I see a lot of trash when playing the courses on city parks here in Austin. There are times that I�ll see trash within 20 feet of an empty trash can. I was wondering if anyone has been able to get the litterers in their area to have a little more respect for the courses and the other disc golfers by not leaving their trash on the course.

Is their any language that can be put on a sign that makes someone realize the courses are for everyone else to enjoy also? I was thinking that if the sign imparted ownership to the course users, it might have a positive effect. Would something like this work? �Please help keep YOUR course clean. Use the trash cans.�

I�d really appreciate any input from anyone that has been successful in deterring littering on their courses.

Thanks,
Lou

I think most courses have the same problem. No matter what you say or how you say it, there are just people that don't care.

We have put trash cans next to each tee pad and that has seemed to help. It seems like no matter how many trash bags or cans you place on the course some people just can't make the effort to place the trash in the can.

I am grateful to every player that takes time to keep our courses clean. I know individuals that spend an hour or two each week emptying garbage cans and cleaning up other peoples litter.

Thanks

I played in Burlington, NC this past Monday and the Wellspring course was a total mess! There were lots of trash cans on the front nine, but not many on the back... my bag was overflowing with water and soda and beer bottles that I collected.

There was garbage on the ground right next to the trash cans!

LEAVE THE EARTH CLEANER THAN YOU FOUND IT PEOPLE!

rant off//

That happens everywhere, and the only thing you can really do is lead by example and try not to whine about it. If you routinely pick up trash that is not yours, others will see that and some of them wil realize it's a good thing to do and will start doing it too.

I agree with that. While there are a few inconsiderate people using our course, most of the players here pick up trash that isn't theirs. Since we installed more trash cans around the course, it's a little easier to pick up and throw away trash at the next tee box. I've noticed more and more people following our example, and it hasn't gone unnoticed by the Parks & Rec. Dept. They regularly comment that the Disc Golfers in this area have helped them more than any other recreational group. If we all help out, it reflects positively on the whole group.

It gets tougher to clean up when your course is in a city park using multipurpose land. We have a good number of people who use the wooded areas of the course to go "parking". The litter from that, no matter how unsightly is something that I do not want to pick up, at least from a health safety standpoint.

True. We get quite a bit of "Drive-by Litterers" (people tossing trash out the window as they cruise the park), and also the "Undesireables" who use our parking lot after dark. I believe if we can cooperate with the wishes of the Parks & Rec Dept., and show that we are willing to help clean our area, they will help in the long run by taking care of those things that are hazardous to our health.

im sure victoria can sympathize with you on the "drive-by" littering.

I played in Burlington, NC this past Monday and the Wellspring course was a total mess! There were lots of trash cans on the front nine, but not many on the back... my bag was overflowing with water and soda and beer bottles that I collected.

There was garbage on the ground right next to the trash cans!

LEAVE THE EARTH CLEANER THAN YOU FOUND IT PEOPLE!

rant off//



I have filled up at least 2 trash bags during one round myself. I think the issue there (And I could be wrong) Is the kids from ELON come down there and don't really care about the course or disc golf for that matter.

yeah - that is a chronic problem there. That has to be the most beautiful course I have played, and it is often trashed. They pulled the baskets a couple of years ago to get the message across. I think it worked for a while, but I suppose they need to do something like that again. :( :confused: :mad:

Probably the most effective thing will be a combination of all of the sugestions. Some messages on the cans will get to some. Seeing someone else toting a trash bag with them will get to others. I think the most important thing is to have enough cans out on the course. If there is a can on every other tee, people won't have to tote thier trash very long.

The biggest thing that the P&R guys can do is to empty the cans! I've seen cans heaped with trash. You couldn't fit another can or bottle in the thing. Once a course gets clean, it is more likely to stay clean.

Is their any language that can be put on a sign that makes someone realize the courses are for everyone else to enjoy also?

The one that seems to work the best is something like this, "Please put your payment in the envelope and put it in the slot." My grandpa used to tell me people don't value something they don't work for or pay for. I'm thinking he's right. :(

I just got back from DC and played a course in MD, Seneca. The thing that struck me most about the course was not the trees, nor the elevation. We can find those in varying degrees on all the courses I play here in TX. What I hit me most was the lack of trash. There was not a single trash can in the park. There was also not a single piece of trash in the park. The guy that took me to the park, JG, said it is a pack and go park. It is in a National Forrest. SO WHAT!? Why can't all parks be pack and go? Why can't all be treated with the same respect? Imagine how beautiful every park would be if there were no cigarette butts, no plastic water bottles, no aluminum beer cans, no broken glass bottles, no bottle tops, no candy wrappers, nothing left behind.

I have noticed that after I have picked up trash and emptied trash cans that the course stays a lot cleaner. I think people get into the mentality that if its already there on the ground it must not matter. I have gone out on a number of occasion and cleaned up my local course, carrying out 3 garbage bags at times, but everytime I think, if everyone would pick up one piece of litter that the walk past I wouldn't have to be doing this.

I've thought of using litter cleanup as an incentive during leagues. Has anyone/group ever done something like for every 5 - 10 pieces of litter picked up take off one stroke? or something similar to this? Would you be willing ot do this on occasion during leagues?

At our club meeting yesterday we discussed the problem of litter and someone suggested that each week at league 1 foursome carry a garbage bag. We're going to try this over every group carrying a bag or clean up days.

Most trash collected wins a CTP type prize. We had it for one of our events. Have bags for everyone or every card and send them out to play.

I picked up two pieces of trash that weren't mine at Emerald yesterday, and got a long off-line birdie run to stick as reward! :)

Trash-karma is real, baby.

Finding other players litter puts me in a murderous mood. At Biscoes I found a Budweiser beer can half full on the tee of hole 15, a candy wrapper on that fairway, a water bottle cap out on the ABC... holes and banana and orange peels everywhere on the course. Littering anywhere is just flat out wrong, littering on your friends land should be punishable by death...

Well I don't know about death, but a lifetime membership to my S list is a certainty. C'mon PEOPLE!

Trash-karma is real, baby.

[/QUOTE]

word to that!!

I see a lot of trash when playing the courses on city parks here in Austin. There are times that I�ll see trash within 20 feet of an empty trash can.

This may be the case at your course, too: we have a sizable Crow population here, and sometimes they pull the trash out...it's not always a case of DGer sloth! ;)

Lead by example.

Accept it. Correct it. Just don't get too upset with it.

I haven't been able to change if for twenty years. Just take a glove or a bag and clean up the course. There really is good karrma in it as well.

There are birdies out there for folks like us.

I just got back from a round. While playing we saw a nice family playing with Whamo ultimate discs. As we walked past the first tee pad. There was the packaging from their discs laying in the middle of the tee pad. A whole three feet from the garbage can. I didn't expect to see a family littering up the course.

Ive noticed that a simple "hey if you kids see any trash lying around, would you mind picking it up" or a "did you guys know that the players are the ones who maintain this course, not the park". that usually at least gets some people thinking.

If you ever see someone litter, make sure you let them know that you saw them, and ask nicely not to do it because the players are the ones who pick it up.

Garbage cans are not the answer. Talking to people is. And if you see some suspect litterers, it's always good to talk loud to your friends about how much you hate littering.

if that doesnt work, I believe a valkyrie to the side of the head might help them get the picture

i would pick up the litter that is at my park, but i dont' like picking up Cocaine bags, syringes, and broken 40's .. I'll pick up the paper trash though.. at least i won't get AIDS or any injury from that.

-Scott lewis

Hi Laura :cool:In my travels(about 100 courses) I have noticed that the parks with trash cans have more litter than the courses that do not :confused: I'm not sure why ...any thoughts?

My theory is that people think that courses with trash cans must have people that empty the trash cans so they must also pick up the trash on the ground. :mad: This drives me nuts, I played in leagues this weekend and picked up some litter as we played, most of it was litter so close to the other players feet they couldn't see it :confused:

Baffles me :confused: We find most of the trash within tossing distance to the trash cans. I've played between 50-60 courses, and Seneca is the first I played without any trash cans.
Kudos again for your exceptionally clean Seneca Park.
My husband almost got into a fight last night with someone, a non-disc golfer, that actually started emptying her trash in the park last night. He is not a violent person. He is very much against littering. From what I understand the person became very abrasive when he and his friend, that he was finishing a round with, told her not to litter in the park. I think it actually stemmed from them telling her, not asking her to refrain from littering. Her two male friends became quite agressive.
It seems more people are littering in the last few years. Until a few months ago, I never saw people throw trash out the window of their vehicles. Now, I see it almost on a weekly basis. So, it's not just disc golf courses.
Last week, there was a car parked between my husband's van and my car in the parking lot. The man inside was eating a drive-thru dinner. When we finished our round and returned to our cars, he was gone, but the remains of his dinner were in the parking lot between where his car had been and my husband's van. There is a trash can five feet away.
Why would some one do these things?

This is a very tough subject. In the North East there are plenty of parks without trash cans and litter. Seneca is the most outstanding example of this, you could not even find a cigarette but when I was there last. In New York nearly all of the parks I have played are pack out and they are clean.

At Z Boaz I have had limited lick with signs. I state that this park is either an extension or all of your back yard (depending on if you live in a house or an apartment). It is here for you and it is yours. It is maintained for you by The Z Boaz Course Crew. Please treat this park like you would your own back yard. It works to an extent but we still pick up plenty of trash, some of it right beside the cans.

I think that the lack of cans could work if that was the way it was from the beginning, but if you have cans then the players are already trained that they are going to be there. Or even worse that you are going to continue to pick after them.

As I stated above giving them a sense of ownership is helpful and then lead by example.

For as long as I can remember I've seen people dumping their trash out their car windows. I grew up in Oregon where people actually take this very seriously. Even there the amount of garbage in wilderness areas is appalling.

My father was a staunch "carry out more than you carry in" kind of guy and I remember that from the early 60s. That is, we were tossing then and we're still tossing it today. Americans on average are pigs (the people here are unfortunatly the exception).

I've heard every excuse you can imagine:

"Its biodegradable"
"I'm providing someone with a job"
"I'm feeding the critters"

and every threat you can imagine:

"Its none of your F****** business"
"Been awhile since I shot one of you tree huggers"

Keep in mind that my general approach is that of "I'm afraid we will lose this area if we abuse it." (Usually I'm talking about a wilderness area).

All of this I'm willing to accept. What I don't get is seeing one player picking up garbage while another is throwing it on the ground within sight of the cleaning player. How we can be so stupid as to not understand the reationship between our sloth and our ability to have courses, completely baffles me.

When it comes to disc golfers, in our area during a tournament, you will get stroked for littering. Including cigarette butts (my opinion, if you drop 'em, you eat 'em)

When it comes to disc golfers, in our area during a tournament, you will get stroked for littering.


That's awesome.

Lead by example.
Accept it. Correct it. Just don't get too upset with it.



That's about the best advice I've heard regarding littering (and it is applicable to many things)! :D

Littering IS a courtesy violation and violators should be stroked without exception. :mad: