Motorway slip roads, road junctions, central reservations or any other verge running alongside our roads are now among the filthiest areas of our country.

Rubbish is strewn along many Scottish roads

It seems that our love affair with the car and our desire to have the inside of our chariots clean and odour-free makes it impossible to travel any distance with our own litter on board.

Unfortunately we seem unable to wait until we reach a service area or waste bin to deposit the waste and many drivers have no hesitation in jettisoning their unwanted cargo at the side of the road.

Witness the amount of soft drinks cans and cartons, fast food containers, newspapers and even larger objects strewn across these areas on your next sojourn in the car or when walking or cycling along our busier roads.

In a country so reliant on tourism it is a constant embarrassment to hear travellers praise the beauty of our countryside and in the same sentence express disappointment at the amount of litter left behind.

It's not only the aesthetics that are a problem.

Hard shoulder

I guess that when people dump waste on or near our roads they do not consider the effects on safety that this waste can cause, consider the accidents caused by debris blown across carriageways, or the cost to continually clean verges and clear gullies of sodden waste, or the risk of injury or worse to drivers stopping to remove rubbish from grilles or the underside of vehicles.

It is also well documented that it is common for emergency vehicles to suffer punctures from rubbish while driving along the hard shoulder.

By-laws are in place to penalise offenders

This type of illegal dumping has almost become acceptable to our society.

There are by-laws to penalise offenders, but herein lies the problem - how can our already overworked enforcement agencies police these often remote areas effectively?

The answer is that they cannot. It falls therefore to us all as drivers, passengers, cyclists and even pedestrians to clean up our own act.

However, good intentions are not enough.

I notice that there is now a campaign warning of the consequences of fly tipping and perhaps an add-on to that initiative would help.

But until we as a nation begin to see this habit for what it is then we will have to live with the consequences of our own disregard to our community and the environment.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and are not endorsed by the BBC.

The following represents the balance of opinions received.

I totally agree with Michael in East Kilbride - community service for the offenders, wearing bright vests advertising the fact! It's done in the USA where you see groups of offenders with bright vests working at the roadsides clearing up. Bring it on ASAP!
Fiona , Renfrew

We need to look carefully at the amount of disposable waste we create as a society. Most of the "litter" dropped on the street ends up in landfill sites which causes its own form of pollution. Stores might start by asking employees not to pack goods into plastic bags as a matter of routine. Once the smoking ban comes in, the streets are going to get even worse with discarded butts.
Gary, Glasgow

"Have people no pride in themselves and Scotland?" Obviously not. Selfish, lazy and ignorant is how people prefer to behave.
Andrew, Edinburgh

I was on the M9 recently and from behind a caravan came first a shoebox, then the loose paper filling and finally the plastic bag that all this rubbish was in. When I passed the car, there was a man in his forties and children in the back. He must have told them to throw it out of the window - unbelievable. I now really regret not taking the registration number and informing the police. But, what would they have done?
Al, Kirkcaldy

I live across from a corner shop and regularly sweep the pavement and road in front of my house where thoughtless people discard their paper roll bags at lunch time. (I even had to have a word with the local police whom I caught lobbing trash out their car window). No-one in the village takes responsibility for the cleanliness of the place and it's always someone else's job or fault. The older generation will comment when they see me out with my brush. I love Ayrshire, I have pride in our local heritage and countryside - my voluntary street cleaning is a throw-back to when my grannie kept me occupied by giving me a brush and telling me to go sweep the street. Lead by example and shame the filthy offenders, let's not get worn down by them. Saying you pay your council tax is a cop-out. The new litter law states that you only need one witness in cases of littering or fly-tipping. So take down a number plate and make the authorities take action. We area all responsible, especially for doing nothing!
Allison, Ayrshire

Even my three year old son understands that you shouldn't drop litter and often makes comments about other people doing it. Unfortunately, this often attracts adverse comments from the people he is commenting on, along the lines that I must be telling him to say it. I don't, it's just that he has been brought up to think such behaviour is "naughty" as is parking on double yellow lines or at bus stops or on the pavement or across driveways - it doesn't seem to stop them from doing it though. As a sometime motorcyclist, I dread the smokers with the half-opened window who carelessly discard their cigarette butts. More than once, I've been hit by these little missiles and have had to overcome the urge to chase after the perpetrators to give them an earful.
Tim McKeating, Glasgow

What annoys me the most is when you ask someone to pick up what they just dropped though there is a bin just next to them. You get either an evil comment or you get into a fight. Everyone thinks that someone else will do it, but if everyone has that attitude we will drown in our waste. I am also frustrated that I have to pay more council tax because someone has to be sent to pick up all the rubbish.
Ina, London

Here in Perth we have Litter Officers who fine anyone caught dropping litter �50. The sad truth behind it is that they can only fine people aged 18 and over - the main problem however, is that it's kids who drop litter not adults. Why should they be allowed to get away with it? A �50 fine would certainly make them think again about dropping litter - yet the local councillors are too afraid of the backlash to allow the officers to fine kids. The only litter dropped by adults is cigarette ends - they don't see it as litter or the problem it causes, but here they are very quickly learning the cost of dropping one small cigarette end. Fines are definitely the way to go and no-one should escape, kids included!
Jon, Perth

Why not charge a litter tax on the most common offending items like cigarettes, chewing gum, crisp packets, sweet packets, juice cans and bottles, take-away packages etc?. The money generated could be used to fund litter wardens to nail the offenders and more street sweepers to clear the stuff up.
John, Edinburgh, Scotland

There is nothing more irritating than watching an empty can wing its way from the window of the car in front. Nothing, perhaps, other than sustaining a beating from the Ned who you asked to pick up the food wrapper which he had just discarded on the pavement.
Colin, Stirling

L Smith makes a good point about people dropping cigarette ends in Edinburgh, but without bins at reasonable intervals what else are people likely to do? Heritage bodies don't like bins because they spoil the look of the historic streets, does rubbish look better in their eyes?
Neil, Edinburgh

I'm of the opinion that councils throughout Scotland do not do enough to make people aware of the environmental risks of littering (they spend more time ruining road systems). More effort and spending is required to tackle this problem because at the moment the general public simply do not care for their surroundings. European countries simply do not stand for littering in the same way British authorities do. This underlines the typical Scottish ignorance of basic health and safety matters such as littering or recycling. People need to learn they are killing the landscape around them, wherever they are, when they throw litter away. A lot can be learned from Asian countries such as Singapore which shows the land they live on utmost respect by giving out heavy fines for 'minor' littering offences. Open your eye's Scotland.
James Brown, Edinburgh

Like Linda said, it is not only confined to car drivers, and it seems to me that every smoker out there doesn't see their ash and cigarette butts as litter - when it's the worst kind! I was nearly hit by a half-smoked, still lit cigarette being chucked away by a woman who was going into a shop in front of me just the other day. And when I complained to her about it I just got a blank look! Nobody seems to care.
Laura, Glasgow

Every day I watch a bunch of able-bodied grown men flout two laws. After they have finished drinking their cans of lager in the street (offence 1) they throw the empty cans over the fence into a car park, often hitting parked cars. They are on their way to a local drop-in centre where they get free food and social assistance. I have reported this but have yet to see any police presence in the area. These are not the unfortunate elderly alcoholics I remember as the down-and-outs of my childhood but young fit men who although obviously suffering from some form of addiction could easily spend their days picking up rubbish rather than adding to the problem. Tackling this sort of anti-social behaviour would go a long way to improving the environment round here but it doesn't feature very highly on our constrained police force's agenda.
Gill, Aberdeen

I am lucky enough to live in an area next to a loch and woods. Secondary school kids drop all kinds of litter, daily as they pass through. The council have a policy of not using existing laws to fine under 16s so they just keep doing it! I, and others, have had fights with the council to properly clean the place, to no avail. The councillor and the manager have been asked to meet at the area but they are not interested and they have not the will. What hope do we have if East Dumbartonshire Council are too "feart" to act and/or uninterested. I too am thinking of emigrating for this and many other social injustice kind of reasons ! We have no respect for our country or each other anymore. With rights come responsibilities to each other!
Alex Baird, Glasgow

I would suggest making "rubbish collecting" part of the school day. Get the kids picking up the mess and they'll stop dropping it! They might even remember it into adult life.
A Cameron, Glasgow

On a visit to Glasgow on Saturday I saw two examples of selfish littering. One incident saw the father of a family, who had just eaten several takeaway meals, carefully place the containers beside the kerb and drive away. No doubt his children will learn from his excellent example. The second incident was at Braehead where a young man was standing at the back of his beaten-up old Ford Fiesta eating from a bag of spare ribs. He cleaned his mouth and hands on a hi-vis waistcoat and left the detritus from his meal on the ground. As he went to get into the car I asked him if this was his contribution to keeping Scotland tidy and he flatly denied that the rubbish was his before driving off. Comments about the roadside verges can be verified by walking along any section of main road anywhere in the country; I was recently up in Ross and Cromarty walking along sections of the main roads in very unpopulated country and it was a rare 10 metres that wasn't adorned with a drinks bottle or a fag packet.
Patrick, Argyll

Well said Eddie. I could not agree more with your comments. I find this to be depressingly too familiar in our country. Obviously the prevailing attitude seems to be that it "isn't my problem" (even if I am the person displaying this form of anti-social behaviour). Also have a close look at what Eddie is talking about, as this is a hidden problem. The scale of which becomes apparent at this time of the year, as roadside vegetation dies back and the real extent of our throw-away lifestyles is even more apparent. Also, I have only seen litter picking squads at the side of the road three times this year, incidentally on the same road in the same county. So as far as I can see only one local authority is allocating resources to this problem. And where are all the litter bins anyway? They are increasingly hard to find and usually crammed full to the extent that contents are being blown away. Presumably some committee somewhere has decided that it is too expensive for bins to be emptied regularly or replaced when vandalised. With that attitude from our local authorities no wonder the country is in such a state.
David, Linlithgow

Recently I was driving home with my family along the M9 from Stirling. Two bottles were thrown out of the passenger window of an articulated lorry. Due to the aerodynamics of these vehicles the bottles ended up on the carriageway causing the car in front of me to brake and swerve, almost losing control. I likewise had to brake firmly. I telephoned the company and received a rather insincere apology. I therefore called the police who called round to my house to take statements from my wife and myself. I have heard nothing back from the police. The police would rather spend time stopping motorists travelling slightly over the speed limit and pick up the proceeds of the fine. Companies who allow drivers to act irresponsibly (in terms of safety, litter, etc) should be named and shamed. When looking to hire a haulage firm one should perhaps think carefully about the organisation in respect of more than how much they cost.
Andrew McWatt, Larbert

To fine litter louts should only be in conjunction with them being given community service picking up litter from the streets. I can see it now, bright-coloured overalls with 'litter lout' written across them, maybe the shame of this might stop them. Here's another idea, how about dealing with the young crime culture and existing prisoners by having them out on the streets in chain gangs picking up and cleaning up the streets? I think they call it "paying for your crimes and giving something back to the community".
Michael, East Kilbride

Queen's Road, Aberdeen, every Monday - the pavements are filled with broken glass and green beer bottles - the up-market pubs and hotels with their clients spilling out, still with their drink in hand. Ask the woman changing her flat tyre last Monday.
David Douglas, Aberdeen

Littering is like most driving offences. We need to know people who get caught to act as a deterrent. If a colleague at work gets done for driving while using a mobile we would all think before doing it. Throwing litter out of the window is no different. Banning electric windows might help as well.
Adrian, Aberdeen

Litter is bad enough in my local town centre, but verges on the ridiculous at the local retail park on the edge of town. Various fast-food drive-thrus result in local teenagers congregating in their cars, eating take-aways and then just tossing the rubbish out of the window. The local authority has mentioned �50 fines, but I've yet to see this happen. I recently parked next to a couple of teenagers who simply rolled down their window and threw their wrappers and empty bottles onto the pavement, when the bin was less than 5 yards away. I actually got out of my car and banged on their window, before asking them to pick up the rubbish. As you can imagine I received the usual response....the only solution is to employ wardens, fine people on the spot and name them in the local press. Scotland is a beautiful, but a very dirty country!
Martin, Falkirk

Couldn't agree more. I travel from home to my office every day and, as part of my job travel around North Lanarkshire. Without exception I find car/vehicle owners discarding all sorts of rubbish with total contempt for the environment, safety or indeed anything else. On occasions I have even seen glass bottles discarded. But it is not only car drivers as it seems to be the national pastime particularly, though unfortunately not exclusively, in the central belt with arguably Glasgow and the surrounding areas the worst. Contrast for me is visiting relatives in Canada, my brother's car was often a "tip" but he or his family wouldn't consider for a moment throwing rubbish out of the vehicle window. We need a serious crackdown on offenders but unfortunately, as has been said, the manpower and perhaps the real will to do it are sadly lacking. Chewing gum. Won't even go there!
David Waterton, Airdrie

On the rare occasions I have plucked up the courage to make an objection when someone deliberately throws down litter, I have either received abuse or a shrug of the shoulders and no reaction. Given that this has mainly been at bus stops when cigarette butts have been discarded within 5 metres of bins designed with just such a function in mind, I have been saddened at the "Not me Jack" attitude of fellow travellers. If there was more uniformity in approach, these people would be shamed into action and I wouldn't have to try and respond to the shocked surprise of a foreign cousin at the litter lining so many of our roads.
Alex, Edinburgh

In total agreement with Eddie, I am constantly astonished at the disregard people show for their environment. I live near a school and the litter produced each lunchtime is astonishing, parents pass on this dreadful behaviour with each fag butt out the window. Another quick solution to this problem is that perhaps it's time we got our prison population to work off their debt to society, in America the highway verges are cleared by prison squads.
Neil Shand, Aberdeen

I was in Glasgow on Tuesday and watched a Glasgow taxi driver lift out of his cab a soft drinks can and lay it on the road, he then got into his cab and drove away. This is not the only occasion that I have noticed so-called professional drivers decanting their litter without due regard, and the litter bins only 10 metres away.
Jim Martin, East Kilbride

I side with Dawn having visited Singapore. Here in St Andrews it's children going from school at lunch time to the local supermarket for crisps and sandwiches and then discarding the wrappers on the way back on the road and in people's gardens. When was the last time any of them were told to pick it up and put it in the bin? Are there no litter wardens or even teachers to monitor this.
JD Witt, St Andrews

People in this country have no pride. The other day I witnessed a man emptying his car of juice bottles, crisp packets, etc - littering a nice bit of the countryside. If he had bothered to drive two minutes down the road to the nearest village he could have disposed of his rubbish in a bin! Unfortunately, the more litter strewn around, the less pride people have, resulting in yet more rubbish being left on our roadsides - it' a vicious circle...
Duncan Weddell, East Lothian

I drive through Kilmaurs most days and you occasionally see an old couple walking out one of the roads picking up everybody else's litter. They're doing a fantastic job at keeping the verges clean - thank you! Some people in Scotland seem to like to live in their own dirt. Others think they're keeping someone in a job. Personally, I can do without such an attitude and not have to pay via my council tax to clean up after some mucky pig.
John, Kilmarnock

Walking down the road, I saw some people in a bus shelter. As the bus approached, a man who was drinking a bottled beverage of some sort simply took the last swig and chucked the empty bottle into a wooded area behind the shelter. Now do you A) rebuke the man for what he has done, and end up with a fist in your face, B) go and fetch his rubbish while he's there and end up being ridiculed with a possible fist in the face, C) wait around until he's gone then try and find this offending piece of litter or D) trudge home, muttering to oneself about the state of society these days. I chose D. I don't drop litter, but am I expected to clean up after other people who don't care, and are unlikely to do so? The sad conclusion I come to is that very few people seem to care how their actions affect others if it does not cause direct harm.
Matthew Norrie, Aberdeen

Even better solution - turn recipients of social security into litter wardens walking round the city clearing up rubbish. Now that would be value for money and just imagine the effect on Glasgow if 20,000 people spent the next week tidying up the place. Give them something to do for their money, us some value for our money and might change a habit or two ...
Michael, Glasgow

The problem is not just car litter, but pedestrian litter. One of the biggest problems is that many smokers do not see cigarette stubs as litter. Others take the view that they are giving refuse collectors and street sweepers a job. I see litter wardens and on-the-spot fines as the only option.
L Smith, Edinburgh

I totally agree with this. I have a big issue with chewing gum and think it should be banned (am I right in believing there's a place in the Far East that has banned it?) as it causes a disgusting mess of our streets and costs our councils a ridiculous amount of money to clean up with some kind of jet washer (which doesn't happen very often). I always keep a carrier bag in my car for rubbish and put it in the bin when full or at the end of a long journey. My rubbish as a pedestrian is deposited in a hunted down bin (which can be hard to find these days, especially in shopping centres - I believe they were removed from many malls as it was feared they could be a hiding place for bombs?) or is kept in my pocket/bag until I am home/near a bin. I believe some cities have introduced loud and lively characters on the streets to "name and shame" pedestrians if they're seen littering the streets and impose fines for littering if required. An alternative, yet smart, investment of money by the councils involved. However, if the population had more respect for their habitat and the long term effects that this will have on the environment, we shouldn't need to take such measures and have our taxes spent more effectively.
Sarah, Aberdeen

This is one of the reasons I emigrated from the UK. No-one seems to give a damn about the place anymore. Someone else will pick up "my litter" seems to be the pathetic attitude held by some. The streets are littered, the motorways are strewn with garbage and don't even get me started on the amount of money spent on cleaning paving stones of discarded chewing gum. I can't tell you the number of times I've been driving behind a white transit van or similar and plastic bottles or crisp packets have come flying from the window and onto the windscreen of my car or alternatively flung onto the road. Here in Brisbane, the place is immaculate. When I first got here it was so noticeable and made me think what I'd just left. People here care about and take pride in their city. A major change in attitude is required to make this thing as anti-social as drink-driving.
Craig Brown, Australia

I don't think Eddie could have described this disgusting habit any better. I live on the west coast and for three months of the year almost every second or third car I pass is foreign registered. I often wonder what the car occupants think of our rubbish-strewn verges. Litter is the one problem in this country which is completely and totally avoidable. No excuses.
Jack, North Ayrshire

In Belgium they have large basketball-style nets at traffic lights and road junctions so that drivers can have fun disposing of their litter. If they miss, at least all the rubbish is in a confined area. I would also like to see free access for commercial waste at local amenities since most fly tipped waste appears to be from household building/gardening work anyway. We all pay for the amenities, so why should we pay twice because a local builder has done the work rather than doing it ourselves? Free access and enforcing heavy fines could encourage the 'cowboy' builders to stop fly tipping.
Adrian, UK

I totally agree with Eddie's comments. However, this habit of dropping litter is not confined to car drivers and roadside verges, unfortunately. The amount of litter dropped generally in this country is a disgrace. What makes the whole situation worse, in my opinion, is that litter is often dropped by the very people who comment on how clean the streets are when they go abroad on holiday and who won't accept that they are contributing to the problem. Perhaps one solution would be to employ people as litter wardens with similar powers to traffic wardens. These people could be paid for with the money saved from the refuse collection budget.
Linda Richardson, Livingston

Take a look at Singapore. They have huge fines for anyone dropping litter, as well as the social shame associated with it and I think chewing gum is banned. Apparently their streets are spotless. How hard would it be for our government to have a word with theirs to ask if we can see their legislation and use it to model something similar for us?
Dawn, St Andrews

Have people no pride in themselves and Scotland? Apart from the safety issue of rubbish on roads. Scotland is a great country in lots of respects. there is nothing worse than rubbish on roadsides...and even worse...smokers...who drive with their windows slightly down....then throw every butt out.....maybe if there was a law and it was made easier to report people who willy nilly throw all their rubbish out the car window...things might change...
David 'Steedsy' Stevenson, Bo'ness