# Cypriot mentality



## Guest (Oct 6, 2013)

There is much I don't understand of Cypriot mentality but this is one of the worst. I just can't figure out how the farmers think.

This is a place we pass every day walking our boarding dogs. It is one of the main connections for the Pissouri Bay water supply.:deadhorse:

Anders


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## Rema (Aug 12, 2012)

Anders, it's difficult to understand I agree.

We cleared our road and filled 19 bags of various cans/bottles/plastic etc when we arrived thinking it had accumulated over some time. I was dismayed to see much of it return within a couple of weeks - and we live on a quiet road. 
We also go for walks often and am quite horrified at the volume of fly tipping that goes on. I'm told that it costs a lot to use the municipal tips so fly tipping is preferred to keep costs down - then the municipality has to (sometimes) pay to clear up the mess. 
An option might be to reduce the costs of legal tipping and then offset the loss in revenue against a reduction in cleanup costs.

I fear a real "Keep Cyprus Clean" approach would need to be driven by a Western European mentality to litter and rubbish and not a Cypriot one so it's unlikely to happen. Mind you if anything were to get started I would happily become an activist!


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## mdekkers (Jul 3, 2013)

Unfortunately, Malta and lots of parts of Israel were the same.


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

This is one of the features I particularly dislike in Cyprus. It is normal practice to just drop any item of rubbish. As a result so many fields have fertiliser and other chemical bottles and cans which then get distributed by the wind. We often see tied up bags of rubbish in the roadside drainage gutters where we live. I can't work out why they go to the trouble of bagging the stuff and then just throw it out of the car window when it's so easy to throw into a green bin.

I do however remember that it was much the same in the UK when I was young and only after a long period of "Keep Britain Tidy" campaigns and litter fines did things improve. This would therefore sit rather low on the country's priorities right now.

I suppose this is just another of the things here that is 50+ years behind the times and I've come to the conclusion that when Cypriots look at the rugged beauty of their country their brains blank out the rubbish.

Pete


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## Guest (Oct 6, 2013)

Rema said:


> Anders, it's difficult to understand I agree.
> 
> We cleared our road and filled 19 bags of various cans/bottles/plastic etc when we arrived thinking it had accumulated over some time. I was dismayed to see much of it return within a couple of weeks - and we live on a quiet road.
> We also go for walks often and am quite horrified at the volume of fly tipping that goes on. I'm told that it costs a lot to use the municipal tips so fly tipping is preferred to keep costs down - then the municipality has to (sometimes) pay to clear up the mess.
> ...


100% of the empty bottles and canisters in this picture is from pesticides. Wonder how much is left in them

Anders


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

PeteandSylv said:


> I do however remember that it was much the same in the UK when I was young and only after a long period of "Keep Britain Tidy" campaigns and litter fines did things improve. This would therefore sit rather low on the country's priorities right now.
> 
> 
> Pete


Unfortunately when you drive around the countryside in the Uk there is still an element of fly tipping which goes on and spoils some areas of real beauty.
Thankfully it is isn't as bad as Cyprus but it still rankles when you come across it.


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

Veronica said:


> Unfortunately when you drive around the countryside in the Uk there is still an element of fly tipping which goes on and spoils some areas of real beauty.
> Thankfully it is isn't as bad as Cyprus but it still rankles when you come across it.


Sadly this has been caused by the excessive cost of disposing of rubbish and the need for businesses to transport it to waste transfer centres. The less scrupulous simply dump it and because the UK cowtows to the EU waste regulations this problem will get worse.

Saving the environment has a lot to answer for !!!

Pete


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## Geraldine (Jan 3, 2009)

I recently followed a lorry filled to capacity with cardboard, paper etc, I was amazed to see that it hadn't a net or cover to stop the contents flying out as he sped along the road, leaving a trail of flying rubbish in his wake.

Behind me was a police car, turning a blind eye to what looked like a paper chase.


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Geraldine said:


> I recently followed a lorry filled to capacity with cardboard, paper etc, I was amazed to see that it hadn't a net or cover to stop the contents flying out as he sped along the road, leaving a trail of flying rubbish in his wake.
> 
> Behind me was a police car, turning a blind eye to what looked like a paper chase.


Yes this seems to be the norm here. There are EU laws regarding covering loads to make them secure but as usual EU law is ignored. The ones the scare me are the lorries with huge rocks which are piled high and not secured.. The though of what could happen if one of these rocks fell off and hit a car behind is very scary indeed.


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## Geraldine (Jan 3, 2009)

Or the pickups leaving my village packed to the gunnels with sacks of carobs, the front wheels off the road with the weight on the back. 

Or the pickups on the main roads with the round huge bales of straw piles high, balancing precariously on the back.


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

Geraldine said:


> Or the pickups on the main roads with the round huge bales of straw piles high, balancing precariously on the back.


Please don't exaggerate. They are always held on a with a piece of string.



Pete


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## Rema (Aug 12, 2012)

Confound the local mentality by doing something useful or how I seem to have baffled some locals today!
Following the very heavy rains of last week the road outside our home was more like a dried up river bed as loads of stone had been washed down from the hillside. Whilst the road was not impassable the likely hood of punctures was very high, it's also a little dangerous for bike riding, so I got my shovel out and, to the bewilderment of the locals, shovelled a stretch of some 200 mts clear of rubble.
Needless to say nobody came to help but I got personal satisfaction from it, no fear of a puncture and it was good exercise.

From now on my motto will be, "making a difference in my community".


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