A big thanks for all the gel wrappers.

craigus89

awavey wrote:

Craigus89 wrote:

cougie wrote:

Craigus89 wrote:

90% of my cycling is on quiet B-roads or lanes in rural areas, and I always chuck my banana skins out of sight in the hedge.

I'm doing far more harm on my 7 mile drive to work in the morning than I'll ever do chucking banana skins in hedges.

Brilliant. So just because you do something that is worse - you could get away with anything less ? It's your litter. Take it with you. Simple rule.

Fair point, but I genuinely do not see the harm it causes. It decomposes and leaves no trace.

For the record I hate people that litter, I have in the past told kids to pick up their sweet wrappers, but something small and organic that decomposes quickly and is discarded somewhere discreetly is not litter in my mind.

I'll go get my stake and firelighters...

everything decomposes in time, even the worst kind of radioactive nuclear waste, the point is the time span that it takes and banana skins take ages to decompose properly, you chuck one away in a hedge and it will be there for at least a year or more, just because its organic doesnt mean its any better than a plastic wrapper.

apple cores fair enough youll probably find badgers/mice/rats or other omnivores in the wild chow down on them long before they decompose by themselves, but they wont eat banana skins.

so you carry them along to the next bin you find, end of debate.

Thanks for dragging this thread out of the dirt. You're all such heroes, I wish I was half as noble as you lot.

Comparing a banana skin with nuclear waste is a bit far-fetched, no? It doesn't take that long to decompose and I won't be changing my view based on the 'evidence' posted on here.

imposter2.0

It's been said upthread already, but the idea that a banana skin takes 'ages' (or a year or more) to decompose is just utter nonsense and one of those internet myths that will simply not go away. It will decompose at the same rate as any other organic material in whatever environment it happens to be in. At sea-level in a temperate climate, that will be a few days to a week or two. On the top of mount everest, you might still see it intact for several months or more. Perspective is everything...

haydenm

awavey wrote:

just because its organic doesnt mean its any better than a plastic wrapper.

It does.

thegreatdivide

Imposter wrote:

It's been said upthread already, but the idea that a banana skin takes 'ages' (or a year or more) to decompose is just utter nonsense and one of those internet myths that will simply not go away. It will decompose at the same rate as any other organic material in whatever environment it happens to be in. At sea-level in a temperate climate, that will be a few days to a week or two. On the top of mount everest, you might still see it intact for several months or more. Perspective is everything...

Exactly this. The skins are also very rich in nitrogen. Ask any gardener and they'll tell you to sling them on the compost heap for an added boost.

surfercyclist

To be honest I don't usually carry bananas when cycling but if I did I'd have no qualms about chucking skin in (wild) hedge. They will decompose naturally and better than putting in bin which then gets shoved in landfill. Obviously anything that won't naturally decompose should be binned/recycled as appropriate. Way too many try-hards here who want to be seen as evangelical green earthers.

thegreatdivide

On the subject of dropped wrappers – in all my years of road cycling I’ve never once seen another rider throw anything away on purpose that wasn’t compostable (skins, cores, stones) be it in a race, a sportive or during daily riding. I’ve seen folk have issues taking stuff in or out of their pockets resulting in a drop. I’ve done it myself too. However I’d rather these folk just kept going rather than trying to stop or come out of a pack, or making themselves into a potential hazard by going back for their litter. Maybe it’s a Scottish cycling thing – we like to keep the roads tidy or we were brought up to respect the countryside. Saying that, I’ve never seen any cycling food debris on the continent either. It must just be the manky English.

craigus89

Nice to see some sense has crept in to the thread.

mfin

Livewire wrote:

mfin wrote:

Livewire wrote:

My riding buddy has no respect for the road, he regularly drops his empty food/gel wrappers on the floor. I usually pick them up out of embarrassment.

Nothing I can say will make him change his ways.

Why are you riding with him? You obviously think he's a t1t, the reason itself isn't important though. For example, I wouldn't ride with anyone who's eyes are too close together, it would get on my nerves and I told my table lamp that I wouldn't kill again.

Well excuse me whilst I get my violin out but he is the only person who will come riding with me :oops: (billy no mates)

I am debating tagging along with a passing chain gang the next time I go out with him, he won't keep up so I won't have to listen to him moaning asking me to slow down.

Tell him sometime that if he chucks stuff you're gonna speed up, then do exactly that every time. If he asks you to slow down a lot that might work, or even if it doesn't it will p1ss him off, a bit of karma.

Saying that, why not ride on your own. If you're faster than him and ride with him a lot then you'll not get any faster (if that bothers you).

Matthewfalle

mfin wrote:

Livewire wrote:

mfin wrote:

Livewire wrote:

My riding buddy has no respect for the road, he regularly drops his empty food/gel wrappers on the floor. I usually pick them up out of embarrassment.

Nothing I can say will make him change his ways.

Why are you riding with him? You obviously think he's a t1t, the reason itself isn't important though. For example, I wouldn't ride with anyone who's eyes are too close together, it would get on my nerves and I told my table lamp that I wouldn't kill again.

Well excuse me whilst I get my violin out but he is the only person who will come riding with me :oops: (billy no mates)

I am debating tagging along with a passing chain gang the next time I go out with him, he won't keep up so I won't have to listen to him moaning asking me to slow down.

Tell him sometime that if he chucks stuff you're gonna punch him in the throat, then do exactly that every time. If he asks you to stop punching him in the throat, don't until he stops throwing rubbish on the floor, even if he doesn't it will p1ss him off, a bit of karma. Carry on fornicating with his other half as well.

Saying that, why not ride on your own. If you're faster than him and ride with him a lot then you'll not get any faster (if that bothers you).

FTFY

Livewire

mfin wrote:

Livewire wrote:

mfin wrote:

Livewire wrote:

My riding buddy has no respect for the road, he regularly drops his empty food/gel wrappers on the floor. I usually pick them up out of embarrassment.

Nothing I can say will make him change his ways.

Why are you riding with him? You obviously think he's a t1t, the reason itself isn't important though. For example, I wouldn't ride with anyone who's eyes are too close together, it would get on my nerves and I told my table lamp that I wouldn't kill again.

Well excuse me whilst I get my violin out but he is the only person who will come riding with me :oops: (billy no mates)

I am debating tagging along with a passing chain gang the next time I go out with him, he won't keep up so I won't have to listen to him moaning asking me to slow down.

Tell him sometime that if he chucks stuff you're gonna speed up, then do exactly that every time. If he asks you to slow down a lot that might work, or even if it doesn't it will p1ss him off, a bit of karma.

Saying that, why not ride on your own. If you're faster than him and ride with him a lot then you'll not get any faster (if that bothers you).

I do ride on my own now and again but prefer to ride along with somebody else for company. I need to join a local cycle club TBH.

de_sisti

Tangled Metal wrote:

Easier than that!
Pocket, eat, pocket, bin.

Why don't riders in professional races do that? I do not believe that there are teams of
rubbish collectors following the riders around a whole stage, or race to pick up gel wrappers.
I wonder if the riders also discard their gel wrappers on the road when they're out training?