so Machka...are you still claiming that banana peels take 5 years to decompose, and are detrimental if left on the forest floor?

I rest my case... you should really stop trying to argue your point, you were wrong yesterday and you're wrong today... its not going to change the fact that your argument is based on flawed education. you should proceed to argue for the case of not littering inorganic material because you'd find that most of us here are in agreement with that. and yes, vineyards do not want any litter on their place because they control the Ph as well as other factors in the soil, and they generally only grow one variety of grape in order to get their perfect wine, they don't want other grape seeds contaminating their crop

And I've never discarded anything. Some people do. They're idiots too.

this is a smoking

Machka, I don't wish to pile on you, but seriously, how can you have any sort of meaningful study of Canada's history without also discussing US history. The history of these two countries is so intermingled that you cannot talk about one without talking about the other. If the Canadian school system ignores US history, while including other countries that is just ignorant. I have always believed Canadians to be well-educated people and, in fact, I find that most Canadians know more about the US than we know about them.

YOur statement is just shocking--how short-sighted.

I can only hope that certain ones of you are being deliberately obtuse about the littering situation, and that you're not really as ignorant as you are making yourselves out to be about the negative environmental (and aesthetic) impact of litter. I also hope that you are indeed aware of your local littering laws because you surely know that ignorance of the law is not a defense.


Please don't litter. Dispose of your rubbish responsibly. Take your organic rubbish home and compost it or tuck it into your hedges and gardens where it can have a positive impact on the environment.


Now go and enjoy your rides. Take some photos of beautiful autumn scenery for the Autumn Photos thread.

+1 I live in Ontario and am in highschool, I took history last year so I'm fresh out of it. In grade 10 we have a mandatory history course called "Canadian History", and yes, we talk about the US AND Europe almost as much as Canada. Now in grade 11 we have a course called "American History", I havn't taken it, but as you may be able to tell, it's about the US.

15 years of public education in Ontario and Alberta and very little included American history. We did study North American geography and shared history, but topics like your civil war, foundation of your Country, past presidents, etc. were a footnote at most in our curriculum. I think you'd have to agree that it's much more important that Canadian students spend their time studying Canadian history than the history of their neighbors.

Likewise, I very much doubt that American students are spending a great deal of time studying Canadian history... And I'm talking straight up Canadian history like past Prime Ministers, formation of the country, etc. Not wars where we've fought together or against each other.

No disrespect indented, but American history is not terribly important to most Canadians.

Hey, maybe it's a course about South America or Central America.

Columbus didn't discover the USA he discovered a continent. Some of which became the USA and some of which became Canada. And Canadians refer to native Americans as indians too. I know this because I was in Canada in the early 90's when a tribe was in a state of major civil unrest (I believe on the NY/Quebec border) and the Canadian newsmedia didn't have some odd, confusing special name for them. So to say Machka is being disingenuous would be an understatement.

Thank you very much for disabusing me of the notion that Canadians are well-educated people.

A well-educated people would learn about their closest, biggest (in population anyway) and most influential neighbor. Personally, I wish that the US school curricula included more information on all our neighbors, as well as Europe and other parts of the World. As our planet continues to shrink it is just plain stupid and ignorant to not learn more about other parts of the world.

Merci beacoup pour ton message.

Muchas gracias por tu mensaje.

This post is NAFTA compliant.

IMHO, the appropriateness of tossin biodegradable items depends on the situation. For example at high elevation is takes a long time for orange peels to break down. So if everyone tosses their orange peels on a heavily trafficed path above 12,000 feet, its going to impact the pristine nature of the trail.


There are also issues with introducing non indigenous elements, and altering wildlife behavior.

All that said, I'll toss a banana peel to the side of the road (hopefully well into the woods off the road) on an ordinary country road.

The term indians, or more accurately indios, originated in South America and the Carribean much earlier than ever being used in North America, by more than 100 years, and is still in common use throughout the area, unlike the US and Canada where it has largely been replaced by more PC terms.

A buddy of mine chopped his finger off accidentally with a hatchet. Coming back from the hospital, he had it in a specimen jar as a momento of the occasion but his wife had'nt noticed he kept it.
His wife saw it on the way home and got grossed out and made him toss it, so he dumped the finger out of the jar on the side of the road.

Is that littering?

Technically yes... but most of us dont have a problem with that considering it will break down rather quickly. The police, however, are required to open up an investigation upon discovery of said body part. Don't be too surprised if the Police come knocking at your buddy's door asking about it... https://outdoorchannel.com/Fishing/Ne...er-Finger.aspx

I discard in the ditch as I ride and feel no guilt.

+1. A much bigger problem around here are the f..ing birds. They pick and eat the blackberries and blueberries and carelessly toss the remnants all over the road. They aren't even considerate enough to find a bush to conceal their discards.

And worse than all the banana peels, apple cores etc by the side of the road is the g-damned goose **** that litters our parks and lakes. Truly disgusting!

I had no idea. Would have been an interesting conversation considering we live real close to Oakland CA with a high murder rate. Its been a few months though and we haven't heard anything. He's also my next door neighbor so I would have noticed.

Why on earth wouldn't it be?

Its quickly biodegradable. Probably got ate by a coyote within the day anyhow.