Sometimes you read or see things that make you wonder: ‘Just what was the person thinking when they did this?’

Last week’s Gazette included a striking image of a vast pile of clothing dumped on the floor at a recycling area at Morrisons supermarket at Kendal. Some clothing has been put in the cardboard, glass and plastic recycling banks. This risks contaminating the whole load inside, so it can’t be recycled and ends up in landfill.

It’s good people have taken their rubbish to a recycling centre – but odd they should then just leave it lying around.

If a recycling bank is full and there is already excess material on the floor, adding to it to is not a good idea. It might feel like a lot of effort but why not take it home and return later, or go to a household waste recycling centre?

Meanwhile the National Trust in the Lake District reported unsustainable levels of fly-camping on lakeshores, with campers lighting fires, damaging trees and littering. A fifth of rangers’ time has been diverted away from vital conservation work to clean up after the fly-campers.

On a walk in North Yorkshire at the weekend I came across a dog poo plastic bag hanging on a branch at the entrance to a conservation area. What was going through the person’s head when he or she picked up the faeces, placed it in the bag but then thought it was acceptable to hang it on a tree and just leave it there? Did they think a more socially responsible person would collect it and dispose of it?

On a walk around a Lake District beauty spot, I spotted four face masks on the ground – carelessly dropped or just thrown to the floor?

At best this kind of behaviour is careless, lazy or thoughtless – at worst it is selfish.

I know there are far worse problems affecting society at the moment.

But perhaps an acid test before a person acts in such a way is for them to consider whether they would like to return to their home to find rubbish strewn outside their property and a dog poo bag hanging on a bush or lying on the ground.

Everyone has a free choice about how they behave.

Most people would just urge each other to think a little about the consequences for others before they act.