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Weirdly (despite the ‘disgusting’ factor) I’d guess there’s a significant proportion who wouldn’t drop litter but might do a wild poo, on biodegradable grounds. The idea that when you poo, you can then walk away is pretty inbuilt into people from years of using a toilet with a flush… Plus it is more complex as with turds, digging a hole for it might be OK (depending how close to water sources, etc) whereas that approach clearly doesn’t work with a crisp packet.
Litter, I’d guess at least some is dropped by accident or blown away - you go to eat your sandwich + biscuit at the panoramic top of a hill, wind kicks in, packaging flies off. Obviously doesn’t explain all of it but I think mistakes can happen - which is a strong argument for using biodegradable packaging for things to take out on the hill.
andyfallsoff-
wouldn’t drop litter but might do a wild poo
The difference is that one is easy to carry out with no planning and find a suitable bin, the other requires advance planning for a situation lots of people just don't consider until it's too late.
I've done more than my fair share of making like a bear, and have been caught without any loo roll enough times to know better. But you make sure you're well off the path, in a secluded spot, bury it as best you can with leaf litter and sticks etc. These days I carry a trowel and bury it. Doing the Spine race over the summer and they have added trowel, tissues and poo bags to the mandatory kit list so hopefully this starts to become more commonplace and eventually the norm.
Arducius
This seems to be happening a lot lately in various locations around the UK, along with abandoned cheap camping gear and litter.
Some say that it's partly down to covid as people sought out holidays and activities they can still do when travel was restricted and other attractions/activities were closed but the ignorance of newbies is no excuse, it's just laziness and selfishness. Hopefully everyone knows leaving litter and human waste is wrong, or do people these days have the mindset that they should be able to have their fun without thinking of others or taking any responsibility for their actions?
If "Leave no trace" and "Follow the country code" arent getting through to people then what will? I quite liked a sign I saw North of the border that said "If we all love Scotland then who's leaving all the litter?" It seems we need to foster a culture of responsibility for the outdoors that a lot of people don't have. I'm sure if you asked a lot of the litter and stool leavers if they were proud of their country or loved their nation they would say yes, yet they aren't prepared to atc like a responsible adult to do their bit to look after it.