I have been asked to research and prepare a litter reduction program for the Township and was hoping that someone could provide me with some information regarding what you are doing to promote litter reduction, what the basis was for your promotions, success level, and any other information that you are willing to share.
This is not only a work project - I am very passionate about reducing the amount of litter in my community and would love to see a change in peoples behavior. I have a 1.5 year old at home and think it would be great if litter was something that he was surprised to see as opposed to expected to see on the ground!
Darren Joseph
Engineering Technologist
Township of Langley
Canada
Litter Prevention Campaign
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Suggest you conduct cause analysis corrective actions first. Poor infrastructure can be a cause of ground litter, bins without lids (allowing wind blown litter or night time creatures to rummage through bin causing litter). Bin location and poor positioning can also be a cause for litter - if Councils and service providers locate rubbish bins to suite the convenience of service truck and not the public then you can have bins too far away for public use. Is there adequate anti litter signage in place and have the people beeen made aware of the consequences of their actions if they don't place rubbish into bins, etc. Do people know what the desired waste disposal practice is for your town? Are rubbish bins adequate in numbers and are they visual, are they appealing to the public (e.g bins designed to look like pelecans or seals work well at wharfs, etc). Are your public place bins under serviced, overflowing causing ground litter? Do you conduct regular community volunteer clean-ups (1 - 2 hrs) with a 'thank you' BBQ atferwards to create community awareness, ownership and responsibility. 90% of people want to do the right thing and I've always found that a litter problem is usually a combination of either poor education or awareness, lack of infrastructure or servicing. Like I said I strongly suggest that you conduct 'cause analysis' first,identify the 'type' of litter and how did it get there, then what is required to correct the situation and prevent recurrence? You may well have to treat each 'hot spot' individually and in so doing there may be a common thread or underlying cause. EDUCATION, AWARENESS, INFRASTRUCTURE, SERVICING, - check these areas first.
Heimo Schober
CEO
Keep Aust Beautiful Council (NT)
Australia
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Our local affiliate of Keep America Beautiful has recently created a litter reporting hotline for drivers. If someone sees a littering incident (cigarrettes, trash flung from a car window, etc) they can report it anonymously and the program will find the vehicle owner and send them a letter stating that they were observed illegally littering at x location at y time. The program also provides an item to help correct the problem, such as pocket ashtrays, or vehicles litter bags. Success has been great so far. You can see more here:
http://www.khcbonline.org/programs/#trash_trooper
j mcgee
Chief Environmental Scientist
Hillsborough County Specialized Services
United States
www.hillsborough.wateratlas.org