Please name some practical solutions to combat littering.

[JohnPBailey]

Over the past 20 years while living in American cities like Citrus Heights, California, Boise, Idaho and Lawton/Fort Sill, Oklahoma, I have noticed a disturbing amount of trash covering residential streets, residential front yards, highways and parking lots. People pollute this way because they don't care, they are are lazy, they have no appreciation for cleanliness, there are no incentives to control litter and/or there are no consequences for littering. I don't think many parents teach children the value of good stewardship of the land. Litter is much more prevalent in low income areas than in rich communities. Do schools even teach children the value of not littering? 

Much littering occurs in close proximity to convenience stores and fast-food restaurants. These could be great places for concerned citizens on patrol with smartphones. 

 

What are some of your good ideas to seriously deter trashing of our landscape? 

 

I feel we need much tougher litter laws at federal, state and local levels with more severe penalties for littering. We also need bounty programs that would encourage citizens to report litterbugs into the authorties. Citizens, upon the conviction and fines collections from offenders, could get a kickback on some of the fine money as a reward for helping to bring convicted litterers to justice. Almost everybody nowadays carries a mobile phone with a camera. People have already effectively used phones to report people in public parks with unleashed dogs. Offering reward money to catch litterbugs would surely give people an incentive to report them in and actively be on watch for litterers so as to catch them in the act. 

Bounty money would follow litterers around wherever they go to pounce on them.  Penalties for offenders could include jail time, trash cleanup of streets, fines and public shaming. Billboards in cities could post pictures and names of persons caught littering such as the city hall or local post office. 

Singapore and Tokyo, Japan are some of the most litter-free parts of the world. What is their secret to making people actually give a hoot about not polluting? I think that when there are serious consequences, people actually care. I have not seen any anti-litter campaigns on television since about the 1990's. 

Edited December 16, 2022 by JohnPBailey

[exchemist]

33 minutes ago, JohnPBailey said:

Over the past 20 years while living in American cities like Citrus Heights, California, Boise, Idaho and Lawton/Fort Sill, Oklahoma, I have noticed a disturbing amount of trash covering residential streets, residential front yards, highways and parking lots. People pollute this way because they don't care, they are are lazy, they have no appreciation for cleanliness, there are no incentives to control litter and/or there are no consequences for littering. I don't think many parents teach children the value of good stewardship of the land. Litter is much more prevalent in low income areas than in rich communities. Do schools even teach children the value of not littering? 

Much littering occurs in close proximity to convenience stores and fast-food restaurants. These could be great places for concerned citizens on patrol with smartphones. 

 

What are some of your good ideas to seriously deter trashing of our landscape? 

 

I feel we need much tougher litter laws at federal, state and local levels with more severe penalties for littering. We also need bounty programs that would encourage citizens to report litterbugs into the authorties. Citizens, upon the conviction and fines collections from offenders, could get a kickback on some of the fine money as a reward for helping to bring convicted litterers to justice. Almost everybody nowadays carries a mobile phone with a camera. People have already effectively used phones to report people in public parks with unleashed dogs. Offering reward money to catch litterbugs would surely give people an incentive to report them in and actively be on watch for litterers so as to catch them in the act. 

Bounty money would follow litterers around wherever they go to pounce on them.  Penalties for offenders could include jail time, trash cleanup of streets, fines and public shaming. Billboards in cities could post pictures and names of persons caught littering such as the city hall or local post office. 

Singapore and Tokyo, Japan are some of the most litter-free parts of the world. What is their secret to making people actually give a hoot about not polluting? I think that when there are serious consequences, people actually care. I have not seen any anti-litter campaigns on television since about the 1990's. 

Provide plenty of litter bins, in the places where people need them, and keep them regularly emptied and looking clean.

Edited December 16, 2022 by exchemist

[StringJunky]

4 minutes ago, exchemist said:

Provide plenty of litter bins, in the places where people need them, and keep them regularly emptied and looking clean.

Or we could change the mindset and take it home

[Phi for All]

Lady Byrd Johnson used her platform as FLOTUS to support the Keep America Beautiful campaign back in the 60's, and that worked exceedingly well to place trash bins in many places, and more importantly call attention to the need to be responsible with our trash. That ad of the Native American crying at the pollution of the time had a real impact (I'm seriously not sure if I could ever throw trash on the ground to this day). So I would say do something similar but modern, like get all the social media influencers to help show that you have to be a moron to trash your own environment.

[exchemist]

3 minutes ago, StringJunky said:

Or we could change the mindset and take it home

Most people will use a bin if there is one handy that doesn’t look revolting. In nearly every location I have seen where is litter, there are no bins to be seen anywhere. 

The exception is deliberate fly-tipping of rubbish, which happens a lot. I suspect the solution there is surveillance cameras. 

[Sensei]

PET plastic bottles can be converted into filament for a 3D printer. i.e. from "trash" you can make something valuable, which can be used to produce anything you need at  house, or which you can sell and/or give away..

 

Quote

Please name some practical solutions to combat littering.

Littering is the result of having to pay to take trash out of the trashcan.. (and not enough trashcans everywhere, or not enough taken away regularly)

Conclusions?

If it is for free, then (at least ordinary) people will not litter in the woods, etc. places..

 

A few years ago, I came up with the idea of making automatic trash garbage cans (small, the one used in forest parks) that have wheels and detect how much trash they have inside. When they are full, they start moving to the garbage truck. Empty automatic trash cans come out from the garbage truck and replace them. They should have solar panels on them to have power.

 

 

5 minutes ago, exchemist said:

The exception is deliberate fly-tipping of rubbish, which happens a lot. I suspect the solution there is surveillance cameras. 

So you want China's route everywhere..

From drones and satellites too?

 

5 minutes ago, exchemist said:

The exception is deliberate fly-tipping of rubbish, which happens a lot.

Because people have to pay for it..

 

[geordief]

18 minutes ago, exchemist said:

Most people will use a bin if there is one handy that doesn’t look revolting. In nearly every location I have seen where is litter, there are no bins to be seen anywhere. 

The exception is deliberate fly-tipping of rubbish, which happens a lot. I suspect the solution there is surveillance cameras. 

Or going through the rubbish looking for evidence pointing to the identity of the culprit.That can be  satisfying.

This happened to a close friend who was very annoyed and wrote them a letter  to put her case but she ended up paying the fine (over a hundred  euros)

It wasn't fly tipping or casual littering  but putting the wrong kind of rubbish in the wrong place.

Edited December 16, 2022 by geordief

[studiot]

I can't agree with those who think enough people are public spirited enough to keep places basically litter free.

The issue has to be a mix of education and enforcement of both those who create unwanted items  (trash) and those who spread it.

Just go to any school in the UK and watch what happens at chucking out time.

Kids unwrapping someinthing and dropping wrappers immediately as they walk. No attempt to find a bin or store the 'trash' for later disposal.

Older people used to just flick cigarette butts, matches, vaping canisters anywhere along their path.

 

After I returned from a holiday a few years ago I remarked that I had spent a very pleasant day in Munich, and what a clean city it was.
I had only seen 3 pieces of litter the entire day in a city of 3 million people.

My friend said yes its clean because of the fines. Harry went out for the night, drank too much and was fined 50 marks (on the spot) for vomiting in a taxi.

[Phi for All]

1 hour ago, StringJunky said:

Or we could change the mindset and take it home

I think changing the mindset is crucial no matter what we decide to do. So much of the trash generated is convenience-oriented packaging that has to go from manufacturer to distributor to supplier to consumer, then sit on our shelves for a short amount of time. Nobody but the consumer is interested in making products last in the package once you've gotten it home and opened it (see any Ziplock bags inside a cereal box?). 

I reuse all good plastic and glass containers, over and over if I can. I have a whole collection downstairs that I use to store other stuff, mix a small amount of paint or oil in, fill with water to use as a weight, or any other job where you need a jug or can with a cap or lid. And I keep hoping the laws will change and I can start taking my old containers to fill them up with bulk rice or flour or sugar. 

Didn't I see a headline a while back about a bacteria that eats plastic and poops out something better for the environment? I'd seriously be willing to get rid of my back yard and turn it into a mulch for little plastic piranha bugs. I'm so sick of wasting resources on a lawn in a high altitude desert.

1 minute ago, studiot said:

I can't agree with those who think enough people are public spirited enough to keep places basically litter free.

The issue has to be a mix of education and enforcement of both those who create unwanted items  (trash) and those who spread it.

I agree, there's no single fix. It has to be a compound effort.

I'm sure the US campaign from the 60s was accompanied by stiff fines for littering, but the message got to me. My family was big on camping when I was growing up, and we always packed out our trash. Keep America Beautiful resonated with me, and as an adult, if there's no trash can I stuff my refuse in a pocket and throw it away later. I know if I toss something on the ground, I'm creating both an eyesore and extra work for someone. Taking care of my own litter taught me not to take my problems and make them other people's problems.

[mistermack]

15 minutes ago, studiot said:

I can't agree with those who think enough people are public spirited enough to keep places basically litter free.

!00% agreed. Public spirited people are already converted, but the people who litter generally don't give a toss about public spirit, and no amount of "education" will change them. 

On my first trip to Canada and the USA, back in 1970, I couldn't believe how litter free the place was, but then I saw the anti-littering signs, and the huge fines that applied to littering. It was immediately obvious why there was so little litter. And the cops were hot on enforcing it. In the uk, fines are paltry, and the cops don't really care. Hence, lots of litter.

[zapatos]

2 hours ago, JohnPBailey said:

People have already effectively used phones to report people in public parks with unleashed dogs. Offering reward money to catch litterbugs would surely give people an incentive to report them in and actively be on watch for litterers so as to catch them in the act. 

Can't say that I'm in favor of the Hitler Youth model of litter control. Do we really want the government turning citizens against each other for the righteous goal of nailing scofflaws who drop a gum wrapper in the parking lot?

[TheVat]

Where there's a culture of tidyness paired with a nature aesthetic, positive messaging seems better than the rather dystopian idea of litter vigilantes pouncing on every slob.  Instead of bounties on the heads of litter bugs, maybe a program that helps youth make a little fun money gathering litter.  

More foundational would be, as others note, ending single-use packaging and promoting refillable containers.  

 

1 minute ago, zapatos said:

Can't say that I'm in favor of the Hitler Youth model of litter control.

Well put.  

[zapatos]

Quote

Penalties for offenders could include jail time, trash cleanup of streets, fines and public shaming. Billboards in cities could post pictures and names of persons caught littering such as the city hall or local post office. 

Lock those children litterbugs in the stocks for a few hours and toss rotten vegetables at them. That will get them in line!!!

Edited December 16, 2022 by zapatos

[JohnPBailey]

I think the bounty method might be highly effective coupled by stiffer fines and penalties. People with portable telephones and cameras have a powerful weapon to catch slobs. Most littering tends to happen in poorer areas and poor people and older people on fixed incomes are always looking for an easy extra buck. It could be a lucrative hobby for private citizens to use modern tech to catch people doing bad things like trashing the environment and make an extra dollar at it to boot. Probably pays better than panning for gold or beach-combing with a metal detector. Wave a dollar bill in front of the ordinary people as the community's "litter police" and watch our neighborhoods get clean real fast.

[zapatos]

5 minutes ago, JohnPBailey said:

I think the bounty method might be highly effective coupled by stiffer fines and penalties. People with portable telephones and cameras have a powerful weapon to catch slobs. Most littering tends to happen in poorer areas and poor people and older people on fixed incomes are always looking for an easy extra buck. It could be a lucrative hobby for private citizens to use modern tech to catch people doing bad things like trashing the environment and make an extra dollar at it to boot. Probably pays better than panning for gold or beach-combing with a metal detector. Wave a dollar bill in front of the ordinary people as the community's "litter police" and watch our neighborhoods get clean real fast.

I'm sure you'd catch at least some of them. Can you imagine how clean the streets would be if you executed the offenders?

The ends don't always justify the means.

[iNow]

Instead of murdering offenders and converting impressionable young minds into future gestapo hacks, maybe address the root of the problem instead and improve packaging requirements to ensure biodegradability. 

[geordief]

46 minutes ago, iNow said:

Instead of murdering offenders and converting impressionable young minds into future gestapo hacks.....

What, no candy wrapper patrols  on the Big Rock Candy Mountain?

Edited December 17, 2022 by geordief

[Peterkin]

  Let people feel that the street belongs to them. Ban cars. Plant trees. Make it nice, so they want to be there.  

[Sensei]

5 hours ago, Peterkin said:

  Let people feel that the street belongs to them. Ban cars. Plant trees. Make it nice, so they want to be there.  

People bother about their own property - they would not allow littering on their own property - but if somebody does it on a 3rd party - whatever..

 

[studiot]

8 minutes ago, Sensei said:

People bother about their own property - they would not allow littering on their own property - but if somebody does it on a 3rd party - whatever..

 

But do they really ?

Then why do they just drop fag packets , wrappers etc as they are walking along ?

They own these things but they do not wnat them. But what they also do not want is to own the problem thay they not only own them bu they are responsible for them.

 

But I also missed out a factor in my previous post.

The poor or bad examples set by, leaders and other well respected members in the community.

This extends beyond litter but the real problem is the message being sent is that petty misdemeanous don't matter.

 

Ther are plenty who are not interested in either the carrot or the stick.

 

The motto of Peter Symond's School, Winchester is "Manners Maketh Man"

 

[Genady]

Good waste management services. Also, regulating packaging, single-use items, etc., i.e., what makes litter. 

People litter less in areas which are clean and more where it is already littered. But they will litter anyway.

[dimreepr]

12 hours ago, JohnPBailey said:

I think the bounty method might be highly effective coupled by stiffer fines and penalties. 

Is it better to pay people to clean up the rubbish or pay people to prosecute other people?

When we think critically, the answer is obvious:

1, we have less litter.

2, we have a combination of jobsworths and mini-hitter's, who love to wield power, and the corrupt, who will turn a blind eye for half the price; with no guarantee of less litter.

 

Another option is to have the equivalent of a swear jar, most people can get on board with that, for obvious reason's (which I'm happy to explain), which pays for the litter picker's; who would have less litter to pick, win win... 🖖

Edit, cross posted with Genady.

Edited December 17, 2022 by dimreepr

[mistermack]

1 hour ago, dimreepr said:

Is it better to pay people to clean up the rubbish or pay people to prosecute other people?

The problem is, if you keep cleaning up after habitual litterers, they will drop more and more litter. I would favour much bigger fines, because 1) They bloody well deserve it and 2) Because the kind of people who litter will only change if it costs them, and 3) It works.

Have big fines, and enforce it. But give the all of the fine money to a list of carefully chosen charities, like free school meals for all kids, and end of life care. That's what I'd do tomorrow, given the power.

[dimreepr]

2 minutes ago, mistermack said:

The problem is, if you keep cleaning up after habitual litterers, they will drop more and more litter. I would favour much bigger fines, because 1) They bloody well deserve it and 2) Because the kind of people who litter will only change if it costs them, and 3) It works.

Have big fines, and enforce it. But give the all of the fine money to a list of carefully chosen charities, like free school meals for all kids, and end of life care. That's what I'd do tomorrow, given the power.

Are you sure that you have thought about this properly???

Without the promise of power???

[mistermack]

15 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

Are you sure that you have thought about this properly???

Without the promise of power???

Yes. Power comes in degrees. If I had absolute power, they wouldn't just get a fine. 

I was following three school kids down the footpath last year, and one of them was a great big fat tub of lard, the other two normal build. The fattie was eating an ice-cream on a stick, and he just threw the wrapper straight down on the pavement. I felt like kicking his fat arse. Even one of the other two called him a name. Of course I didn't say or do anything, because I know it would be me who ended up in the shit if I did. 

If I was in real power, he would be in the stocks, and anyone who wanted to could kick his fat ass. Share the power.