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Layton Jenna Layton Instructor Maari Carter ENC 2135 10 February 2016 Every day we see someone throwing gum out of his or her car window, putting a cigarette out on the concrete, or leaving his or her McDonalds bag or cup next to a car in a parking lot. Littering starts and could potentially end with human behavior. One of the most profound facts about littering is that it seems to occur in every location along every social sector. In January of 2009, Action Research performed an experimental study that observed littering habits and behaviors in individuals. They observed nearly 10,000 randomly selected individuals from over 130 locations nationwide. (KAB 1) After studying people at a national level, who were from all walks of Earth and every environmental setting, these researchers were able to find some significant facts about littering. In fact, it was found that cigarette butts seem to be the most common form of litter found on the streets as this was reported, “in 106 of the 130 sites.� (KAB 2) This may not be a surprise, but it was also observed that about 81% of the time, the individual littered their cigarette butt purposefully without even considering putting it out anywhere else. Action Research also found that the younger population seemed to care much less about littering, as they are the main culprits of this crime. This implies that there is a lack of effort or education in these individuals when it comes to littering and how it affects our environment. This leads me to conclude that if these young adults are educated about the negative effects of littering then they might actually throw objects away in the correct disposal location. Another thing I found interesting is the locations of where littering
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most often occurs. One popular location known to be a victim of litter pollution was plants such as bushes and shrubbery. In fact, in 24 locations, it was found that another popular spot to throw trash wasn’t in the garbage bin, but littered next to it or near it. Overall, the most common form of littering is simply dropping an object on the ground with no care or thought of throwing it away appropriately. (KAB 15) After interviews, observations, self- reporting, and statistical gathering, the research suggested that littering was found nearly everywhere, nationwide. In order to make a difference, local organizations and individuals need to educate their communities about this topic. National research, like this study, allowed us to understand and see that change is most reliant upon local action. Just like Action Research, Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful found that young adults were most commonly guilty of littering. As stated in the website, “the most likely person to litter, regardless of race, income, and education level is a male between the ages of 18-25.” (Littering Facts & Figures) This statistic was further supported in an editorial titled 9 Interesting Facts and Statistics about Litter from Litter it Costs You. Written in November of 2013 by Luther King, this editorial reported that, “people who would deliberately litter are mainly those between the ages of 18-34 years old.” (King) The research from this study went on to further state, “A study in Tennessee also revealed that the older people get, the more likely they throw litter properly in a trash bin.” And that, “ Younger people tend to just neglect the effects of their actions and do things their way.” (King) These observations show that the majority of the population guilty of littering is the individuals who are between ages 18-35 as they seem to be naïve and don’t really understand what they are doing when they throw that piece of gum out of their car window or drop their candy wrapper wherever they please. I found these facts particularly surprising because I would have hypothesized that this population also had the most respect for nature. After discovering that young individuals were most often likely
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Layton to litter, I became curious about other research. Will it show the same resounding proof? What might cause a generation, which I thought had the most resources, education, and awareness about our environment, to litter? From my personal knowledge, it seems that we have been the most educated about “going green” and recycling a lot more in my generation compared to older generations. Yet research demonstrates my generation is disregarding this knowledge. If these people knew that, “1. 9 billion tons of litter ends up in the ocean every year.” (King) Would they reconsider their actions? What about the fact that, “This is more than the amount of trash generated every year, weighing up to 250 million tons.” (King) This sad truth is one of many that individuals do not know about. It is important to educate our people about littering and how this issue is so prevalent today. In fact, “11.5 billion dollars is spent every year in order to clean up litter.” (King)
Go to tab “” to hear about the positive news. More facts, can lead to solutions and new ideas will support a cleaner future. Talk about Seabin vvv http://www.slate.com/articles/video/video/2015/12/a_clever_new_automatic_ocean_trash_co llection_system_called_the_seabin_is.html Littering doesn’t just lie in the streets or get cleaned up by parking lot maintenance. According to a study performed by Queensland Government, Department of Environment and Heritage Department, nearly half of the litter found on their shoreline came from the land. Some trash had simply been left out on the beach to blow away into the ocean, but they also determined that much of the debris, originally as street litter, had been washed down to the seas
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from storm drains. (Beach and Ocean Litter) This also leads me to believe that population of fishermen, cargo ships, and recreational boaters must also generate their own share of litter. Imagine an ocean liner traveling from China carrying 50 containers that hold everything from clothing to electronics goes overboard or a fisherman whose lunch wrapper or Styrofoam worm container is blown into the water. What about all the other countless materials that sink quickly when dropped by a swimmer or boater? Some of these scenarios are not the intention of the classic litterer but nonetheless are caused by a careless approach to foreign materials colliding with our environment.
Tab “’ of wix: As much as the millennials seem to be part of the littering problem, millennials are inventing new ways to improve behavior and develop new receptacles to keep our land, beaches and oceans clean. For years, I participated in a National Go Green campaign and have helped to clean parks. Personally, I have felt a strong urge to connect with the environment by actively recycling at home or being conscience about the waste we generate as a family. In every community and in many businesses we see evidence that individuals are taking action to increase respect for our environment. Our politicians are talking about global warming, many of us drive fuel efficient or even electric cars, and with more subtlety, we organize beach and park clean ups. What are we doing about litterbugs though? Are there new solutions that will raise awareness and counteract the convenience of throwing cigarettes, plastic wrappers, fast food cups and other
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Layton garbage to the ground? What I found in my research are some ingenious new ideas to get at this problem and target the younger population.
In London, they are thinking outside the box with a fun approach to getting Cigarette butts in a box. In the photo to the left, smokers can cast a vote for the Best Player in the World by placing their butts in a box. Below, chewed gum is disposed of in holes that eventually create a picture message that educates passersby with statistics that help people to realize the impact of not disposing of gum the right way. (RESOURCE: These Brilliant Ideas Stop People from Littering, September 4th, 2015, Alexandria
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Littering is not all fun and games but disposing of trash in the right way can be and just might entice people, especially the young people, to think before they toss.
(RESOURCE: These Brilliant Ideas Stop People from Littering, September 4th, 2015, Alexandria)
“Daily Mail reported in December 2015, A pair of surfers from Perth, Australia, has inveted a “floating bin” (pictured) that automatically sucks rubbish floating on the water into it like a vacuum cleaner. Peter Ceglinski and Andrew Turton have spent four years developing the “Seabin” and said the device could spell the end of polluted seas.”
While there are clever new ways to encourage throwing things in the right receptacle, how much does litter prevention work? In a study performed by National Cooperative Highway Research,
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Layton titled Synthesis 394, Reducing Litter on Roadsides, the research studied the impact of solutions. The study made reference to several resources that all had similar observations. In fact, in 1980, Reiter and Samuel performed observations of the impact of signs that were both cooperative and threatening, for example, “Littering is against the Law.” What was discovered was that both signs reduced litter but one method of wording was not more effective than another. (Forbes, 1011) Confirming this finding, Durdan and colleagues evaluated different messages to measure the difference of which ones gained the most impact against litter. What they found was that all road signs helped to reduce litter but according to their findings, “the specificity of the prompt had no reliable effect on littering behaviors.” (Forbes, 11) “Daily Mail reported in December 2015, A pair of surfers from Perth, Australia, has inveted a “floating bin” (pictured) that automatically sucks rubbish floating on the water into it like a vacuum cleaner. Peter Ceglinski and Andrew Turton have spent four years developing the “Seabin” and said the device could spell the end of polluted seas.”
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Works Cited “Beach and Ocean Litter”. Department of Environment and Heritage Protection. Queensland Government, 2011. n. pag. Web. 5 February 2016. Forbes, Gerry J. NCHRP Synthesis 394 Reducing Litter on Roadsides a Synthesis of Highway Practice. Washington D.C. Transportation Research Board, 2009. Print. KeepAmericaBeautiful (KAB). Littering Behavior in America Results of a National Study 2009. 1-3. Print. King, Luther. “9 Interesting Facts and Statistics about Littering.” Litter it Costs you. 13 November 2013. n. pag. Web. 4 February 2016. “Littering Facts & Figures” Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful. Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful, 2011-2016. n. pag. Web. 3 February 2016.