Free newspapers - what do you think about this?
 

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:

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?

Depends on how you dispose of the paper when you are done. If left in shambles all over the place then yes I would consider that littering. But if it is kept together, in order and folded neatly then I'm sure the next person to come across it will appreciate it. Then it will be recycling as it can be used over and over again.

New York City has two with wide availability:

AM and Metro. Both have a nice mix of information, news, business, entertainment, ads, etc. AM is okay, Metro seems more oriented towards the "metrosexual" community.

We have the Metro in the UK which sits on trams, buses, subways, trains etc. It's not a bad little newspaper. I always thought the general idea was not to dump it, either take it with you, or leave it folded on the seat for the next person to read. That's always been my approach. I guess some people are too self-centred to really give a fuck about what happens to it after they're done with it. So they just chuck it.

London and major cities in the UK have the Metro. Nicely stapled along the centreline to stop it falling apart and making the carriage look like a chip shop.

Count your lucky starts that you have ample litter bins and that your community has a litter conscience.

In London, we still suffer from Post-IRA bin bomb fear and so we have no place to throw it and the streets are full of litter, with a generation of litterbugs having been spawned by this.

Mind you, it IS nice to get on the tube in the morning and find one. Usually there's about 20 or so per carriage. I usually walk right past the dispenser racks and get mine on the tube to cut back on waste. So I guess we do the opposite of you in Oz.

I think it was the bus system in Ottawa (Canada) that I noticed that on some buses, at the front, there would be a small pile of newspapers in the morning. The full fledged real deal newspaper. Somebody would grab one, read it, and when they were done, put it back. Since the numbers were fairly few (say, less than 5), people would feel obliged to leave the paper in good condition and put it back afterwards.
I think if the distribution of that paper were changed a bit, perhaps they would see a bit more sharing.

Around here, commuters leave real newspapers around. New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and the locals.

If people left the papers/magazines/whatever on the trains and busses -- it'd create such a litter problem that people wouldn't want to ride public transport. When I take the bus or train into the city, I will usually leave my newspaper on top of the recycling bin -- not put it in it -- (I notice a lot of people doing the same) so that way if someone wants some reading material, they don't have to trash pick.

Magazines I will either give to the bus driver (if he wants it - -usually does) or leave it in the seat pocket.

There are some cities, where leaving a paper would be considered littering, and you'd get a ticket.

In Toronto, we have three of those daily tabloids which are distributed for free in paper boxes (the Metro, 24 Hrs, and i can't remember the 3rd one). they are also distirbuted inside the subway stations. The stories are brutally short, and don't always cover the W5, but they are better than the billboards etc.

I always appreciate finding one on the seat of the bus/subway/streetcar and never throw mine away. Even full newspapers, when left neatly on the seat are better served than putting them in the recycle bin. I dont think of it as bad form at all, just proper urban cohabition.

with regard to the littering thing:
Metro (the London paper) hires people to clean out the trains after morning rush hour, so the papers don't build up.

You should leave it there, but neatly folded and not strewn all over the place. Also, if there's already a bunch of other ones left out, you should either dispose of yours or find a different place to leave it.

I live in the original Metro town, Stockholm! A lot of people leave the paper on the seat or folded over the odd handlebars by the windows on the trains. And most trains and buses are cleaned of papers at every end station, because it builds up so fast. On buses and "surface" trains I think it's okay to leave the paper for the next traveller, but it shouldn't be done in the subway because of the fire hazard.
We currently have two free papers here, Metro and City. Only Metro is allowed to have paper stands by the public transport system, so City has people handing them out instead. This means a lot of people grab a fresh City instead of picking up a used one on the train. :( Good thing Sweden has a lot of trees and paper mills.