Resident shares striking before-and-after cleanup video following cleanup: 'People fail to recognize how much … goes in the ocean'

When smoking was more popular, cigarette butts were everywhere. In the gutters, on the grass in public parks, piled next to trash cans, flicked out of moving cars. Everywhere.

Apparently, at least in the U.K., people using vapes rather than cigarettes have a similar disregard for their litter. A TikToker (@eaglescliffeclp) recently posted a video to the platform showing public garbage bins plastered with stickers from disposable vapes. In the video, the poster uses a putty knife to scrape off all the stickers. 

@eaglescliffeclp Scraping away all the vape stickers cos I don't care if you think it's art. Let's just agree to disagree. 😆 #litter #vape #vaping #keepbritaintidy #lovewhereyoulive ♬ Originalton - ~kn~

"All you vape sticker 'art' fans will hate this, but I don't care," the poster wrote. 

They then go on to clean another bin. Ironically, the bins have notices printed on them that warn of £250 fines for littering. Meanwhile, the bins are covered with sticker litter. That the poster referred to "vape sticker art fans" implies this is a common occurrence where they live. 

It's particularly galling and ironic that the litterers are putting these stickers on public garbage bins meant to curb littering. Apparently, the fact that these people live in a community with others is lost on the sticker artists. 

Cities are sick of the problem. In Glasgow, Scotland, municipal workers are spending time cleaning vape stickers off garbage bins when they could be cleaning streets, sidewalks, and public spaces. 

"We currently utilise our street-sweeping squads to remove these stickers, which can be time consuming," a Glasgow city council spokesperson told The Times. "This does, however, lead to a reduction in time cleaning the streets when the squads are removing these stickers."

As disappointing as the litter seen in this video is, it's encouraging to see someone take to the streets to clean up their neighborhood. It's easy to expect your city or just somebody else at all to clean up our towns and neighborhoods. Taking it upon ourselves to be the change we want to see is an empowering step. 

The TikTok commenters seemed to agree. 

Do you think America has a plastic waste problem? Definitely 👍 Only in some areas 🫤 Not really 👎 I'm not sure 🤷 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

"Love this. It's littering plain and simple," wrote one. 

"Thank u for cleaning! People fail to recognize how much [litter] goes in the ocean," responded another. 

Hopefully, some of the litterers see this post. 

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