More on Litter Clean-Up

• Litter Reduction Checklist
• Trashy Numbers
• Litter Receptacles
• Pole Patrol
• Inland Waterway Clean-Up
• Great American Cleanup
• Getting Involved

Litter Clean-Up

Litter is an expensive problem. In Louisiana, state and local governments spend an estimated $15 million a year to clean up beer cans, cigarette butts and other litter. Why should we care? Litter can even be considered a sign of urban decline, inviting criminal activity into previously safe neighborhoods. Litter can leave a bad impression on visitors, discouraging new economic opportunities from investing in the city.

Shreveport Green works yearround to keep Shreveport clean hosting an average of 3-4 clean-ups a month in participating neighborhoods. The total amount of trash collected is astounding. Every spring our anti-litter campaign launches with the Great American Cleanup, sponsored by Keep America Beautiful, from the 1st of March to the end of May. During this 3 month litter focus, we not only have numerous clean-ups, but also target the educational and awareness aspect of litter.

Keep Louisiana Beautiful sponsors State-wide litter campaigns and offers mini-grants to help control litter.

Here are some interesting facts about litter:

Why Do People Litter?

Keep America Beautiful has determined that people litter because

• They feel no sense of ownership, even though areas such as parks and beaches are public property.
• They believe someone else-a park maintenance or highway worker- will pick up after them.
• Litter already has accumulated.

Keep America Beautiful teaches the following approach to community change:

• Education - in schools and in communities,
• Technology - equipment to measure and manage waste,
• Ordinances - laws which impact solid waste & litter management, and
• Enforcement - consistent, effective law and ordinance enforcement

Litter is an environmental priority because it:

• reduces the aesthetic appeal of public places including streets, parks and waterways
• can kill aquatic life directly (eg. through choking) and indirectly through its impacts on water quality
• can cause blockages of the drainage system and flooding (costing millions of dollars to repair)
• can be dangerous to people particularly when it involves items such as broken glass, needles and syringes
• may be a fire hazard (lit cigarettes being thrown from vehicles)
• costs the community huge sums of money to clean up every year
• can decrease oxygen levels when it decays in water.