banana skin at the foot of that tree only once a week, after two years there'd be a large, stinking, rotting, rat infested heap of 104 banana skins at the foot of that tree. If anything, I'd prefer a heap of plastic bags if there was a choice.

Pretzill

coolhull wrote: »

But if you it do it in the middle of a church during a service, a couple of people might object. Some people are funny that way...

another way to take a pew (or phew!)

marketty

A banana skin is a wrapper....

My name is URL

Just be glad you weren't done for dumping nuclear waste.

stoneill

Did anyone slip on it? That would be funny in a slapstick sort of way.

antodeco

Where To wrote: »

Bananas are not native to this country, you wouldn't throw a kangaroo on the pavement would you?

Ireland is the biggest exporter of bananas in the world!

Where To

antodeco wrote: »

Ireland is the biggest exporter of bananas in the world!

Correction, the biggest middleman in the banana business is in Ireland.

Dwork

antodeco wrote: »

Its not litering! If that was the case all fruit trees would be fined!

That right there is some good logic son. Ain't no arguin with logic. That's the beauty.

budgemook

Where To wrote: »

Correction, the biggest middleman in the banana business is in Ireland.

I don't believe this.

Where To

budgemook wrote: »

I don't believe this.

http://www.fyffes.com/home.aspx

AnonoBoy

I thought this was going to be about some massive faux pas that you had just realised you might have made.

:mad:

Where To

AnonoBoy wrote: »

I thought this was going to be about some massive faux pas that you had just realised you might have made.

:mad:

You nearly slipped up then.

Lando Griffin

Ok its only the one Banana skin but if everyone threw their banana skins at the same butt of a tree can you imagine the pile of unplesent goo that would develop over a short period.
Come August one would feel indangered by tempting to pass said tree with gooey mass for fear of getting stung from the thousands of wasps congretating around it making the footpath unpassable.

pwurple

A newspaper breaks down in much less time than a banana skin. Do you chuck those onto public grass too?