In Melbourne (and maybe other Australian cities, I don't know) we have a free tabloid newspaper called the MX. There are little stalls around the city centre, you can just pick one up and read it on the bus/tram/train home for some amusement. The articles are pretty much lifted straight out of Fark.com, it's lightweight entertainment for the boring public transport ride home and is only 20 pages long or so.
I read a letter in another newspaper today:
Quote:
After a long, tedious day on an anxious ride in the morning, we all welcome the sight of an MX waiting on the seat next to us, generously left by a previous reader. Yet through all this I am somewhat shocked, as well as being amused at the sight of a multitude of rail users, flocking off the train, and placing the MX in the rubbish bin.
Its intention is to be circulated in the community or at least to be put to some effective private use, not to be flicked through and then disposed.
Although this may serve to be a minor problem among society it certainly reflects a true ignorance and egocentricity of people towards their surroundings.
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The writer of this letter is appalled when people spend 2 minutes flicking through this newspaper and then discard them in the rubbish bins. He argues that people should leave them on the seats of trains/trams/busses for the next bored commuter to read, as its always a nice surprise when it happens to you.
I've always thrown my copy away when I've finished with it, because like any newspaper, once I'm done with it its rubbish and it's bad to leave rubbish on the train, because it's littering.
So what does everyone think of this? Is it littering to leave a newspaper on the train, or is it an act of consideration for the next person to sit there? Is it really litter if the train company is going to sweep and clean the trains anyway? Is it a waste to just throw them away after one use or is the responsible thing to do?