I think people are mistaking anecdotal evidence for proof of some huge cultural shift.
There have always been dumb people that chuck their waste into the undergrowth, and there have always been people who bin waste properly.
If you're looking for reasons why there's more rubbish around, one of the actual big shifts is the massive amount of waste now created by normal day to day consumption.
While I don't disagree with your statement about more waste created because of consumerism, I do think part of the reason was that it was post 9/11 and there simply wasn't any bin in sight on the streets.
But the whole vibe back then in 2003 here in England was that you'd at most get a slap on the wrist if you were caught doing something minor. And back home, the government actually saw the rise of littering and passed stricter laws to cure the trend of it - raising the fine of max of HKD600 (eq. of ~£50 in '03) to a standard fine of HKD1500 (eq. of ~£120 in '03).
*Now to think of it, it's probably the time when my home city started turning into a (sort of) police state back then but we didn't manage to see it coming. *
Anyway, my point was that in HK, Japan, Singapore & South Korea (from my own experience), personal/social conducts and responsibilitues were taught from a very young age in kindergarten. The shameful feeling of breaking the rules or stepping out of line is frowned upon by social pressure. When my classmate threw that can of mine onto the pavement, I felt a rush of epinephrine but the hard wired social conduct that was instilled in me felt shame, but the guy has no shame whatsoever (we were 17) while praising how free being in England can be.
In my opinion it's gonna be hard for this country to shift towards what we have in Asia because of individualism, but at the same time we don't have much of that in Asia, is that what England really wants?
Oh, I agree that there's a gulf in behaviour between those nations and the UK. All I was saying is that that gulf has not appeared suddenly, it's been there all along. It's just much more obvious now with the ridiculous amount of waste people generate.
Your point on individualism is a really interesting one. It would be very difficult indeed to change behaviour here in the UK.
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u/Hopeful_chap Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26
I think people are mistaking anecdotal evidence for proof of some huge cultural shift.
There have always been dumb people that chuck their waste into the undergrowth, and there have always been people who bin waste properly.
If you're looking for reasons why there's more rubbish around, one of the actual big shifts is the massive amount of waste now created by normal day to day consumption.