“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Gandhi
Nothing annoys me more than seeing a beautiful beach, street or park littered with the laziness of people who continue to make our world a not so beautiful place to live. My favourite time to hit the beach in Sardinia is May and September – why you ask? Well, because there are hardly any tourists and the beaches are clean. What you say? Clean? Yes, clean and litter free.
Who do you think is going to walk down that long sandy path to clean this disgusting mess up? The commune? The men and women who work long, hard hours collecting garbage from house to house, from shop to shop and from hotel to hotel? You really think they are paid adequately to walk down that steep incline to retrieve the garbage you left? NO! No, they aren’t and no they won’t.
Now, I can’t put all this litter blame on the tourists, can I? That would be totally ignorant on my part. This is a local problem as much as it’s an international problem. I’ve given harsh words to my local friends about leaving their cigarette butts in the sand, and I’ve been tempted one too many times to give the same harsh words to the tourists I see leaving litter on the beach (but lucky for you, my husband held me back).
If you brought it with you – take it away with you, this includes your cigarette butts! There are adequate garbage bins at ALL public beaches in Sardinia.
Don’t be an uneducated fool who leaves litter on this island, or anywhere in this beautiful place we call planet earth.
Considered yourself warned. I’ll be watching you.
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Sinis, rifiuti sulla spiaggia di S.Giovanni Turisti delusi si improvvisano netturbini
My Sardinian Life 
It pisses me off to no ends when people litter. I don’t think they are ignorant to the fact, they are just lazy and they don’t care. Some places in London look like such a dump people of such lazy careless people, both residents and tourists. The mindset to keep the streets clean is just not there, everything expects someone else to come behind them and pick it up. Are there littering fines?
Oh I’ve actually picked something up for someone who dropped litter and handed it back saying ‘I think you dropped something’. They didn’t say much because I think they were so surprised! I get so disappointed when you go to a beach, beauty spot or even a town and it has litter everywhere. What’s wrong with a bin or your pocket?
I have been shocked by the amount of litter everywhere in Italy. Families on the beach go home at the end of the day leaving drink cans, food wrappers and even nappies (yes, really!) behind on the sand. Nice.
I saw a guy once pick up the poop from his dog, put it in a plastic bag, then throw the bag into the bushes!!! I was so angry but held back.
I was JUST having this discussion the other day with my family here…I find that tourists are the least of our worries! I personally think that some of the locals are the main culprits! Take for example the huge garbage disposals along the road side…not ONCE have I seen anyone throw out the garbage INSIDE the allocated spot…most of it ends up outside, cluttering the road..and not to mention the ridiculous things people actually leave there KNOWING that they can’t! It’s heartbreaking and frustrating at the same time knowing many locals (who complain about the lack of organization here) tend to be the main issue in solving the problems!!!!!
On a whole Italy is lacking with education within the school on proper garbage disposal and recycling. I remember back in Canada (in school) we were taught how to deal with our own garbage in a clean and effective way. Not in Italy however. It’s really just pure laziness.
September is my favorite month to visit. On my last trip, I noticed that the trash and graffiti have increased. I do not understand how people could think of littering in such a paradise. It makes me sad.
American married to a Sardinian
It’s pure laziness IMHO.
Where is your husband from?
Cagliari. We were just there in May for a month. We try to visit at least every 2 years. He’s so homesick and I understand why. It’s a beautiful island.
Your favorite months on the beach are among mine too. I love September as there are fewer tourists after the kids are back in school. Here we find that most folks are not litterbugs so when we experience the few who are we shocked and unhappy as we clean up after them.
Not only does litter look bad (and a result of laziness) it hurts the wildlife… plastics and strings or other things that don’t break down can hurt the birds or fish that eat it mistaking it for food, or get tangled in it 😦
I don’t think people even think about the long/short term effects of litter. They are just too lazy and senseless.
I am not getting your reply comments for some reason… Hmmm… Yes I agree people just don’t think or care enough about their actions. We have to go back to the thinking where we all share the earth, or treat others how they want to be treated. Would they like it in their yard?
Brilliant post, I love the keep calm and don’t litter 🙂
Thanks, glad you liked it! 🙂
Ciao Jennifer,
hai ragionissimo, durante le mie vacanze in Sardegna mi ha colpito la puliza, ma ero molto tristo di vedere tanti rifiuti nei dintorni dell’Isola di Sant’Antoccio ;-(… Tuttavia, era fuoristagione, c’erano pocchi turisti… quindi mi pare che siano anche i locali a sporcare… peccato !!!
Certo – e tutti di noi, locale e anche turisti. Ma, il commune devono andare a pulire a aprile non a Agosto!
We have a motto at our State Park here, “Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints.” It seems to work for the most part.
Great motto! Would be nice if we didn’t need things like this.
Smokers amaze me. I don’t suppose they drop their butts on the floor at home, so why is it acceptable to drop them in public. I once picked up a still smoking butt that a woman dropped in the doorway of a shop and threw it into her handbag. Of course I then ran away.
Littering of any kind drives me nuts and turns me into a crazy old woman.
Excellent article, well written. I hope it makes even just a tiny difference!
Thank you! 🙂 I hope so too!