History Main / LitteringIsNoBigDeal

* Many ''Franchise/HarvestMoon'' games avert this. Littering causes villagers to like you less. In ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonDS'' one of the requirements to marry (or "[[HideYourLesbians best friend]]" the Witch Princess in the Japanese version of the DistaffCounterpart game) is to litter.

* Surprisingly averted in ComicStrip/BananaMan. As Eric eats a banana and undergoes his transformation, the banana peel magically disappears (possibly into his pocket).

'''Hobbes:''' That's not your candy bar wrapper over there, is it?

--> '''Calvin:''' Yep, Mars may be a little dull, but it's better than Earth. We've got a whole planet to ourselves. Brand new and unspoiled. No people. No pollution. Nothing but rugget, natural beauty as far as the eye can see.

[[quoteright:350:[[Disney/{{Frozen}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9a70392f290669e60155016079260875.jpg]]]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* It's almost expected that any badass character is going to flick away a cigarette butt at some point in a show of his disdain for the world in general.

* In ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'', Charlie is so excited to find a Golden Ticket that he drops the wrapper (and the delicious, delicious chocolate) right in the street and runs off.
* The entire plot of ''Film/TheGodsMustBeCrazy'' is instigated by someone throwing an empty coke bottle out of an airplane window.
* At the end of ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', [[spoiler:John Blake]] takes his Gotham P.D. badge and flings it into the river.
* In the beginning of ''Film/SuperTroopers'', the guys in the car throw a bag of weed out of the window.
* The ocean is a popular spot for dramatic discards. In ''{{Film/Titanic 1997}}'', Rose drops in [[spoiler: an expensive diamond necklace (appropriately named the Heart of the Ocean)]], presumably for some sort of closure.
* ''Film/ThreeAmigos''. While the title characters are traveling through the desert to reach El Guapo's hideout, Dusty Bottoms drinks the last of the water from his canteen and carelessly discards it. He apparently forgets that after the Amigos rescue Carmen they'll have to return, and if they don't have any water with them (or something to collect more in) they'll die of thirst. Luckily for them they acquire a plane so they can fly back instead.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* Averted in the opening credits of ''Series/TheOddCouple'' (the TV series). Oscar throws his cigar on the ground and Felix spears it with the end of his umbrella, returning it to him. The credit sequence ends with Oscar & Felix in the park eating lunch; Oscar tosses his sandwich wrapper on the ground and Felix starts to complain about it.
* ''Series/MadMen'': In an early episode, a family goes on a picnic, and just leaves their discarded wrappers, paper plates and food scraps littered all over the picnic site. This is meant to evoke the time period, before many people got serious about the environment, and also their crass consumerism.

[[AC:ComicBooks]]
* In the ''Comicbook/DetectiveComics'' story "The Night of Thanks, but No Thanks!" the only criminal Batman finds is a man who litters. Batman swoops in.
-->'''Batman:''' There's an ordinance against littering, tiny!
-->'''Man:''' Huh? Oh, Batman! What'd you say..? Litter? Oh, yeah... the wrapper! You're absolutely right, sir! I should be ashamed of myself! And I'm the one who is forever inveighing against the careless masses who turn our streets into garbage pits! We all belong to the city, Gotham is our living room... Good citizenship ever needs reinforcing! Thank goodness you're always with us, Batman! For the moments when carelessness dominates our actions! Good night, sir; and have a quiet evening.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* It's almost expected that any badass character is going to flick away a cigarette butt at some point in a show of his disdain for the world in general.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* Averted in the opening credits of ''Series/TheOddCouple'' (the TV series). Oscar throws his cigar on the ground and Felix spears it with the end of his umbrella, returning it to him. The credit sequence ends with Oscar & Felix in the park eating lunch; Oscar tosses his sandwich wrapper on the ground and Felix starts to complain about it.
* ''Series/MadMen'': In an early episode, a family goes on a picnic, and just leaves their discarded wrappers, paper plates and food scraps littered all over the picnic site. This is meant to evoke the time period, before many people got serious about the environment, and also their crass consumerism.

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* Averted in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]''. If you discard weaponry in the middle of town, the guards will chastise you for it, sometimes pointing out that a kid could hurt themselves if they find it.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Mabinogi}}'', just tossing unwanted items is usually fine and dandy (most items despawn quickly, or in some cases get grabbed by someone who does want them), but some items, notably [[UpgradeArtifact skill books that have been read]], persist for hours and can't be picked up except by the character that dropped them. The smooth way to get rid of persistent junk is to drop it into a dungeon or into your Homestead, where it will despawn when you leave.
* ''VideoGame/{{Pokemon}}'': While the game doesn't show the consequences of releasing a Pokémon into the wild, fanon holds that this causes all kinds of ecological catastrophes by introducing massive amounts of a single species in a small area.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' certainly averts the consequences part. Many areas of the game are hard to navigate without disturbing piles of old cans and other rubbish.
* Averted as part of an {{artificial atmospheric action|s}} in ''VideoGame/LEGOIsland''. Some guys are watching the Formula 1 race talking about how fast they've driven, with Officer Nick Brick going down the line handing out speeding tickets. One of them says she's only ever gone 50 mph.
-->'''Woman:''' Hey! Fifty is legal! ''[she throws ticket away and Nick hands her another]'' What's ''this'' for?

[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* Surprisingly averted in ComicStrip/BananaMan. As Eric eats a banana and undergoes his transformation, the banana peel magically disappears (possibly into his pocket).
* Exaggerated and parodied in ''WesternAnimation/CloneHigh'': In a VerySpecialEpisode, characters acquire littering as a CompressedVice, but there's so much litter around that one of them dies from it, InTheStyleOf ''Film/FinalDestination''.
* In many of the ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'' shorts, in the climactic scene where the titular character devours his can of spinach, he typically just drops or tosses the empty can... wherever.
* Averted in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants''. [=SpongeBob=] takes Patrick's boating license from him, rips it up, and throws the pieces into the air for dramatic effect. The pieces then conveniently land in a police officer's hand, and the officer pulls Patrick over to arrest him for littering.

[[AC:RealLife]]
* Many people do this in real life, presumably invoking the LawOfConservationOfDetail in relation to their life.
* American soldiers in the Vietnam War threw away the remains of their combat rations in the jungle after having a quick meal while on patrol. The Vietcong quickly learned that a common fragmentation grenade fit right in an empty can from the ration kits, and they built booby traps with a piece of string added that pulled out the primed grenade when it was tripped.

* It's almost expected that any {{Badass}} character is going to flick away a cigarette butt at some point in a show of his disdain for the world in general.

* In ''Webcomic/BloodandSmoke'', Detective Carson has no issue with discarding cigarettes wherever he pleases, whether it be in a [[http://bloodandsmoke.thecomicseries.com/comics/3 hallway]] or [[http://bloodandsmoke.thecomicseries.com/comics/8 outside somebody's home]].

Presumably in the character's universe there aren't too many people doing this (or they have a [[EverythingFades fantastic street cleaning service]]) because you rarely see [[NoEndorHolocaust the inevitable result of widespread littering]].

* Many people do this in real life, presumably invoking the LawOfConservationOfDetail in relation to their life. It's often averted by others calling them out over it, though.

[[AC:Webcomics]]

* Surprisingly averted in BananaMan. As Eric eats a banana and undergoes his transformation, the banana peel magically disappears (possibly into his pocket).

* The entire plot of ''Film/TheGodsMustBeCrazy'' is instigated by someone throwing an empty coke bottle out of a airplane window.

[[caption-width-right:350:".....the [[PimpedOutCape cloak]] never bothered me anyway."]]

* The ocean is a popular spot for dramatic discards. In ''{{Film/Titanic}}'', Rose drops in [[spoiler: an expensive diamond necklace (appropriately named the Heart of the Ocean)]], presumably for some sort of closure.

[-[[caption-width-right:350:".....the [[PimpedOutCape cloak]] never bothered me anyway."]]-]

[[quoteright:350:[[Disney/{{Frozen}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elsa_cape_2913.gif]]]]
[-[[caption-width-right:350:".....the cloak never bothered me anyway."]]-]

[-[[caption-width-right:350:".....the cold never bothered me anyway"]]-]

[-[[caption-width-right:350:".....the cape never bothered me anyway"]]-]

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elsa_cape_2913.gif]]

* In ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'', Elsa throws her cape and glove into the wind after [[spoiler:embracing her ice powers and admitting that the cold never bothered her anyway]].

* The ocean is a popular spot for dramatic discards. In ''{{Film/TITANIC}}'', Rose [[spoiler: drops in an expensive diamond necklace (appropriately named the Heart of the Ocean), presumably for some sort of closure.]]

* ''Film/ThreeAmigos''. While the title characters are traveling through the desert to reach El Guapo's hideout, Dusty Bottoms drinks the last of the water from his canteen and carelessly discards it. He apparently forgets that after the Amigos rescue Carmen they'll have to return, and if they don't have any water with them (or something to collect more in) they'll die of thirst. Luckily for them they acquire a plane so they can fly back instead.

* In the ''Comicbook/DetectiveComics'' story "The Night of Thanks, but No Thanks!" the only crime Batman finds is a man who litters. Batman swoops in.
-->Batman: There's an ordinance against littering, tiny!
-->Man: Huh? Oh, Batman! What'd you say..? Litter? Oh, yeah... the wrapper! You're absolutely right, sir! I should be ashamed of myself! And I'm the one who is forever inveighing against the careless masses who turn our streets into garbage pits! We all belong to the city, Gotham is our living room... Good citizenship ever needs reinforcing! Thank goodness you're always with us, Batman! For the moments when carelessness dominates our actions! Good night, sir; and have a quiet evening.

* It's almost expected that any {{Badass}} character is going to flick away a cigarette butt at some point in a show of their disdain for the world in general.

* Averted in the opening credits of ''TheOddCouple'' (the TV series). Oscar throws his cigar on the ground and Felix spears it with the end of his umbrella, returning it to him. The credit sequence ends with Oscar & Felix in the park eating lunch; Oscar tosses his sandwich wrapper on the ground and Felix starts to complain about it.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Mabinogi}}'' just tossing unwanted items is usually fine and dandy (most items despawn quickly, or in some cases get grabbed by someone who does want them), but some items, notably read [[UpgradeArtifact skill books]], persist for hours and can't be picked up except by the character that dropped them. The smooth way to get rid of persistent junk is to drop it in a dungeon or in your Homestead, where it will despawn when you leave.
* {{Pokemon}}: While the game doesn't show the consequences of releasing a Pokemon into the wild, fanon holds that this causes all kinds of ecological catastrophes by introducing massive amounts of a single species in a small area.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' certainly averts the consequences part. Many areas of the game are hard to move around in without disturbing piles of old cans and other rubbish.
* Averted as part of an {{Artificial Atmospheric Action|s}} in ''VideoGame/LEGOIsland''. Some guys are watching the Formula 1 race talking about how fast they've driven, with Officer Nick Brick going down the line handing out speeding tickets. One of them says she's only ever gone 50 mph.
--> '''Woman:''' Hey! 50 is legal! ''(throws ticket away and Nick hands her another one)'' What's ''this'' for?
--> '''Nick:''' Littering.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* Exaggerated and parodied in CloneHigh: in a VerySpecialEpisode, characters acquire littering as a CompressedVice, but there's so much litter around that one of them dies from it, InTheStyleOf ''Film/FinalDestination''.
* In many of the ''{{Popeye}}'' shorts, in the climactic scene where the titular character devours his can of spinach, he typically just drops or tosses the empty can... wherever.
* Averted in an episode of SpongebobSquarepants. Spongebob take Patrick's boating license from him, rips it up, and throws the pieces in the air for dramatic effect. The pieces then conveniently land in a police officer's hand, who pulls Patrick over to arrest him for littering.
* Lampshaded in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E13TwoBadNeighbors "Two Bad Neighbors:"]]
-->Homer: Good old Evergreen Terrace: the swankiest street in the classiest part of Pressboard Estates.
-->Bart: Well if you love it so much, why are you always littering?
-->Homer: ''[finishing a canned drink]'' It's easier, duh. ''[tosses can on ground]''

* Many people do this in real life, presumably invoking the LawOfConservationOfDetail in relation to their life. It's often averted by others calling them out over it though.

* In his account of life with the US Navy Seals, a former senior officer recounts a joint patrol with Afghan soldiers they were training up, who were woefully short of basic field disciplines. He notes that a Taliban unit knew exactly where to set up an ambush because they spotted M&M packets the Afghans had carelessly dropped, and reasoned that if they waited on this patrol route they'd be able to bump an American unit. Sure enough, the Afghan/SEALS patrol was ambushed on the way back...