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Man and his dog, a cool story about an inspired trek to rid UK coasts of litter
“I’m using this personal adventure to do my part in cleaning up the country and promoting Keep Britain Tidy with the hope of empowering others not to drop litter and to add litter picking in their daily routine and lead by example.” Wayne Dixon
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(February 2, 2016) Wayne Dixon and his dog Koda will be setting off on an epic litter picking journey this month, walking the coast of Britain and litter-picking along the way. The adventure began February 1, with Wayne and Northern Inuit dog Koda leaving Knott-end-on-Sea, Lancashire.
The journey is planned to take around a year to complete, with Wayne taking a full rucksack of supplies, and camping along the way. Wayne, 44, from Lowergate, Clitheroe, is planning on not only litterpicking as he goes, but also holding litter picking events at beaches, villages and in towns and cities. The first litter picking clean-up took place Feb. 1 to celebrate the start of the mammoth walk. Wayne is asking for people to join him on the first three miles of his trek, along the sea front at Knott end. All litter collected is going to be recorded, so Wayne will know how many items have been picked up during the year. Wayne said: “I have always been concerned about Britain’s litter issue, and whilst training for my walk, I noticed quite a lot of litter, especially in beautiful places, so I started to pick the litter up. “I thought it would really frustrate me if I were to come across a lot of litter on my walk, so I came up with the idea of litter picking along the way. |
“Hopefully along the way I can encourage people to take part in litter picks and make a difference. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for some time and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.”
Wayne, along with his sidekick Koda, is fulfilling a lifelong ambition by walking around the Britain coast, has been inspired not only by Keep Britain Tidy and the Clean for The Queen campaign, but walking in memory of his late father, John, who passed away in 2012. Wayne and his dad did many long distance walks together, and had started to walk sections of the British coast a couple of years before John died. Wayne’s family and friends will be supporting him along the way, whilst Wayne is also raising money for the mental health charity Mind and the Northern Inuit Dog Rescue Society. And what is Wayne going to miss the most whilst away? “I’m going to miss my family and friends, my bed, a Sunday roast and BBC Radio 6!” Keep up to date with Wayne and Koda on social media. If anyone would like to sponsor Wayne on his adventure, click here. Source: Chartered Institution of Wastes Management, CIWM Journal Online |
Meet Heather Itzla
California mom a vanguard litter picker/photographer who's changing minds
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This picture of our daily rubbish should worry you
By TAN CHENG LI, Star2.com Throw it away. That’s what we do with all our unwanted stuff. The problem is, there is no “away”. This is the only planet we have, so all our garbage is still out there, somewhere, either buried in the ground or floating in rivers and seas. One homemaker wants to drive home this point, and she does it in an unconventional manner. Every day, when Heather Itzla walks her dogs in her neighbourhood in the town of San Anselmo, California, she picks up whatever litter seen along the way. She then spreads out the collected items, takes a photograph of them, and post it on her website. And that, is Itzla’s way of making the connection between our throwaway lifestyle and the world’s waste crisis. Sure, photos of garbage are commonplace but Itzla’s have struck a chord with many people as she takes pains to arrange the trash neatly, even creatively. “It makes the trash more relatable and impactful than seeing it in a nondescript pile,” she explains in an e-mail interview. |
The approach works – people can recognise the soiled plastic bag, yoghurt cup, plastic spoon, bag ties, Nutella jar, drinking straws and Lay’s bag as stuff which they use and dump daily. Her photos drive home the point: it’s our waste after all.
The anti-waste crusade started two and a half years ago when the 46-year-old mother of two teenage sons heard a talk on Plastic Seas by Captain Charles Moore, who first highlighted the enormous stretch of floating plastic debris in the sea now called the “Pacific garbage patch”. Suddenly, Itzla started noticing all the plastics that she had been using but not seeing in her neighbourhood some 30km north of San Francisco. When she uploaded her first image on Facebook, the intention was to be informative, to tell her neighbours and friends, “Look at all this plastic I found on my walk, can you believe it?” It drew favourable response and she has since turned into an anti-waste activitist, and founded a non-profit, There is No Away! (thereisnoaway.net) to highlight the issue of waste. Continue reading . . . |
Not a pretty sight . . .
BVI Beacon editorial says Virgin Islands' litter problem is out of control
(October 1, 2015) Every year, the International Coastal Cleanup should serve as a wake-up call for the Virgin Islands.
Unfortunately, when it comes to litter, the territory seems unwilling to open its eyes.
In 2014, 112 volunteers collected about 1,725 pounds of trash from the territory’s shorelines during the annual cleanup, according to the United States-based Ocean Conservancy, which spearheads the global exercise. This year’s volunteers likely will produce similar results when the effort wraps up on Monday.
Participants tend to be shocked by the amount of trash they find. So are we.
Litter is a major problem in the VI: It clutters roadsides; clogs drains and ghuts; mars the coasts; and washes into the ocean. For obvious reasons, this is bad news for residents and tourists alike. Though litter is a serious issue the world over, one need only to travel abroad to see that the VI is lagging behind when it comes to mitigation.
This is not to say that nothing is being done. Besides volunteer efforts, which are fairly common here, various measures are in place to clean the territory.
Every morning, for example, a veritable army of sanitation workers from the Department of Waste Management patrols the streets. Moreover, littering is punishable by fines, and the government’s Litter Warden programme is designed to help crack down on offenders. Education efforts also have been initiated at times.
But much more needs to be done.
We suspect that a big part of the problem is lax enforcement. Fines, for example, are rarely levied. Perhaps for this reason, many residents litter often. It is also common to see trash flying out the back of overfilled trucks.
Police and litter wardens alike should crack down, working together to ensure that offenders are fined. Meanwhile, aggressive education campaigns should spread the word that littering will not be tolerated here.
Leaders should also revisit the National Democratic Party’s 2011 campaign promise to establish an Anti-Litter and Beautification Commission.
But even with such steps, the government can’t do it alone. For other ideas, the territory might look to Bermuda, where a non-profit organisation called Keep Bermuda Beautiful has operated for more than 50 years.
Though the sister territory of about 65,000 people is by no means litter-free, it is much cleaner than the VI. The non-profit helps achieve that goal through several initiatives:
• monthly cleanups, which last year saw nearly 4,000 volunteers clean up 72,000 pounds of trash;
• an annual trash art show, similar to the Trash to Treasure contest the BVI Tourist Board has held occasionally in the past;
• an awards programme that recognises businesses and other organisations that help keep Bermuda clean; and
• various education efforts that involve residents and tourists alike, among many others.
Here in the VI, a similar non-profit organisation could do a world of good.
Ultimately, minimising litter will require a change of attitude at all levels of society. The entire community must understand that trashing the environment causes incalculable damage.
It’s time to take pride in the territory’s appearance.
Unfortunately, when it comes to litter, the territory seems unwilling to open its eyes.
In 2014, 112 volunteers collected about 1,725 pounds of trash from the territory’s shorelines during the annual cleanup, according to the United States-based Ocean Conservancy, which spearheads the global exercise. This year’s volunteers likely will produce similar results when the effort wraps up on Monday.
Participants tend to be shocked by the amount of trash they find. So are we.
Litter is a major problem in the VI: It clutters roadsides; clogs drains and ghuts; mars the coasts; and washes into the ocean. For obvious reasons, this is bad news for residents and tourists alike. Though litter is a serious issue the world over, one need only to travel abroad to see that the VI is lagging behind when it comes to mitigation.
This is not to say that nothing is being done. Besides volunteer efforts, which are fairly common here, various measures are in place to clean the territory.
Every morning, for example, a veritable army of sanitation workers from the Department of Waste Management patrols the streets. Moreover, littering is punishable by fines, and the government’s Litter Warden programme is designed to help crack down on offenders. Education efforts also have been initiated at times.
But much more needs to be done.
We suspect that a big part of the problem is lax enforcement. Fines, for example, are rarely levied. Perhaps for this reason, many residents litter often. It is also common to see trash flying out the back of overfilled trucks.
Police and litter wardens alike should crack down, working together to ensure that offenders are fined. Meanwhile, aggressive education campaigns should spread the word that littering will not be tolerated here.
Leaders should also revisit the National Democratic Party’s 2011 campaign promise to establish an Anti-Litter and Beautification Commission.
But even with such steps, the government can’t do it alone. For other ideas, the territory might look to Bermuda, where a non-profit organisation called Keep Bermuda Beautiful has operated for more than 50 years.
Though the sister territory of about 65,000 people is by no means litter-free, it is much cleaner than the VI. The non-profit helps achieve that goal through several initiatives:
• monthly cleanups, which last year saw nearly 4,000 volunteers clean up 72,000 pounds of trash;
• an annual trash art show, similar to the Trash to Treasure contest the BVI Tourist Board has held occasionally in the past;
• an awards programme that recognises businesses and other organisations that help keep Bermuda clean; and
• various education efforts that involve residents and tourists alike, among many others.
Here in the VI, a similar non-profit organisation could do a world of good.
Ultimately, minimising litter will require a change of attitude at all levels of society. The entire community must understand that trashing the environment causes incalculable damage.
It’s time to take pride in the territory’s appearance.
Awesome teacher!
Chop and kick for garbage, this teacher is a ‘litter warrior’
bY Darshana Ramdev, Deccan Chronicle
(July 20, 2015)
(July 20, 2015)
Bengaluru: He’s a martial arts expert by day and a civic warrior by night. Robin Raj, who has taken on the cause of garbage with all his guns blazing, is not satisfied with simply cleaning up a spot. Instead, he’s always on the lookout for the compulsive litterbugs, whether they’re the sort who throw a banana peel or a cigarette butt on the side of the road or leave bulging bags of rubbish in dumpyards of their own making. Today, all people have to do is call him and he will be there to solve their civic woes.
“I call the BBMP, have the place cleaned, put up my banners against littering, install lights if necessary and ensure that saplings are planted to prevent further dumping,” said Raj, who also works as a bouncer at a star hotel in the city. “When I’m on my way home to Kammanahalli in the nights, I keep a lookout for trouble spots,” said Raj. “Even if I see someone throw something out of a bus, I make it a point to pick up the litter, follow them and point out the error of their ways in public.”
Social work has always been part of Raj’s life. In 2000, he contested the BBMP elections and that’s when things were set into motion. “I was doing a lot for poor children and even adults, but it wasn’t anything official. Nobody really recognised my work,” said Raj. “My martial arts master visited from Korea in 2008 and he told me to start a trust. At that point, I didn’t know the first thing about it.” WeCan Trust was formed five years ago . . . CONTINUE READING_
“I call the BBMP, have the place cleaned, put up my banners against littering, install lights if necessary and ensure that saplings are planted to prevent further dumping,” said Raj, who also works as a bouncer at a star hotel in the city. “When I’m on my way home to Kammanahalli in the nights, I keep a lookout for trouble spots,” said Raj. “Even if I see someone throw something out of a bus, I make it a point to pick up the litter, follow them and point out the error of their ways in public.”
Social work has always been part of Raj’s life. In 2000, he contested the BBMP elections and that’s when things were set into motion. “I was doing a lot for poor children and even adults, but it wasn’t anything official. Nobody really recognised my work,” said Raj. “My martial arts master visited from Korea in 2008 and he told me to start a trust. At that point, I didn’t know the first thing about it.” WeCan Trust was formed five years ago . . . CONTINUE READING_
Discover the secret!
There's a place that's litter-free on this planet
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BADIN: Over 50 per cent of Sindh’s population lives in rural areas, where villages have traditionally been neglected by successive governments and the bureaucracy altogether. Most have no infrastructure, lack any concept of hygiene standards and are often disregarded entirely by the politicians until it is time for election campaigning.
The Fatu Dedo village in Badin district, however, stands out. Not only are its unpaved streets spectacularly clean, you dare not litter them for you will be penalised by the village authority. The underground sanitation, paid for and constructed by the community itself, has put an end to the practice of open defecation. Youth volunteers patrol the village and anyone found doing their business in the open is penalised and the misconduct brought into the notice of the village authority.
“We have made our own rules and penalise the offenders,” said Yousaf Dedo, a villager who works as community resource person (CRP). The village is located around 15 kilometres from Badin town and comprises 84 households with a population of 400 people.
The residents have formed village-based organisations in each para (mohalla) that meet once every fortnight at the village centre. “We impose a Rs10 fine on anyone found littering the street,” explained Dedo. “The same penalty is imposed on anyone found to be defecating in the open.” He added that the amount of fine is raised manifold if the violator does not pay the fine on time. “The villagers socially boycott the repeat offenders. They are not invited to any social events or community programmes,” he said.
A survey of the village revealed that its residents were happy with the system. They were no longer haunted by life-threatening diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid. “In the past, most villagers, especially the children were highly susceptible to various diseases,” said Moomal Dedo, an elderly woman who heads one of the muhalla committees. “There has been a significant change in the disease patterns after we implemented the sanitation system.” The villagers, under the guidance of the National Rural Support Programme (NSRP), built an underground sewerage network and latrines. Perhaps the biggest marker of their success is that adjacent villages have started adopting the system too.
According to NRSP officials, the Fatu Dedo village falls under the jurisdiction of Abdul Shah union council, where around 85 per cent of the villages have become ‘open defecation free’ (ODF). “This will be the first UC in Pakistan to be declared ODF free soon. The interesting element is that the people in almost all these villages have achieved this through their own initiatives” said the NRSP programme manager.
Each household contributes Rs20 every month for the upkeep of the sewerage network. The amount is paid to the relevant mohalla committee that deposits the same in a bank. The money is also used to give loans to villagers without any interest. “In most cases, we give loans to people to purchase goats and buffalos,” a villager, Moosa Dedo explained.
A long way to go
Once a Pakistan Peoples Party-dominated area, the villagers have now become disillusioned with the party. They complain that after the elections, not one elected representative had bothered to visit them. So they decided to take matters into their own hands and develop the village for their own good.
But the village still has a long way to go. None of the women are educated. Only one girl has completed her primary schooling. The most qualified person in the village is Yusuf Dedo, who has completed his Intermediate education (FSc).
Things are slowly progressing though. A primary school now caters to over 100 boys and girls. The school had earlier lacked water and sanitation facilities, but the NSRP built a latrine and donated a potable water filtration system. The simple improvements increased the enrolment from 50 to 100 students.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 10th, 2015.
The Fatu Dedo village in Badin district, however, stands out. Not only are its unpaved streets spectacularly clean, you dare not litter them for you will be penalised by the village authority. The underground sanitation, paid for and constructed by the community itself, has put an end to the practice of open defecation. Youth volunteers patrol the village and anyone found doing their business in the open is penalised and the misconduct brought into the notice of the village authority.
“We have made our own rules and penalise the offenders,” said Yousaf Dedo, a villager who works as community resource person (CRP). The village is located around 15 kilometres from Badin town and comprises 84 households with a population of 400 people.
The residents have formed village-based organisations in each para (mohalla) that meet once every fortnight at the village centre. “We impose a Rs10 fine on anyone found littering the street,” explained Dedo. “The same penalty is imposed on anyone found to be defecating in the open.” He added that the amount of fine is raised manifold if the violator does not pay the fine on time. “The villagers socially boycott the repeat offenders. They are not invited to any social events or community programmes,” he said.
A survey of the village revealed that its residents were happy with the system. They were no longer haunted by life-threatening diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid. “In the past, most villagers, especially the children were highly susceptible to various diseases,” said Moomal Dedo, an elderly woman who heads one of the muhalla committees. “There has been a significant change in the disease patterns after we implemented the sanitation system.” The villagers, under the guidance of the National Rural Support Programme (NSRP), built an underground sewerage network and latrines. Perhaps the biggest marker of their success is that adjacent villages have started adopting the system too.
According to NRSP officials, the Fatu Dedo village falls under the jurisdiction of Abdul Shah union council, where around 85 per cent of the villages have become ‘open defecation free’ (ODF). “This will be the first UC in Pakistan to be declared ODF free soon. The interesting element is that the people in almost all these villages have achieved this through their own initiatives” said the NRSP programme manager.
Each household contributes Rs20 every month for the upkeep of the sewerage network. The amount is paid to the relevant mohalla committee that deposits the same in a bank. The money is also used to give loans to villagers without any interest. “In most cases, we give loans to people to purchase goats and buffalos,” a villager, Moosa Dedo explained.
A long way to go
Once a Pakistan Peoples Party-dominated area, the villagers have now become disillusioned with the party. They complain that after the elections, not one elected representative had bothered to visit them. So they decided to take matters into their own hands and develop the village for their own good.
But the village still has a long way to go. None of the women are educated. Only one girl has completed her primary schooling. The most qualified person in the village is Yusuf Dedo, who has completed his Intermediate education (FSc).
Things are slowly progressing though. A primary school now caters to over 100 boys and girls. The school had earlier lacked water and sanitation facilities, but the NSRP built a latrine and donated a potable water filtration system. The simple improvements increased the enrolment from 50 to 100 students.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 10th, 2015.
A sight you don't want to see at your zoo:
Plastic bottles strewn around in animal enclosures
Littering continues unabated at Nehru Zoological Park
It is a matter of fact that litter is the result of individual behaviour—choosing to litter or being careless in the handling of waste. Despite various initiatives by the zoo authorities and numerous NGOs stepping in to reduce littering at Nehru Zoological Park, the scenario continues to remain the same or even worse.
On Friday, a white tiger was spotted eating a plastic bottle. The animal had found the bottle in its enclosure. There are many more bottles lying in its premises. According to P Mallikarjuna Rao, director of Nehru Zoological Park, “The high influx of visitors to the zoo has been the reason for accumulating trash at the zoo premises. We have increased the garbage collection course to multiple times a day.”
It is a matter of fact that litter is the result of individual behaviour—choosing to litter or being careless in the handling of waste. Despite various initiatives by the zoo authorities and numerous NGOs stepping in to reduce littering at Nehru Zoological Park, the scenario continues to remain the same or even worse.
On Friday, a white tiger was spotted eating a plastic bottle. The animal had found the bottle in its enclosure. There are many more bottles lying in its premises. According to P Mallikarjuna Rao, director of Nehru Zoological Park, “The high influx of visitors to the zoo has been the reason for accumulating trash at the zoo premises. We have increased the garbage collection course to multiple times a day.”
Earlier the zoo had taken several steps to reduce littering. The initiatives included, banning polythene bags in the zoo, and visitors being provided jute bags while entering the zoo. On heavy rush days, more staff were deployed to keep the enclosures clean. Every evening from 5.30pm to 8pm, the trash bins were emptied. Over 75 additional garbage bins were also placed at several parts of the zoo.
Apart from these, zoo orientation was held at the mini auditorium, where the visitors were made aware of the ethics at the zoo. According to a spokesperson from Nehru Zoo Park, “We have been trying to spread awareness on the same subject, so that public do not litter. There is an eight minute film we show to the public but these efforts remain futile. We have been allowing people to carry food from their houses. The entrance fee being very nominal, many come to zoo and we do understand that many people cannot afford the rates at the cafeteria. And so we let them carry lunch boxes and now we are too ahead to change any existing rules.”
But none of these have delivered any positive results.
Littering in areas like zoo can have severe impacts. Elk and deer die in their attempts to eat plastic grocery bags left to blow away in the wind. Eating plastic bottles is also severely harmful, can puncture various internal organs. Litter also poses a threat to the health of the animals as it is often a breeding place for many types of bacteria.
Several NGOs have been taking part in extending their help to the authorities combat these issues.
“We have been trying to educate and spread awareness to the visitors of the zoo. The main issue we know is the sightseers buying popcorns and littering at the zoo premises, which can be dangerous for the animals,” shared Nihar Parulekar, the founder of Animal Rehabilitation and Protection Front. A clean community, by contrast, can discourage littering and improve community appearance and quality of life.
Source: www.thehansofindia.com
Apart from these, zoo orientation was held at the mini auditorium, where the visitors were made aware of the ethics at the zoo. According to a spokesperson from Nehru Zoo Park, “We have been trying to spread awareness on the same subject, so that public do not litter. There is an eight minute film we show to the public but these efforts remain futile. We have been allowing people to carry food from their houses. The entrance fee being very nominal, many come to zoo and we do understand that many people cannot afford the rates at the cafeteria. And so we let them carry lunch boxes and now we are too ahead to change any existing rules.”
But none of these have delivered any positive results.
Littering in areas like zoo can have severe impacts. Elk and deer die in their attempts to eat plastic grocery bags left to blow away in the wind. Eating plastic bottles is also severely harmful, can puncture various internal organs. Litter also poses a threat to the health of the animals as it is often a breeding place for many types of bacteria.
Several NGOs have been taking part in extending their help to the authorities combat these issues.
“We have been trying to educate and spread awareness to the visitors of the zoo. The main issue we know is the sightseers buying popcorns and littering at the zoo premises, which can be dangerous for the animals,” shared Nihar Parulekar, the founder of Animal Rehabilitation and Protection Front. A clean community, by contrast, can discourage littering and improve community appearance and quality of life.
Source: www.thehansofindia.com
The Birth of Anti-Litter campaigns in Britain
(May 24, 2014) Responses to the perceived decline in the quality of life in the countryside effectively began when local branches of the Women’s Institute became active in supporting anti-litter initiatives using propaganda to organise their campaigns (which usually coincided with public holidays). As voluntary initiatives, however, their success was inherently limited. For example, the failure of one campaign in 1930 to target cars and coaches in the New Forest was evident when motor-coach passengers blatantly ignored the exhortations to keep the countryside tidy as they threw litter from their windows. The relative lack of success achieved by these campaigns was mirrored in the pre-war period by the failure of the anti-litter campaign to capture the imagination of either central or local government in Britain.
Sometime later – after the war years and the familiarity of efficiency drives in the national interest – national anti-litter campaigns emerged first for the Festival of Britain in 1951, when the phrase ‘Keep Britain Tidy’ was adopted, and thereafter for the Coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953. At their AGM in 1954, the National Federation of Women’s Institutes reasserted their intention to raise the national consciousness on the matter of litter and voted to ‘inaugurate a campaign to preserve the countryside against desecration by litter of all kinds’ and the Keep Britain Tidy Group was formed. Continue reading ... Source: AHRB Centre for Environmental History
Sometime later – after the war years and the familiarity of efficiency drives in the national interest – national anti-litter campaigns emerged first for the Festival of Britain in 1951, when the phrase ‘Keep Britain Tidy’ was adopted, and thereafter for the Coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953. At their AGM in 1954, the National Federation of Women’s Institutes reasserted their intention to raise the national consciousness on the matter of litter and voted to ‘inaugurate a campaign to preserve the countryside against desecration by litter of all kinds’ and the Keep Britain Tidy Group was formed. Continue reading ... Source: AHRB Centre for Environmental History
Florida Department of Transportation drives message home
New roadside litter prevention education media campaign aimed at motorists 18 to 35
(May 1, 2014) Tallahassee, FL —The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) unveiled the state’s official Roadside Litter Prevention Education (RLPE) Media Campaign, which aims to reduce the incidence of littering on Florida highways, promote pride in the beauty of Florida’s landscapes and educate Florida motorists about the dangers and hazards of roadside litter. This new campaign was officially unveiled April 25 in the State Capitol Courtyard, with a host of athletes and partners.
Built around the theme, “DRIVE IT HOME . . . KEEP OUR PARADISE LITTER-FREESM,” the campaign enlists professional and amateur athletes from a variety of sports, who will appear in television and radio public service announcements, on print ads, outdoor billboards and in public appearances. Participating in the unveiling were professional football players representing all three of the National Football League franchises in Florida: Johnathan Cyprien, Safety, Jacksonville Jaguars; Brian Hartline, Wide Receiver, Miami Dolphins; and Mike James, Running Back, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In addition, NASCAR Racer Scott Lagasse Jr., and PGA Tour Champion, Kenny Knox have also signed on with the campaign’s initiative and took part in the opening ceremonial event.
“Florida is an exceptionally beautiful part of our country, but that beauty is marred by thoughtless and careless highway littering. We intend to change that with the DRIVE IT HOME . . . KEEP OUR PARADISE LITTER-FREESM campaign,” said Ananth Prasad, P.E., Secretary of FDOT. “Sports figures are influential role models. We hope, through this campaign, to use their influence to reduce highway littering.”
Prasad was joined by Dr. John H. Armstrong, Surgeon General and Herschel T. Vinyard Jr., Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and David Hawk, Chief Operating office for the Federal Highway Administration.
“Litter diminishes the aesthetics of the streets, roads and highways throughout the State of Florida,” added Tim Lattner, P.E., Director of Maintenance and the Chair of the FDOTeam Litter Prevention Education Committee. “It is not only distracting to the public, but it adversely affects the safety of drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists, as well. We look forward to making a difference.”
Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera read a proclamation declaring it Florida’s “Drive It Home, Keep Our Paradise Litter-Free” Day.
“Florida is a beautiful state and this campaign will just strengthen our efforts to keep our paradise litter-free,” said Lieutenant Governor Lopez-Cantera. “Let’s continue to ‘drive our litter home’ and keep Florida’s roads clean.”
Although people think of litter as someone else’s problem, in fact, two in five Americans admit to littering in the past month. In additional, half of all littering is unintentional, as in unsecured trash flying out of truck beds. Nationally, more than 25,000 accidents are caused by vehicle-related road debris each year in the U.S.
Litter takes a variety of forms, the three top items littered, according to a University of Florida poll are paper (22%), cigarette butts (18%), and fast food waste (6%).
The three-year campaign will seek to educate Floridians and visitors on litter issues and change their behavior by leveraging the influence of athletes portrayed in high-visibility multi-media campaign with television, radio and outdoor advertising components, as well as community events. The primary audience focus for the campaign will include driving motorists between the ages of 15 – 35.
The DRIVE IT HOME . . . KEEP OUR PARADISE LITTER-FREEsm campaign will encourage Floridians to:
The three-year, state-funded campaign is a collaborative effort led by Sonshine Communications.
Built around the theme, “DRIVE IT HOME . . . KEEP OUR PARADISE LITTER-FREESM,” the campaign enlists professional and amateur athletes from a variety of sports, who will appear in television and radio public service announcements, on print ads, outdoor billboards and in public appearances. Participating in the unveiling were professional football players representing all three of the National Football League franchises in Florida: Johnathan Cyprien, Safety, Jacksonville Jaguars; Brian Hartline, Wide Receiver, Miami Dolphins; and Mike James, Running Back, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In addition, NASCAR Racer Scott Lagasse Jr., and PGA Tour Champion, Kenny Knox have also signed on with the campaign’s initiative and took part in the opening ceremonial event.
“Florida is an exceptionally beautiful part of our country, but that beauty is marred by thoughtless and careless highway littering. We intend to change that with the DRIVE IT HOME . . . KEEP OUR PARADISE LITTER-FREESM campaign,” said Ananth Prasad, P.E., Secretary of FDOT. “Sports figures are influential role models. We hope, through this campaign, to use their influence to reduce highway littering.”
Prasad was joined by Dr. John H. Armstrong, Surgeon General and Herschel T. Vinyard Jr., Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and David Hawk, Chief Operating office for the Federal Highway Administration.
“Litter diminishes the aesthetics of the streets, roads and highways throughout the State of Florida,” added Tim Lattner, P.E., Director of Maintenance and the Chair of the FDOTeam Litter Prevention Education Committee. “It is not only distracting to the public, but it adversely affects the safety of drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists, as well. We look forward to making a difference.”
Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera read a proclamation declaring it Florida’s “Drive It Home, Keep Our Paradise Litter-Free” Day.
“Florida is a beautiful state and this campaign will just strengthen our efforts to keep our paradise litter-free,” said Lieutenant Governor Lopez-Cantera. “Let’s continue to ‘drive our litter home’ and keep Florida’s roads clean.”
Although people think of litter as someone else’s problem, in fact, two in five Americans admit to littering in the past month. In additional, half of all littering is unintentional, as in unsecured trash flying out of truck beds. Nationally, more than 25,000 accidents are caused by vehicle-related road debris each year in the U.S.
Litter takes a variety of forms, the three top items littered, according to a University of Florida poll are paper (22%), cigarette butts (18%), and fast food waste (6%).
The three-year campaign will seek to educate Floridians and visitors on litter issues and change their behavior by leveraging the influence of athletes portrayed in high-visibility multi-media campaign with television, radio and outdoor advertising components, as well as community events. The primary audience focus for the campaign will include driving motorists between the ages of 15 – 35.
The DRIVE IT HOME . . . KEEP OUR PARADISE LITTER-FREEsm campaign will encourage Floridians to:
- Set an example and dispose of trash in proper receptacles;
- Carry a litter bag in their cars;
- Never throw anything out of a car window;
- Ensure that trash receptacles are properly covered when placed outside for garbage collection;
- Secure their loads when they carry trash or loose items on top of their vehicles; and
- Embrace small changes, such as picking up one piece of litter a day.
The three-year, state-funded campaign is a collaborative effort led by Sonshine Communications.
Singing Singapore's praises: Always seeking solutions to stem litter's tide
By Woo Sian Boon
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SINGAPORE — (March 17, 2014) The authorities are looking to form a volunteer corps of individuals who will be empowered to fine offenders who litter, spit, urinate and smoke in prohibited places.
Initially envisioned as an anti-litter volunteer corps — trained and given the same warrant cards as enforcement officers from the National Environment Agency (NEA) — by Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan last year, the scheme could now be expanded to include other public health offences. This comes after the NEA received feedback from volunteers under a programme targeting litter, as well as from other members of the public, that they are keen to do more than just engage litterbugs. Under the Community Volunteer Programme, the NEA currently trains and issues authority cards to members of civic groups. It empowers the volunteers to ask litterbugs to pick up after themselves, but should they not comply, the volunteers can only take down the offenders’ particulars, to be handed over to the NEA. The NEA will then investigate the cases before prosecuting the offenders. Responding to TODAY’s queries, the NEA said it is exploring the feasibility of recruiting voluntary enforcement officers, and will announce more details when the scheme is firmed up. The NEA’s move to encourage a greater ground-up movement against littering comes as the number of tickets issued for littering rose to 9,346 last year, a 14-per cent increase compared to the 8,195 cases in 2012. Since May, the agency has also increased its enforcement hours against littering and smoking from 24,000 to 35,000 man-hours per month. Since the Community Volunteer Programme was launched in late 2012, 153 volunteers from five non-governmental organisations like the Public Hygiene Council, Waterways Watch Society and Cat Welfare Society have been trained and authorised to take down the particulars of litterbugs. |
The NEA said it welcomes more members of the public to come forward as volunteers.
To date, they have engaged more than 500 litterbugs, with the large majority cooperating and binning their litter when approached. The one exception — a repeat littering offender, according to the NEA — was caught smoking and throwing away his cigarette butt in a non-smoking zone. The litterbug was fined S$500 and made to serve a Corrective Work Order of three hours.Volunteers TODAY spoke to said that offenders would usually comply with their requests to pick up their litter without the need for them to whip out their authority cards. The goal is not just to book offenders, but give them a chance to correct their behaviour in the hope they will choose not to litter in future, said Ms Margaret Heng, 52, a volunteer with the Public Hygiene Council. “The fact that they are willing to pick it up means they know that it’s wrong and they can be changed. And we would like to convert them. If everyone plays their part in keeping the environment clean, then everybody will get to enjoy it more,” she said. Mr Liak Teng Lit, who heads the Keep Singapore Clean Movement, said he ultimately hopes for a culture in which all Singaporeans — authorised or not — will remind each other not to litter. He said: “In Japan, for example, if you litter, almost definitely someone next to you is going to tell you off. In Singapore, this is not so common. “I hope the day will come when, if anybody litters, somebody on the side will just remind them: Please don’t do it.” Source: www.todayonline.com |
EU committee recommends far-reaching clamp down on wasteful plastic carrier bags
EU states would have to reduce the consumption of most common and polluting plastic bags by 80% by 2019, under draft rules backed by the Environment Committee on 10 March. To this end, Members of European Parliament (MEPs) recommend using economic instruments such as taxes and levies, marketing restrictions or bans. Plastic carrier bag litter is a major environmental concern, known to affect water bodies and aquatic eco-systems in particular.
MEPs have voted for EU legislation that would deliver a significant and swift reduction in single-use plastic bags. As front-running countries in the EU and beyond have demonstrated, dramatically reducing the consumption of these plastic bags is easily achievable with a coherent policy. Swiftly phasing-out these bags is a very low-hanging fruit on the list of solutions to the pervasive problem of plastic waste in the environment, said lead MEP Margrete Auken (Greens/EFA, DK), whose report was approved by 44 votes to 10, with 6 abstentions. The text will be put to a vote at the 14-17 April plenary session in Strasbourg.
MEPs also supported provisions to ensure mandatory pricing of plastic bags in the food sector, as well as a strong recommendation to do so in the non-food sector, too. Putting a price on single-use bags is a proven and highly effective policy tool for reducing their excessive consumption,” she added.
50% reduction by 2017, 80% by 2019
MEPs say that lightweight plastic bags with a thickness below 50 microns, which represent the vast majority of plastic carrier bags consumed in the Union, are less reusable than thicker models and become waste more quickly. They are also more prone to littering and to end up scattered in the environment. Member states would have to reduce their consumption by at least 50% by 2017 and by 80% two years later. They should take measures, such as taxes, levies, marketing restrictions or bans, to ensure that shops do not provide for plastic bags free of charge, except for very light ones, used to wrap loose foods such as raw meat, fish and dairy products.
Plastic bags used to wrap foods such as fruits, vegetables and confectionery would be replaced by 2019 by carrier bags made of recycled paper or biodegradable and compostable bags. Requirements concerning compostable and biodegradable packaging should be amended, MEPs say.
In 2010 every EU citizen used an estimated 198 plastic carrier bags, some 90% of which were lightweight; these are less frequently re-used than thicker bags and more prone to littering. In a business-as-usual scenario, consumption of plastic bags is expected to increase further. Estimates also suggest that in 2010, more than 8 billion plastic carrier bags became litter in the EU. Source: EU Reporter
MEPs have voted for EU legislation that would deliver a significant and swift reduction in single-use plastic bags. As front-running countries in the EU and beyond have demonstrated, dramatically reducing the consumption of these plastic bags is easily achievable with a coherent policy. Swiftly phasing-out these bags is a very low-hanging fruit on the list of solutions to the pervasive problem of plastic waste in the environment, said lead MEP Margrete Auken (Greens/EFA, DK), whose report was approved by 44 votes to 10, with 6 abstentions. The text will be put to a vote at the 14-17 April plenary session in Strasbourg.
MEPs also supported provisions to ensure mandatory pricing of plastic bags in the food sector, as well as a strong recommendation to do so in the non-food sector, too. Putting a price on single-use bags is a proven and highly effective policy tool for reducing their excessive consumption,” she added.
50% reduction by 2017, 80% by 2019
MEPs say that lightweight plastic bags with a thickness below 50 microns, which represent the vast majority of plastic carrier bags consumed in the Union, are less reusable than thicker models and become waste more quickly. They are also more prone to littering and to end up scattered in the environment. Member states would have to reduce their consumption by at least 50% by 2017 and by 80% two years later. They should take measures, such as taxes, levies, marketing restrictions or bans, to ensure that shops do not provide for plastic bags free of charge, except for very light ones, used to wrap loose foods such as raw meat, fish and dairy products.
Plastic bags used to wrap foods such as fruits, vegetables and confectionery would be replaced by 2019 by carrier bags made of recycled paper or biodegradable and compostable bags. Requirements concerning compostable and biodegradable packaging should be amended, MEPs say.
In 2010 every EU citizen used an estimated 198 plastic carrier bags, some 90% of which were lightweight; these are less frequently re-used than thicker bags and more prone to littering. In a business-as-usual scenario, consumption of plastic bags is expected to increase further. Estimates also suggest that in 2010, more than 8 billion plastic carrier bags became litter in the EU. Source: EU Reporter
Tackle root causes to stop littering: This corporate executive truly gets it!
By Stan Moore, CEO, The National Packaging Covenant Industry Association (NPCIA.org.au)
(March 1, 2014) EVERY year the City of Greater Bendigo council calls on
Bendigo residents to join Clean Up Australia Day.
Last year more
than half a million volunteers around the country removed just over 16,000
tonnes of rubbish, which is a formidable achievement. Bendigo residents should
be proud of their contribution.
As an organization focused on minimizing the impact on the environment, the National Packaging Covenant Industry Association is participating. We have also encouraged our member companies to take part.
But while cleaning up after litterers is a noble and necessary cause, we believe it should be more than just a one-day event. It should be considered the right thing to do every day.
Instead of just one-off events we need to find more long-term solutions to the littering problem. We need to fight littering by changing behaviours and prevent litter happening in the first place by tackling the causes.
The NPCIA's National Litter Action Plan has been developed to do this. By providing the right infrastructure so residents can deposit their litter, by making it unacceptable in society to litter and by taking action against those who still chose to litter, we can have a lasting impact.
In contrast, cleaning up after litterers in problem-solving terms is an "end of pipe" solution. And other solutions put forward, such as the Container Deposit Levy, will make people feel it's all right to litter because someone else will be motivated to pick it up and collect the deposit.
Clean Up Australia Day should be applauded for the impact it has had and we are pleased to be part of it again this year.
But as a country we need to look at the litter plans and the commitments already in effect that will prevent litter happening in the first place.
Source: Letter to the Editor from the Bendigo Advertiser
As an organization focused on minimizing the impact on the environment, the National Packaging Covenant Industry Association is participating. We have also encouraged our member companies to take part.
But while cleaning up after litterers is a noble and necessary cause, we believe it should be more than just a one-day event. It should be considered the right thing to do every day.
Instead of just one-off events we need to find more long-term solutions to the littering problem. We need to fight littering by changing behaviours and prevent litter happening in the first place by tackling the causes.
The NPCIA's National Litter Action Plan has been developed to do this. By providing the right infrastructure so residents can deposit their litter, by making it unacceptable in society to litter and by taking action against those who still chose to litter, we can have a lasting impact.
In contrast, cleaning up after litterers in problem-solving terms is an "end of pipe" solution. And other solutions put forward, such as the Container Deposit Levy, will make people feel it's all right to litter because someone else will be motivated to pick it up and collect the deposit.
Clean Up Australia Day should be applauded for the impact it has had and we are pleased to be part of it again this year.
But as a country we need to look at the litter plans and the commitments already in effect that will prevent litter happening in the first place.
Source: Letter to the Editor from the Bendigo Advertiser
Activist takes on drug giant over littering in television ad*
*Editor's Note: Canadian Advertising Standards Council responds: "No one is arguing with you." ~ Linda Nagel, President & CEO, February 27, 2014
TORONTO (January 29, 2014) – Toronto litter prevention expert Sheila White is taking on big guns Pfizer and Young & Rubicam over a national television advertising campaign in Canada that portrays a woman littering.
White, founder of litterpreventionprogram.com, has complained to the giant Pfizer pharmaceutical company about its television commercial for nicotine replacement therapies, running until March in both English- and French-Canadian markets.
It features a female smoker returning to the high school where she first started smoking cigarettes. At the end, she stubs her cigarette butt on the steps of the school. White wants that image of littering altered and replaced, or the ad substituted or pulled. The company says that’s not going to happen.
“Littering is unlawful in every jurisdiction in Canada,” White says. “This commercial showing a woman smoking on school property, littering her cigarette butt and leaving a black char mark on the stair conveys that such behaviour is appropriate and acceptable when all evidence says it is neither. Ads like these contribute to the problem we face as educators in litter prevention.”
White says creators of the ad at Young & Rubicam could easily have instructed the actor to extinguish the cigarette end in a pocket ashtray or street receptacle. She is frustrated that the ad will continue to run without changes.
“We want the message to be, ‘if you can’t quit smoking at least quit littering’,” White said. “Litter is a huge environmental problem that deserves some respect and attention from big-moneyed advertisers.”
White wants advertisers, their agencies and regulators to consider littering as offensive under “unacceptable depictions and portrayals”, Section 14 of the code set by the Canadian Advertising Standards Council, a self-regulatory body. Advertising shall not “undermine human dignity; or display obvious indifference to, or encourage, gratuitously and without merit, conduct or attitudes that offend the standards of public decency prevailing among a significant segment of the population,” Section 14(d) of the code states.
White, founder of litterpreventionprogram.com, has complained to the giant Pfizer pharmaceutical company about its television commercial for nicotine replacement therapies, running until March in both English- and French-Canadian markets.
It features a female smoker returning to the high school where she first started smoking cigarettes. At the end, she stubs her cigarette butt on the steps of the school. White wants that image of littering altered and replaced, or the ad substituted or pulled. The company says that’s not going to happen.
“Littering is unlawful in every jurisdiction in Canada,” White says. “This commercial showing a woman smoking on school property, littering her cigarette butt and leaving a black char mark on the stair conveys that such behaviour is appropriate and acceptable when all evidence says it is neither. Ads like these contribute to the problem we face as educators in litter prevention.”
White says creators of the ad at Young & Rubicam could easily have instructed the actor to extinguish the cigarette end in a pocket ashtray or street receptacle. She is frustrated that the ad will continue to run without changes.
“We want the message to be, ‘if you can’t quit smoking at least quit littering’,” White said. “Litter is a huge environmental problem that deserves some respect and attention from big-moneyed advertisers.”
White wants advertisers, their agencies and regulators to consider littering as offensive under “unacceptable depictions and portrayals”, Section 14 of the code set by the Canadian Advertising Standards Council, a self-regulatory body. Advertising shall not “undermine human dignity; or display obvious indifference to, or encourage, gratuitously and without merit, conduct or attitudes that offend the standards of public decency prevailing among a significant segment of the population,” Section 14(d) of the code states.
New Illinois law fines cigarette butt littering $1,500
by George Sells, Fox2Now (KTVI)
(January 1, 2014) – A new law takes effect in Illinois on New Year’s Day that will throw the book at those throwing cigarette butts out their car windows. The fine could go as high as $1,500.
The law, passed last summer in Springfield, has plenty of detractors. Many feel the fine is simply too high for the offense.
“$1,500 is steep,” Eric Schmacker said.“I can see $50 to $75 dollars as a warning and maybe take it up three times. Other than that, that’s debatable. I don’t think so.”
Others are conflicted about what they see as positives and negatives of it.
“It’s good and bad,” Mary Ann Wolf said. “Good because no littering, no forest fires, no dry brush fires. Bad because people smoke. They’re going to want to throw it out the window.”
But asked if that wasn’t what car ashtrays were for, she responded, “New cars don’t come with ashtrays or lighters now. So you have to buy something for the new car.”
That logic, that throwing a butt out on the road is somehow not littering, is what seems to be guiding those who throw the hundreds of cigarette butts you can see on the side of nearly any highway.
It was even argued in court that it’s somehow not littering. That’s part of what led to this new law.
“A couple of court cases recently here made them change the law so it specifically targets flicking the cigarette butt so there is no confusion on if it’s actually littering or not,” Illinois State Trooper Calvin Dye, Jr. said.
If you think $1,500 is high, try the third offense. That carries a $25,000 fine and jail time as a Class D felony. WATCH VIDEO (2:13)
The law, passed last summer in Springfield, has plenty of detractors. Many feel the fine is simply too high for the offense.
“$1,500 is steep,” Eric Schmacker said.“I can see $50 to $75 dollars as a warning and maybe take it up three times. Other than that, that’s debatable. I don’t think so.”
Others are conflicted about what they see as positives and negatives of it.
“It’s good and bad,” Mary Ann Wolf said. “Good because no littering, no forest fires, no dry brush fires. Bad because people smoke. They’re going to want to throw it out the window.”
But asked if that wasn’t what car ashtrays were for, she responded, “New cars don’t come with ashtrays or lighters now. So you have to buy something for the new car.”
That logic, that throwing a butt out on the road is somehow not littering, is what seems to be guiding those who throw the hundreds of cigarette butts you can see on the side of nearly any highway.
It was even argued in court that it’s somehow not littering. That’s part of what led to this new law.
“A couple of court cases recently here made them change the law so it specifically targets flicking the cigarette butt so there is no confusion on if it’s actually littering or not,” Illinois State Trooper Calvin Dye, Jr. said.
If you think $1,500 is high, try the third offense. That carries a $25,000 fine and jail time as a Class D felony. WATCH VIDEO (2:13)
In Ireland they bin it their way!
Nationwide Litter Awareness Education Campaign visits schools, the Leitrim Observer reports
(December 11, 2013) Over 200 students from Scoil Nhurie, Dublin Road, Carrick-on-Shannon and Ballinamore Community School participated in the ‘Bin It!’ workshop.‘Bin It!’ is a key element of the Gum Litter Taskforce (GLT) litter awareness campaign. The campaign also includes outdoor poster, TV and online advertising which ran from May until September this year.
The programme has an accompanying website www.gumlittertaskforce.ie and Facebook page www.facebook.com/binityourway.
Bin It! features an actor-led workshop visiting secondary schools across thirty local authority areas. The workshop is geared towards first year students and explores littering and social responsibility.
The workshop tour is supported by a website www.chewitbinit.com which includes games and quizzes for students, lesson plans, teachers’ notes, posters and activity cards to help integrate the theme of responsible litter disposal into the curriculum.
This is the 7th year the ‘Bin It!’ campaign has toured Ireland and to date over 25,000 students have taken part.
Chairman of the GLT, Paul Kelly said; “The Bin it! campaign gives us the opportunity to directly educate and influence an entire generation nationwide ... (Continue reading)
The programme has an accompanying website www.gumlittertaskforce.ie and Facebook page www.facebook.com/binityourway.
Bin It! features an actor-led workshop visiting secondary schools across thirty local authority areas. The workshop is geared towards first year students and explores littering and social responsibility.
The workshop tour is supported by a website www.chewitbinit.com which includes games and quizzes for students, lesson plans, teachers’ notes, posters and activity cards to help integrate the theme of responsible litter disposal into the curriculum.
This is the 7th year the ‘Bin It!’ campaign has toured Ireland and to date over 25,000 students have taken part.
Chairman of the GLT, Paul Kelly said; “The Bin it! campaign gives us the opportunity to directly educate and influence an entire generation nationwide ... (Continue reading)
Nashville wraps up Litter Prevention Week - Nov. 4 to 8
Innovative ideas fuel new attitudes in Tennessee's heart of country music
The Littering is Wrong Too Campaign concludes with a Public Awareness Push
NASHVILLE, Tenn– Mayor Karl Dean and the Metro Public Works Department along with Lightning 100 (100.1 WRLT) launched Litter Free Nashville week today. Litter Free Nashville week provides an opportunity to broadcast the message littering is just plain wrong.
During Litter Free Nashville Week, citizens and visitors are encouraged to help keep Music City clean, whether it be by taking 60 seconds to clean up around them, or by going the extra mile to organize or participate in a neighborhood cleanup.
Mayor Karl Dean issued a proclamation in support of Litter Free Nashville Week. It read, “Whereas, the Metro Public Works Department annually collects about 907 tons of litter from streets and public rights of way; Whereas, a clean environment will continue to allow our communities and businesses to thrive; November 4-8 is Litter Free Nashville Week and provides an opportunity to celebrate our diverse community’s common goal to keep Nashville beautiful.” Read the full Litter Free Nashville Week proclamation.
This week-long push serves as the grand finale for the Littering is Wrong Too Campaign, a nine-month-long Keep America Beautiful initiative to raise awareness among 18-34-year olds on the harmful effects of littering.
Lightning 100, an early partner of the Campaign, will host social media contests throughout the week, asking followers to retweet facts and compose original anti-littering haikus to compete for prizes. Follow Lightning 100 on Twitter and Facebook for a chance to win. Lightning 100 will also feature the winning jingle from the Littering is Wrong Too Jingle Contest throughout the month of November. Local band Fletcher, Bell and Ward (Caleb Fletcher, Brandon Bell and Sam Ward) took the top honor on Oct. 24 at Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar,where they competed for a $1,500 prize from Waste Management.
For information about organizing or participating in a clean-up event or to secure donated supplies for your effort, contact Public Works at (615) 862-8418 or visit: www.nashville.gov/Public-Works/Community-Beautification/Neighborhood-Cleanups.aspx.
About the Littering is Wrong Too Campaign The Littering is Wrong Too Campaign was funded through a grant to Metro Beautification and Environment Commission from the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT). Campaign partners include Keep America Beautiful and the soft drink and malt beverage industries of Tennessee. The campaign will remain live through the end of this week on Facebook, on Twitter and at www.LitterFreeNashville.org.
NASHVILLE, Tenn– Mayor Karl Dean and the Metro Public Works Department along with Lightning 100 (100.1 WRLT) launched Litter Free Nashville week today. Litter Free Nashville week provides an opportunity to broadcast the message littering is just plain wrong.
During Litter Free Nashville Week, citizens and visitors are encouraged to help keep Music City clean, whether it be by taking 60 seconds to clean up around them, or by going the extra mile to organize or participate in a neighborhood cleanup.
Mayor Karl Dean issued a proclamation in support of Litter Free Nashville Week. It read, “Whereas, the Metro Public Works Department annually collects about 907 tons of litter from streets and public rights of way; Whereas, a clean environment will continue to allow our communities and businesses to thrive; November 4-8 is Litter Free Nashville Week and provides an opportunity to celebrate our diverse community’s common goal to keep Nashville beautiful.” Read the full Litter Free Nashville Week proclamation.
This week-long push serves as the grand finale for the Littering is Wrong Too Campaign, a nine-month-long Keep America Beautiful initiative to raise awareness among 18-34-year olds on the harmful effects of littering.
Lightning 100, an early partner of the Campaign, will host social media contests throughout the week, asking followers to retweet facts and compose original anti-littering haikus to compete for prizes. Follow Lightning 100 on Twitter and Facebook for a chance to win. Lightning 100 will also feature the winning jingle from the Littering is Wrong Too Jingle Contest throughout the month of November. Local band Fletcher, Bell and Ward (Caleb Fletcher, Brandon Bell and Sam Ward) took the top honor on Oct. 24 at Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar,where they competed for a $1,500 prize from Waste Management.
For information about organizing or participating in a clean-up event or to secure donated supplies for your effort, contact Public Works at (615) 862-8418 or visit: www.nashville.gov/Public-Works/Community-Beautification/Neighborhood-Cleanups.aspx.
About the Littering is Wrong Too Campaign The Littering is Wrong Too Campaign was funded through a grant to Metro Beautification and Environment Commission from the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT). Campaign partners include Keep America Beautiful and the soft drink and malt beverage industries of Tennessee. The campaign will remain live through the end of this week on Facebook, on Twitter and at www.LitterFreeNashville.org.
A casino jackpot for fighting litter
Imagine $30 million a year going into a litter prevention campaign in Ontario. Pie in the sky? Not if Canada’s beverage industry has anything to say about it. And it turns out industry has quite a lot to say, committing to seize more of its product packaging out of the hands of litterbugs and the jaws of landfill sites. The Canadian Beverage Container Recycling Association (CBCRA) is out to reclaim all its used drink cans, bottles and boxes and is ready to put up to 30 million bucks into promoting avid recycling away from home.
The people of Ontario are being challenged to accept that they need to do a much better job of placing beverage containers in bins where they can be recaptured, resold and reused. It’s the perfect circle. The only knot in the flow is the human reluctance to consider alternatives to littering when faced with the inconvenience of having to hold on to an empty container for more than a few seconds. So the beverage industry wants to pay to put bins everywhere and build a whole new wave of green businesses in the process. It might cost a penny or so more at the register. In Manitoba the container recycling fee (CRF) is two cents.
Promotion and education figure prominently in the plan being advanced by CBCRA at Waste Diversion Ontario, the agency responsible for approving industry plans for waste management stewardship and sustainability. If you missed the first WDO webinar from CBCRA, it will be repeated on Nov 7 from 1:30 to 3:30. www.vvctv.ca/wdo/20131107/ Password: wdo1
Well worth it to tune in for a good two-way exchange on a plan that will send your beverage containers into the recycling stream instead of having them languish on the ground, beach or road looking ugly.
CBCRA has stepped forward with a bold vision for reaching 75 per cent diversion of its containers from landfill five years in. Let your imagination fly once again to the possibility of three-quarter fewer beverage bottles being lifted from litter’s potentially endless stream.
Generally, people commenting via the Oct 28 webinar, www.vvctv.ca/wdo/20131028/ had questions about holding industry to its promise, accountability, the calculation and management of the CRF, contamination (i.e. human error), impact on municipalities and the residential blue box program, and, of course, I raised litter.
On all these categories – plus, plus, plus marks for industry. The hints of criticism I heard from webinar comment quarters yesterday were muted to say the least.
CBCRA has the right idea and has my unqualified support. Does it have yours?
Manitoba’s already doing it. Help bring Recycle Everywhere to Ontario. Contact [email protected] to voice support. Or phone Mary Cummins at at [email protected], or 416-226-5113, ext. 232
The people of Ontario are being challenged to accept that they need to do a much better job of placing beverage containers in bins where they can be recaptured, resold and reused. It’s the perfect circle. The only knot in the flow is the human reluctance to consider alternatives to littering when faced with the inconvenience of having to hold on to an empty container for more than a few seconds. So the beverage industry wants to pay to put bins everywhere and build a whole new wave of green businesses in the process. It might cost a penny or so more at the register. In Manitoba the container recycling fee (CRF) is two cents.
Promotion and education figure prominently in the plan being advanced by CBCRA at Waste Diversion Ontario, the agency responsible for approving industry plans for waste management stewardship and sustainability. If you missed the first WDO webinar from CBCRA, it will be repeated on Nov 7 from 1:30 to 3:30. www.vvctv.ca/wdo/20131107/ Password: wdo1
Well worth it to tune in for a good two-way exchange on a plan that will send your beverage containers into the recycling stream instead of having them languish on the ground, beach or road looking ugly.
CBCRA has stepped forward with a bold vision for reaching 75 per cent diversion of its containers from landfill five years in. Let your imagination fly once again to the possibility of three-quarter fewer beverage bottles being lifted from litter’s potentially endless stream.
Generally, people commenting via the Oct 28 webinar, www.vvctv.ca/wdo/20131028/ had questions about holding industry to its promise, accountability, the calculation and management of the CRF, contamination (i.e. human error), impact on municipalities and the residential blue box program, and, of course, I raised litter.
On all these categories – plus, plus, plus marks for industry. The hints of criticism I heard from webinar comment quarters yesterday were muted to say the least.
CBCRA has the right idea and has my unqualified support. Does it have yours?
Manitoba’s already doing it. Help bring Recycle Everywhere to Ontario. Contact [email protected] to voice support. Or phone Mary Cummins at at [email protected], or 416-226-5113, ext. 232
If you live in Liverpool, "Love Where You Live"
(October 21, 2013) A group representing 630 businesses in the retail heart of Liverpool’s city centre will use each day of the week to highlight a particular topic and issue polls on a whole range of topics such as the proposed 5p charge on shopping bags to £80 fines for dropping gum.
Williamson Square will be used to animate the campaign with road shows and activities and will also feature new signage asking people not to feed pigeons.
There will also be daily polls run on social media to gauge public opinion on the highlighted issues.
Ian Ward, Chairman of City Central BID, said: "We all want Liverpool city centre to be as welcoming as possible and we all have a role to play – as individuals and businesses.
"We know our members consider the environment as their number one issue. This Love Where You Live Week is about educating people about how we all benefit from a cleaner city centre – environmentally and financially.”
Williamson Square will be used to animate the campaign with road shows and activities and will also feature new signage asking people not to feed pigeons.
There will also be daily polls run on social media to gauge public opinion on the highlighted issues.
Ian Ward, Chairman of City Central BID, said: "We all want Liverpool city centre to be as welcoming as possible and we all have a role to play – as individuals and businesses.
"We know our members consider the environment as their number one issue. This Love Where You Live Week is about educating people about how we all benefit from a cleaner city centre – environmentally and financially.”
FACTS AND FIGURES TO EXPLAIN WHY THIS ENGLISH BIG CITY CAMPAIGN IS TAKING ON BUTTS, GUM, PIGEONS AND PANHANDLING
Liverpool is 5th most visited city in UK by overseas visitors, more than a million people walk through the city centre every week and tourism is worth £2bn a year supporting more than 40,000 jobs.
About £1bn a year is spent by local authorities in England on street cleaning and litter clearance – equivalent to a billion free school dinners or 33,200 nurses. 62% of people in England drop litter, although only 28% admit to it, 30 million tonnes of litter are dropped on UK’s streets every year – enough to fill 4 Wembley stadiums.
An estimated 122 tonnes of cigarette butts – 200 million of them - matchsticks and cigarette related litter is dropped every day across the UK. 23% of smokers admit to dropping their cigarette butts on the ground (they are made of cellulose acetate, which takes up to 12 years to biodegrade).
Europe’s pigeon population is estimated to be approx. 28 million, with high densities in the centre of major towns and cities. It takes Liverpool’s street cleansing team 80+ staff hours per day to clean droppings from streets and buildings, at a cost of £100,000 + a year.
On average, a piece of chewing gum costs about 3 pence, but the cost of removal is about 10 pence per piece. Wrigley say chewing gum is used by 28 million people in the UK, the average person chews over 300 sticks of gum each year and most chewing gum is purchased between Halloween and Christmas.
It is estimated 80 per cent of people begging do so to support a drug habit and 40% will not be homeless. An operation in Birmingham in autumn 2013 showed that six out of ten people arrested for begging had a home. Full story here from www.juicefm.com
Liverpool is 5th most visited city in UK by overseas visitors, more than a million people walk through the city centre every week and tourism is worth £2bn a year supporting more than 40,000 jobs.
About £1bn a year is spent by local authorities in England on street cleaning and litter clearance – equivalent to a billion free school dinners or 33,200 nurses. 62% of people in England drop litter, although only 28% admit to it, 30 million tonnes of litter are dropped on UK’s streets every year – enough to fill 4 Wembley stadiums.
An estimated 122 tonnes of cigarette butts – 200 million of them - matchsticks and cigarette related litter is dropped every day across the UK. 23% of smokers admit to dropping their cigarette butts on the ground (they are made of cellulose acetate, which takes up to 12 years to biodegrade).
Europe’s pigeon population is estimated to be approx. 28 million, with high densities in the centre of major towns and cities. It takes Liverpool’s street cleansing team 80+ staff hours per day to clean droppings from streets and buildings, at a cost of £100,000 + a year.
On average, a piece of chewing gum costs about 3 pence, but the cost of removal is about 10 pence per piece. Wrigley say chewing gum is used by 28 million people in the UK, the average person chews over 300 sticks of gum each year and most chewing gum is purchased between Halloween and Christmas.
It is estimated 80 per cent of people begging do so to support a drug habit and 40% will not be homeless. An operation in Birmingham in autumn 2013 showed that six out of ten people arrested for begging had a home. Full story here from www.juicefm.com
By gum! Northern Ireland firm has solution to a sticky problem on the streets
BY MARGARET CANNING (From Belfast Telegraph article dated September 12, 2013)
(October 7, 2013) Footpaths pocked by discarded chewing gum could be a thing of the past if a chemical concoction created in Northern Ireland corners the £32bn removal market. Expelliere International in Lisburn has created Xpelgum, a kit costing nearly £300 and containing liquids, which heat up and dissolve the polymers in the gum, and a brush, which then removes it.
The Expelliere team is only made up of six people at the moment but at a launch yesterday, sales director Chris Lomas said they will help create more jobs in their supply chain if sales of the kit take off.
The team hopes to achieve sales of £4m in year one and to have cornered 1% of the chewing gum clean-up market worth an annual £32bn worldwide in year five.
The bags, which contain the kit, are made by Northern Ireland social enterprise USEL, the triggers on the bottles by Canyon in Newtownabbey, while one of the chemicals used is sourced from global chemicals company Brenntag, which has an operation in Northern Ireland.
The bottling is currently done in Lisburn.
Mr. Lomas said: "We will be creating jobs and sourcing locally, but revenue and tax will be through Northern Ireland.
"This is a Northern Ireland company and I couldn't be more excited. It's founded and funded in Northern Ireland and supported by Invest NI."
Mr. Lomas said the company was already in talks with Johnston Street Cleaners in England – a company with global reach – so their machinery could be adapted to feature the Xpelgum system.
Convenience foodstore company Henderson Group has shown "a lot of interest" in using the system in around 400 Spars, while the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin had been "just blown away," Mr Lomas said.
Lisburn Leisureplex had also placed an order while fast food chain McDonald's is also reported to be interested after spending decades looking for a method of chewing gum removal which will not damage the block paving used outside most of its restaurants.
The chemical formulation was developed by a team at Queen's University six years ago which is no longer involved in the company but is being paid a small royalty, Mr. Lomas said. The company has received over £100,000 from Invest NI for help with export marketing and business support.
Ian Murphy, Invest NI director for growth and scaling, said: "This forward thinking company has demonstrated that global markets are within the reach of all firms regardless of size or sector."
(October 7, 2013) Footpaths pocked by discarded chewing gum could be a thing of the past if a chemical concoction created in Northern Ireland corners the £32bn removal market. Expelliere International in Lisburn has created Xpelgum, a kit costing nearly £300 and containing liquids, which heat up and dissolve the polymers in the gum, and a brush, which then removes it.
The Expelliere team is only made up of six people at the moment but at a launch yesterday, sales director Chris Lomas said they will help create more jobs in their supply chain if sales of the kit take off.
The team hopes to achieve sales of £4m in year one and to have cornered 1% of the chewing gum clean-up market worth an annual £32bn worldwide in year five.
The bags, which contain the kit, are made by Northern Ireland social enterprise USEL, the triggers on the bottles by Canyon in Newtownabbey, while one of the chemicals used is sourced from global chemicals company Brenntag, which has an operation in Northern Ireland.
The bottling is currently done in Lisburn.
Mr. Lomas said: "We will be creating jobs and sourcing locally, but revenue and tax will be through Northern Ireland.
"This is a Northern Ireland company and I couldn't be more excited. It's founded and funded in Northern Ireland and supported by Invest NI."
Mr. Lomas said the company was already in talks with Johnston Street Cleaners in England – a company with global reach – so their machinery could be adapted to feature the Xpelgum system.
Convenience foodstore company Henderson Group has shown "a lot of interest" in using the system in around 400 Spars, while the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin had been "just blown away," Mr Lomas said.
Lisburn Leisureplex had also placed an order while fast food chain McDonald's is also reported to be interested after spending decades looking for a method of chewing gum removal which will not damage the block paving used outside most of its restaurants.
The chemical formulation was developed by a team at Queen's University six years ago which is no longer involved in the company but is being paid a small royalty, Mr. Lomas said. The company has received over £100,000 from Invest NI for help with export marketing and business support.
Ian Murphy, Invest NI director for growth and scaling, said: "This forward thinking company has demonstrated that global markets are within the reach of all firms regardless of size or sector."
Council prosecute pair for spitting with court's backing for tough litter stance
“The magistrates didn't hesitate to concur with us that spitting could be classified as litter."
(September 25, 2013)
A council in northeast London has been campaigning against spitting, issuing
fixed penalty notices to people caught spitting in public places, as part of
its Don't Mess with Waltham Forest campaign in north-east London.
Launched in July, the campaign targets "enviro-crime" including spitting, litter, urination, dog mess, cigarette butts and takeaway litter and enforcement officers can issue fines of £80. The campaign was put to the test with the prosecutions - the first it has pursued - but councillors claimed victory after magistrates endorsed their decision. Local Guardian News covered the case. Read it all here.
Launched in July, the campaign targets "enviro-crime" including spitting, litter, urination, dog mess, cigarette butts and takeaway litter and enforcement officers can issue fines of £80. The campaign was put to the test with the prosecutions - the first it has pursued - but councillors claimed victory after magistrates endorsed their decision. Local Guardian News covered the case. Read it all here.
Dog warden catches litter lout red-handed in Leeds
(September 19, 2013) Leeds Council issued a press release warning litter louts that a range of council officers can and will enforce the law if caught dropping rubbish. The advice comes as a man from Middleton was prosecuted having failed to pay a fixed penalty notice for littering issued by a council dog warden.
Having pleaded guilty, Michael Gelder, Intake Square, Middleton, was fined £75 by Leeds magistrates last Friday, 13 September. He was also ordered to pay a £20 victim surcharge and costs of £160.
Council dog wardens and environmental action officers have the power to enforce the Environmental Protection Act 1990. They can take action against anyone committing offences such as littering, flytipping, failing to store waste properly, dog fouling and contravening dog control orders.
In addition, other front line council staff such as housing officers and parks and countryside staff and police community support officers, are able to report offences to the council for investigation.
Gelder was seen throwing away a scrunched up cigarette packet by the dog warden in April this year. He was also witnessed lighting up and discarding the cigarette butt on the pavement. A local resident also saw the grime crime take place. The litter had been dropped outside his home and he was angry at Gelder’s irresponsible actions.
When issued with the fixed penalty notice, Gelder was advised of the legal consequences if he didn’t pay. Non-payment resulted in prosecution.
Councillor Mark Dobson, executive member for the environment, said:
“Our dog wardens are experts in their own field, however, they have the authority to take action if they see anyone dropping litter too. They, along with their environmental enforcement colleagues, can’t and won’t stand by if they see anyone flouting the laws designed to help keep Leeds clean. While the majority of people are happy to do their bit, a few still haven’t got the message that it’s not acceptable to dump rubbish and let dog poo lie in the street."
“We’ll continue to offer advice and take action to persuade people to change their attitudes and behaviour towards waste.”
Having pleaded guilty, Michael Gelder, Intake Square, Middleton, was fined £75 by Leeds magistrates last Friday, 13 September. He was also ordered to pay a £20 victim surcharge and costs of £160.
Council dog wardens and environmental action officers have the power to enforce the Environmental Protection Act 1990. They can take action against anyone committing offences such as littering, flytipping, failing to store waste properly, dog fouling and contravening dog control orders.
In addition, other front line council staff such as housing officers and parks and countryside staff and police community support officers, are able to report offences to the council for investigation.
Gelder was seen throwing away a scrunched up cigarette packet by the dog warden in April this year. He was also witnessed lighting up and discarding the cigarette butt on the pavement. A local resident also saw the grime crime take place. The litter had been dropped outside his home and he was angry at Gelder’s irresponsible actions.
When issued with the fixed penalty notice, Gelder was advised of the legal consequences if he didn’t pay. Non-payment resulted in prosecution.
Councillor Mark Dobson, executive member for the environment, said:
“Our dog wardens are experts in their own field, however, they have the authority to take action if they see anyone dropping litter too. They, along with their environmental enforcement colleagues, can’t and won’t stand by if they see anyone flouting the laws designed to help keep Leeds clean. While the majority of people are happy to do their bit, a few still haven’t got the message that it’s not acceptable to dump rubbish and let dog poo lie in the street."
“We’ll continue to offer advice and take action to persuade people to change their attitudes and behaviour towards waste.”
Lone Star State records further success this year as a litter reduction leader
(September 14, 2013) The Texas Department of Transportation on Sept. 3 released results of
its 2013 Texas Litter Survey.
“Considering an additional 1.1 million drivers have taken to Texas roadways during the survey period of 2009 to 2013,” TxDOT said, “the 34-percent reduction in visible litter is even more impressive.”
According to the survey, the leading type of visible roadside litter was tire and rubber debris, followed by miscellaneous paper, plastic and beverage containers.
“Considering an additional 1.1 million drivers have taken to Texas roadways during the survey period of 2009 to 2013,” TxDOT said, “the 34-percent reduction in visible litter is even more impressive.”
According to the survey, the leading type of visible roadside litter was tire and rubber debris, followed by miscellaneous paper, plastic and beverage containers.
Wheelchair bound litter picker inspires others to keep neighbourhoods tidy
By Marney Blunt, Kenora Daily Miner and News
Kenora, ON -- There’s nothing that can restore a person’s faith in humanity more than seeing someone else performing a random act of kindness. Fred deWind is doing just that, one piece of garbage at a time.
deWind, who originally hails from Amsterdam, has been going up and down Pine Portage Road and other roads near his home and picking up garbage along the side of the road, from his wheelchair.
“Everybody that goes there (to Amsterdam) always says it’s so beautiful and so clean,” said deWind. “This is why: People pick up after themselves and if people don’t pick up after themselves then somebody else will do it for them, and I’m that someone else.”
deWind says he regularly goes over his street and the other street that branch off of Pine Portage Road, especially when he notices the litter is becoming particularly bad. His random acts of kindness to keep the community clean have already created a chain reaction. deWind related how one day a woman was running by and stopped to ask him what he was doing. After he told her, she decided to help out by cleaning out the side of the road with the deeper ditches he is unable to access. deWind also said some young kids helped him once, and then they decided to do a school project about deWind’s efforts to keep the town clean.
deWind has previously resided in Dryden and Red Lake, where he did the same roadside cleanups that he does in Kenora. deWind writes to the city council often and hopes to set an example for others in lending a hand to help keep the city clean and beautiful.
(Source: Kenora Daily Miner and News, August 20, 2013)
Kenora, ON -- There’s nothing that can restore a person’s faith in humanity more than seeing someone else performing a random act of kindness. Fred deWind is doing just that, one piece of garbage at a time.
deWind, who originally hails from Amsterdam, has been going up and down Pine Portage Road and other roads near his home and picking up garbage along the side of the road, from his wheelchair.
“Everybody that goes there (to Amsterdam) always says it’s so beautiful and so clean,” said deWind. “This is why: People pick up after themselves and if people don’t pick up after themselves then somebody else will do it for them, and I’m that someone else.”
deWind says he regularly goes over his street and the other street that branch off of Pine Portage Road, especially when he notices the litter is becoming particularly bad. His random acts of kindness to keep the community clean have already created a chain reaction. deWind related how one day a woman was running by and stopped to ask him what he was doing. After he told her, she decided to help out by cleaning out the side of the road with the deeper ditches he is unable to access. deWind also said some young kids helped him once, and then they decided to do a school project about deWind’s efforts to keep the town clean.
deWind has previously resided in Dryden and Red Lake, where he did the same roadside cleanups that he does in Kenora. deWind writes to the city council often and hopes to set an example for others in lending a hand to help keep the city clean and beautiful.
(Source: Kenora Daily Miner and News, August 20, 2013)
Ontario is weak on litter and a new law could make the situation a lot worse
Bill 91 leaves a loophole you can drive a truck through. September 4 is the last date for public comment.
by Sheila White, Publisher
(August 29, 2013) No self-respecting environmental policy wonk would put forward a waste reduction plan that doesn't include a plan for dealing with littering. Only a few days left to comment on the Province of Ontario's Bill 91, the Waste Reduction Act, legislation that is silent on litter. As the photo at left shows, Ontario operates under an antiquated, hands-off approach to littering. The new bill attempts to write-off litter altogether by relying on the insidious industry term, "end of life waste". This jargon means that industry and government can legally ignore the issue of waste that is littered, such as the materials seen in this photo, clogging the drains within a few meters of Ontario's laughably ineffective litter sign advertising a law that is rarely enforced and routinely ignored. *** You would be helping the litter prevention cause by telling the Ministry of Environment before September 4, 2013 that you object to litter being omitted from Ontario's proposed Waste Reduction Act. Contact information, comment form and details about Bill 91 are here . ***
(August 29, 2013) No self-respecting environmental policy wonk would put forward a waste reduction plan that doesn't include a plan for dealing with littering. Only a few days left to comment on the Province of Ontario's Bill 91, the Waste Reduction Act, legislation that is silent on litter. As the photo at left shows, Ontario operates under an antiquated, hands-off approach to littering. The new bill attempts to write-off litter altogether by relying on the insidious industry term, "end of life waste". This jargon means that industry and government can legally ignore the issue of waste that is littered, such as the materials seen in this photo, clogging the drains within a few meters of Ontario's laughably ineffective litter sign advertising a law that is rarely enforced and routinely ignored. *** You would be helping the litter prevention cause by telling the Ministry of Environment before September 4, 2013 that you object to litter being omitted from Ontario's proposed Waste Reduction Act. Contact information, comment form and details about Bill 91 are here . ***
Environmentalists Down Under at odds with Keep Australia Beautiful
National Litter Index fatally flawed and new approaches are needed, they say
(August 20, 2013) Australian-based environmentalists today released the ‘What a Waste’ report calling for more effective action on and measurement of litter, at the start of Keep Australia Beautiful (KAB) week. The two have taken opposite positions on a key issue for environment groups: a beverage container deposit-return system Australia-wide.
“We think the KAB exercise has stalled and its National Litter Index lacks credibility for some key issues such as comparing between states and actual litter counts. Our report shows that of the 20 New South Wales sites we inspected none came close to the so-called average claimed by KAB’s National Litter Index (NLI). The Victorian government’s annual litter report also shows much more average litter per site. Australia needs some new weapons in its arsenal and it needs a better way to measure litter,” said Jeff Angel, National Convenor of the Boomerang Alliance of 27 groups.
“In terms of litter size and embodied resources, bottles and cans are by far the worst problem, with plastic bottles becoming a bigger issue each year. The only proven solution is a container deposit scheme, which removes drink containers from the litter stream and improves public space bin volume – helping solve two major problems.”
“Keep Australia Beautiful should be supporting a 10-cent deposit/refund scheme for drink containers as part of an improved anti-litter regime. Notably the volume of beverage containers in Northern Territory litter has halved, because of its 10-cent refund scheme.”
“The NLI is suspect as a measure of litter because it can’t tell you if a site has been cleaned up before inspection; gives no picture of behavioral issues; does not examine hot spots; is not adjusted for the different populations in each state; nor can you confidently compare between states.”
“Its data have also been misused by the packaging industry and government to give the impression that litter is under control. For example, they try to say a cigarette butt is the same as a plastic bottle in an item count to diminish the drink container issue. But clearly bottles and cans have a much bigger volume and represent a very significant wastage of resources.”
“There’s a lot more to do,” Mr Angel said.
“We think the KAB exercise has stalled and its National Litter Index lacks credibility for some key issues such as comparing between states and actual litter counts. Our report shows that of the 20 New South Wales sites we inspected none came close to the so-called average claimed by KAB’s National Litter Index (NLI). The Victorian government’s annual litter report also shows much more average litter per site. Australia needs some new weapons in its arsenal and it needs a better way to measure litter,” said Jeff Angel, National Convenor of the Boomerang Alliance of 27 groups.
“In terms of litter size and embodied resources, bottles and cans are by far the worst problem, with plastic bottles becoming a bigger issue each year. The only proven solution is a container deposit scheme, which removes drink containers from the litter stream and improves public space bin volume – helping solve two major problems.”
“Keep Australia Beautiful should be supporting a 10-cent deposit/refund scheme for drink containers as part of an improved anti-litter regime. Notably the volume of beverage containers in Northern Territory litter has halved, because of its 10-cent refund scheme.”
“The NLI is suspect as a measure of litter because it can’t tell you if a site has been cleaned up before inspection; gives no picture of behavioral issues; does not examine hot spots; is not adjusted for the different populations in each state; nor can you confidently compare between states.”
“Its data have also been misused by the packaging industry and government to give the impression that litter is under control. For example, they try to say a cigarette butt is the same as a plastic bottle in an item count to diminish the drink container issue. But clearly bottles and cans have a much bigger volume and represent a very significant wastage of resources.”
“There’s a lot more to do,” Mr Angel said.
Public awareness needed on the ills of littering
(August 8, 2013) by Sasha Harrinanan, Trinidad & Tobago Newsday
Four teenagers, all interns at the Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN), are calling on agencies with responsibility for the environment to engage in sustained, inclusive, public awareness campaigns about the ills of littering.
Four teenagers, all interns at the Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN), are calling on agencies with responsibility for the environment to engage in sustained, inclusive, public awareness campaigns about the ills of littering.
The four young women are Rinelle Cozier, a Form Six student at San Fernando Central Secondary School, recent graduates from Naparima Girls’ High School, Jheuel Carter-Guy and Diana Persad, and Samantha Raman, a recent graduate of Holy Faith Convent, Couva. Raman said “people are more aware of the fine for not wearing a seatbelt; $1,000, and more afraid of being punished for doing so, than they are of being caught littering.”
“Imagine, the litter fine is $2,000 but (beachgoers) regularly leave their rubbish lying on the sand (or) throw cigarette butts in the water. We were informed there are less than 100 litter wardens to police the entire country. That’s far from enough.”
The group’s concerns about the public’s attitude toward littering, voiced yesterday during the launch of the International Coastal Clean-Up (ICC) 2013 at Courtyard by Marriott, Port-of-Spain, arose out of their recent research project into marine litter policies along Trinidad’s south-west coast.
Raman’s colleague, Cozier, said it was very interesting that 60 percent of those surveyed over the past month said they believed clean-up campaigns were the community’s responsibility. Yet, that same 60 percent of respondents in places such as San Fernando, Icacos and Vessigny, said they had not participated in any litter removal activities.
Cozier’s recommendation was for the Environmental Management Authority (EMA), the Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA), the ICC’s local organising body, and the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, among others, to “go into the communities where they are planning to hold a clean-up and invite residents to participate.”
“Make sure they’re aware of what’s going on, and make your activity a community event. We also think organisations should use the media to increase awareness — campaigns, advertisements, and so on. Similar to what the ODPM (Office of Disaster Preparedness) has done with their disaster preparedness awareness campaign,” Cozier told Newsday.
“Imagine, the litter fine is $2,000 but (beachgoers) regularly leave their rubbish lying on the sand (or) throw cigarette butts in the water. We were informed there are less than 100 litter wardens to police the entire country. That’s far from enough.”
The group’s concerns about the public’s attitude toward littering, voiced yesterday during the launch of the International Coastal Clean-Up (ICC) 2013 at Courtyard by Marriott, Port-of-Spain, arose out of their recent research project into marine litter policies along Trinidad’s south-west coast.
Raman’s colleague, Cozier, said it was very interesting that 60 percent of those surveyed over the past month said they believed clean-up campaigns were the community’s responsibility. Yet, that same 60 percent of respondents in places such as San Fernando, Icacos and Vessigny, said they had not participated in any litter removal activities.
Cozier’s recommendation was for the Environmental Management Authority (EMA), the Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA), the ICC’s local organising body, and the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, among others, to “go into the communities where they are planning to hold a clean-up and invite residents to participate.”
“Make sure they’re aware of what’s going on, and make your activity a community event. We also think organisations should use the media to increase awareness — campaigns, advertisements, and so on. Similar to what the ODPM (Office of Disaster Preparedness) has done with their disaster preparedness awareness campaign,” Cozier told Newsday.
Survey finds 4,000 items of litter for each km of Northern Ireland coastline
By Henry McDonald, Ireland correspondent for theguardian.com
(August 8, 2013) There are more than 4,000 items of litter on every kilometreof Northern Ireland’s beaches and shores, a new survey has revealed.
A report by Tidy Northern Ireland for the Department of the Environment has found that 14 beaches and shorelines were strewn with rubbish included sheep carcasses and the chassis of an abandoned truck.
Nearly three-quarters of the litter was plastic, including cigarette lighters and bottles (290 for each km) while there were also crisp packets and pieces of rope and string (462 pieces a km).
Overall, there were 4,033 pieces of litter ranging from black agricultural sheeting to live distress flares left on each kilometre of coastline.
Of 262 metal items found for each km, 148 were drinks cans and there were 276 sanitary items such as cotton buds, wet wipes and nappies, which Northern Ireland Water stresses should not be flushed down the toilet. CONTINUE READING
(August 8, 2013) There are more than 4,000 items of litter on every kilometreof Northern Ireland’s beaches and shores, a new survey has revealed.
A report by Tidy Northern Ireland for the Department of the Environment has found that 14 beaches and shorelines were strewn with rubbish included sheep carcasses and the chassis of an abandoned truck.
Nearly three-quarters of the litter was plastic, including cigarette lighters and bottles (290 for each km) while there were also crisp packets and pieces of rope and string (462 pieces a km).
Overall, there were 4,033 pieces of litter ranging from black agricultural sheeting to live distress flares left on each kilometre of coastline.
Of 262 metal items found for each km, 148 were drinks cans and there were 276 sanitary items such as cotton buds, wet wipes and nappies, which Northern Ireland Water stresses should not be flushed down the toilet. CONTINUE READING
No if, ands or butts about it
By Paul Fattig, Mail Tribune
(August 3, 2013) There are few things that disgust Applegate Valley resident Brandt Summers more than a cigarette butt crushed in the dirt or littering a sidewalk.
"It's ridiculous how you see them everywhere," he said. "People are really irresponsible."
Six months ago, Summers, 30, who also happens to be a smoker, set out to clean up his little corner of the world, one cigarette butt at a time.
The 2001 North Medford High School graduate began collecting cigarette butts from local restaurants and stores as part of an international recycling movement for tobacco waste, especially the plastic filter tips. READ MORE
"It's ridiculous how you see them everywhere," he said. "People are really irresponsible."
Six months ago, Summers, 30, who also happens to be a smoker, set out to clean up his little corner of the world, one cigarette butt at a time.
The 2001 North Medford High School graduate began collecting cigarette butts from local restaurants and stores as part of an international recycling movement for tobacco waste, especially the plastic filter tips. READ MORE
Throw Your Chewing Gum in the Trash
(July 22, 2013) Oddly, there was an outcry from a contingent of indignant gum-spitters online in reaction to an article in Planet Green, by Josh Peterson, which begins: "Gum doesn't biodegrade. Once gum is made, it is gum forever. This doesn't mean that gum is going to cover the surface of our earth by 2047. Gum is just a nagging environmental problem. It's litter.
There are some who think that chewing gum should be banned, because it often covers our streets and is impossible to dispose of. Cities and counties have to spend our tax dollars and use our resources to clean gum off the streets. Gum is already banned in Singapore.
Whatever your view on chewing gum, it is quite the annoying problem. You cannot compost chewing gum, because it won't break down. Your compost pile will become compost plus gum. If you swallow the gum in hopes of your stomach acid destroying it, your body will expel the gum undigested. The bubble gum will end up in the sewers."
Why did this provoke a raft of denials and angry bleats from writers filling up the story's Comments section? It's because they don't think throwing gum on pavement is littering. It is, but they don't see it that way.
Perhaps the most grand of all challenges to stopping littering is to get minds open to the idea that littering means throwing any thing on the ground. That 'thing' had a name before, and it wasn't named "litter". It was "gum", or a "cigarette butt", a "coffee cup", "can", "wrapper", "plastic bag", or "bottle" - you get our drift. Here at LPP we urge those in denial to become informed and burst their own bubble of ignorance around chewing gum litter. Start by reading the full Planet Green article HERE.
There are some who think that chewing gum should be banned, because it often covers our streets and is impossible to dispose of. Cities and counties have to spend our tax dollars and use our resources to clean gum off the streets. Gum is already banned in Singapore.
Whatever your view on chewing gum, it is quite the annoying problem. You cannot compost chewing gum, because it won't break down. Your compost pile will become compost plus gum. If you swallow the gum in hopes of your stomach acid destroying it, your body will expel the gum undigested. The bubble gum will end up in the sewers."
Why did this provoke a raft of denials and angry bleats from writers filling up the story's Comments section? It's because they don't think throwing gum on pavement is littering. It is, but they don't see it that way.
Perhaps the most grand of all challenges to stopping littering is to get minds open to the idea that littering means throwing any thing on the ground. That 'thing' had a name before, and it wasn't named "litter". It was "gum", or a "cigarette butt", a "coffee cup", "can", "wrapper", "plastic bag", or "bottle" - you get our drift. Here at LPP we urge those in denial to become informed and burst their own bubble of ignorance around chewing gum litter. Start by reading the full Planet Green article HERE.
Litter fines could be on the rise in Canada's Calgary
A CTV News report
(July 16, 2013) The fine for littering in Calgary, Alberta could be going up.
City bylaw officers are asking for approval to increase fines substantially in hopes of putting an end to the complaints they receive about people littering.
"In the last 12 months I've had 1,881 calls about garbage and litter. So it's obviously on Calgarians' minds and so we're just updating the bylaw to provide tools for officers to use," says Bill Bruce from Calgary Bylaw Services.
The new rules would mean a $500 fine for littering, a $750 fine for throwing garbage out your car window, and a $1,000 fine for throwing a lit cigarette out your vehicle.
One alderman thinks the new fees are too much. "That's almost someone's paycheck so I do think it's excessive. But probably spending the money on a public education program would be far more beneficial," says Diane Colley-Urquhart, the alderman for Ward 11.
Currently it costs $300 if you are caught littering, no matter what type of littering it is.
City bylaw officers are asking for approval to increase fines substantially in hopes of putting an end to the complaints they receive about people littering.
"In the last 12 months I've had 1,881 calls about garbage and litter. So it's obviously on Calgarians' minds and so we're just updating the bylaw to provide tools for officers to use," says Bill Bruce from Calgary Bylaw Services.
The new rules would mean a $500 fine for littering, a $750 fine for throwing garbage out your car window, and a $1,000 fine for throwing a lit cigarette out your vehicle.
One alderman thinks the new fees are too much. "That's almost someone's paycheck so I do think it's excessive. But probably spending the money on a public education program would be far more beneficial," says Diane Colley-Urquhart, the alderman for Ward 11.
Currently it costs $300 if you are caught littering, no matter what type of littering it is.
Professor leads artful anti-litter campaign
By TY BEAVER, from The Tri-City Herald, WA
(July 3, 2013) — RICHLAND Peter Christenson said he wanted to move to the Tri-Cities not just to teach art but because it would mean a change from the urban landscape he’d lived in most of his life.
“I was really excited about the access to nature and nature preserves,” said the assistant professor of fine art and digital technology and culture at Washington State University Tri-Cities.
But when the Detroit native took a walk at Bateman Island in Richland during his first weeks in the area about a year ago, he got a different feeling about the area’s natural splendor.
“We were really taken aback by all the litter,” he said, noting the bait container wrappers, old fishing line and beer bottles scattered around the island.
The professor and his volunteers hope their community-based art intervention cleanup campaign, infused with social media, detailed maps and photography, will motivate people to pick up litter. VIDEO HERE
By TY BEAVER, from The Tri-City Herald, WA
(July 3, 2013) — RICHLAND Peter Christenson said he wanted to move to the Tri-Cities not just to teach art but because it would mean a change from the urban landscape he’d lived in most of his life.
“I was really excited about the access to nature and nature preserves,” said the assistant professor of fine art and digital technology and culture at Washington State University Tri-Cities.
But when the Detroit native took a walk at Bateman Island in Richland during his first weeks in the area about a year ago, he got a different feeling about the area’s natural splendor.
“We were really taken aback by all the litter,” he said, noting the bait container wrappers, old fishing line and beer bottles scattered around the island.
The professor and his volunteers hope their community-based art intervention cleanup campaign, infused with social media, detailed maps and photography, will motivate people to pick up litter. VIDEO HERE
Ipswich to put brakes on troublesome trolleys
(June 28, 2013) IPSWICH will become the first city in Queensland, Australia requiring supermarkets and other retailers to implement an automatic wheel lock system on shopping trolleys. Ipswich City Council says the days of shopping trolleys clogging creeks and rivers and littering parks and streets in Ipswich are almost finished.
Ipswich planning chairman Councillor Paul Tully said the council decided this week to implement the system. Tully said Ipswich retailers would be required to implement the system by July 1 next year. "It is not a big cost to solve a big problem with each new wheel lock costing just $45," he said. "I encourage every council within Queensland and around Australia to follow Ipswich's lead." |
The councillor said there had been reports of people using shopping trolleys for washing baskets, barbecue grills and mobile storage units. He said the wheel locking mechanism was triggered by a buried electronic wire detector. (Queensland Times story by Peter Foley)
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Dunkin' Donuts chain wants your empty foam cups for recycling
What could be a forward step in litter prevention, the company behind Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins ice cream is launching chain-wide, in-store collection of polystyrene foam beverage cups while it looks for a viable foam alternative, according to its corporate social responsibility report. Waste & Recycling News correspondent Kerri Jansen reports on what's behind the move. Continue reading ...
Californians Against Waste celebrates Los Angeles Council's phase-out of plastic grocery bags by 2014
(June 18, 2013) Los Angeles City Council today voted to became the largest city in the country and 77th jurisdiction in the State of California to adopt an ordinance to phase out the use of plastic grocery bags.
By 2014, more than one-third of Californians—13 million people—will live in communities that no longer have to deal with the scourge and cost of single use plastic grocery bags.
The adoption of the ordinance comes just two weeks after the California State Senate fell 3 votes short of passing a statewide phase-out of single use plastic bags (SB 405 by State Senator Alex Padilla).
In passing the ordinance, several members of the council, including City Council President Herb Wesson—a former Speaker of the State Assembly—called on the State Legislature to revisit the issue statewide.
“Let’s hope that the passage of this ordinance blows new life into Senator Padilla’s legislation,” said Council President Herb Wesson.
While we remain disappointed in the missed opportunity by the legislature to dramatically reduce plastic pollution and waste in California and save consumers hundreds of millions in one-time use bag costs, the fate of the plastic grocery bag is sealed. The plastic grocery bag, which only came on the scene in the 1970’s, will be extinct in California before the end of this decade.
Californians Against Waste is working hard at both the State and local level to phase out single use plastic grocery bags. We continue to need your help and support.
Another dozen jurisdictions are expected to adopt ordinances phasing out single-use plastic later this year, including the Cities of Sacramento and Chico, and the Counties of Santa Barbara, Ventura, Sonoma, and Monterey.
The use of single-use plastic bags peaked in 2005, when an estimated 21 billion plastic bags were distributed in California. Today that number has been reduced by better than one-third—to less than 14 billion. In 2014, the number of plastic grocery bags is expected to fall below 10 billion for the first time since the 1980’s.
By 2014, more than one-third of Californians—13 million people—will live in communities that no longer have to deal with the scourge and cost of single use plastic grocery bags.
The adoption of the ordinance comes just two weeks after the California State Senate fell 3 votes short of passing a statewide phase-out of single use plastic bags (SB 405 by State Senator Alex Padilla).
In passing the ordinance, several members of the council, including City Council President Herb Wesson—a former Speaker of the State Assembly—called on the State Legislature to revisit the issue statewide.
“Let’s hope that the passage of this ordinance blows new life into Senator Padilla’s legislation,” said Council President Herb Wesson.
While we remain disappointed in the missed opportunity by the legislature to dramatically reduce plastic pollution and waste in California and save consumers hundreds of millions in one-time use bag costs, the fate of the plastic grocery bag is sealed. The plastic grocery bag, which only came on the scene in the 1970’s, will be extinct in California before the end of this decade.
Californians Against Waste is working hard at both the State and local level to phase out single use plastic grocery bags. We continue to need your help and support.
Another dozen jurisdictions are expected to adopt ordinances phasing out single-use plastic later this year, including the Cities of Sacramento and Chico, and the Counties of Santa Barbara, Ventura, Sonoma, and Monterey.
The use of single-use plastic bags peaked in 2005, when an estimated 21 billion plastic bags were distributed in California. Today that number has been reduced by better than one-third—to less than 14 billion. In 2014, the number of plastic grocery bags is expected to fall below 10 billion for the first time since the 1980’s.
A delightful read "Eureka Moment" by Mary Ann Vanden Elzen
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
I have often imagined the Earth to be a house – our home in which we all live.
Polluted rivers, diminishing fish stocks, endangered species, contaminated soils, holes in the ozone layer, climate change – all signs of stress to the Earth. These symptoms can be compared to damage in our home – cracking foundation, leaking roof, shattered windows, bursting pipes, heaving floorboards, dripping faucets.
That’s how my imagination runs.
Word origins and meanings have long held a certain fascination for me. It struck me, recently, that the words “ecology” and “economy” looked as though they might share a common root. After some research, I discovered that, yes, indeed, they do. Both derive from the old Greek word “oikos” meaning “home” or “household.”
Imagine my surprise! Even way back then, the ancient Greeks knew - the Earth is our home. For me, that was a eureka moment.
Apparently, this concept was known and intrinsically understood by the ancients. It is knowledge that our modern societies have lost and which has resulted in the circumstances in which we now find ourselves – an Earth stretched beyond its biological limits, damaged natural systems… cracks in our home.
Some claim that we have now reached the apex of knowledge and sophistication. I would contend that, sometimes, with new knowledge gained, some ancient wisdom is forgotten and lost. It could validly be stated that some of the lost antediluvian knowledge is actually more essential to life on this planet than the new, recently acquired knowledge.
We need a return to the wisdom and attitudes of the ancients. Some would argue that a whole new spirituality of the Earth akin to that of ancient aboriginal cultures is required – one in which we recognize ourselves as part of the Earth, a species like every other, wholly dependent on the biological systems and functions of the Earth.
Polluted rivers, diminishing fish stocks, endangered species, contaminated soils, holes in the ozone layer, climate change – all signs of stress to the Earth. These symptoms can be compared to damage in our home – cracking foundation, leaking roof, shattered windows, bursting pipes, heaving floorboards, dripping faucets.
That’s how my imagination runs.
Word origins and meanings have long held a certain fascination for me. It struck me, recently, that the words “ecology” and “economy” looked as though they might share a common root. After some research, I discovered that, yes, indeed, they do. Both derive from the old Greek word “oikos” meaning “home” or “household.”
Imagine my surprise! Even way back then, the ancient Greeks knew - the Earth is our home. For me, that was a eureka moment.
Apparently, this concept was known and intrinsically understood by the ancients. It is knowledge that our modern societies have lost and which has resulted in the circumstances in which we now find ourselves – an Earth stretched beyond its biological limits, damaged natural systems… cracks in our home.
Some claim that we have now reached the apex of knowledge and sophistication. I would contend that, sometimes, with new knowledge gained, some ancient wisdom is forgotten and lost. It could validly be stated that some of the lost antediluvian knowledge is actually more essential to life on this planet than the new, recently acquired knowledge.
We need a return to the wisdom and attitudes of the ancients. Some would argue that a whole new spirituality of the Earth akin to that of ancient aboriginal cultures is required – one in which we recognize ourselves as part of the Earth, a species like every other, wholly dependent on the biological systems and functions of the Earth.
No bins, no rubbish, better beaches, a surprising New Zealand finding
by Hannah NortonThe Northern Advocate
Removing rubbish bins at Ruakaka beach is proving successful in keeping litter at bay, leaving council surprised.
Ruakaka Parish Residents and Ratepayers Association (RPRRA) member Peter Hope said he saw the concept while holidaying at Wenderholm campground in Auckland. The campground had huge banners telling people to take their rubbish home and on the day Mr Hope arrived it was hosting a school sports day.
"When they all left, there was not an apple core or a scrap of paper in sight," he said. So he raised the idea at a RPRRA meeting and then members approached the Whangarei District Council (WDC). "I can't believe that Ruakaka can't do anything Auckland can do other than ten times better," Mr Hope said. WDC technical officer Grant Alsop said the group requested council take away the 19 bins in the car park and put up signs telling people to take their rubbish away with them. "We were a bit surprised at first, but they explained that if people get to a beach and see a bin, they have no incentive to think about the environment and take responsibility for their own rubbish," he said.
The signs will be trialled initially for four months. Mr Hope said that after four weeks the tactic is proving effective. The RPRRA came up with the wording for the sign, and council produced and installed them. Mr Alsop said this approach had worked well at Pataua South for several years. Council had looked at removing bins at other coastal reserves and had expected a negative response, so it was good to get the request from Ruakaka, he said.
"It is good for our district as a whole. It shows that the community will take the lead when it comes to looking after an environment and that it expects locals and visitors to be responsible too." "We are very happy to take part in this experiment to see how it turns out. We are all hoping for a good result." "So far, it's been successful. The bins used to be overflowing with rubbish, and the birds came in and scattered it." "Already Ruakaka appears to have taken ownership of this beach." If the trial is successful, the RPRRA would like to see council erect signs at the North and South entrances of Ruakaka to proclaim it as a litter-free area. "No bins, no rubbish, better beaches," he said.
Ruakaka Parish Residents and Ratepayers Association (RPRRA) member Peter Hope said he saw the concept while holidaying at Wenderholm campground in Auckland. The campground had huge banners telling people to take their rubbish home and on the day Mr Hope arrived it was hosting a school sports day.
"When they all left, there was not an apple core or a scrap of paper in sight," he said. So he raised the idea at a RPRRA meeting and then members approached the Whangarei District Council (WDC). "I can't believe that Ruakaka can't do anything Auckland can do other than ten times better," Mr Hope said. WDC technical officer Grant Alsop said the group requested council take away the 19 bins in the car park and put up signs telling people to take their rubbish away with them. "We were a bit surprised at first, but they explained that if people get to a beach and see a bin, they have no incentive to think about the environment and take responsibility for their own rubbish," he said.
The signs will be trialled initially for four months. Mr Hope said that after four weeks the tactic is proving effective. The RPRRA came up with the wording for the sign, and council produced and installed them. Mr Alsop said this approach had worked well at Pataua South for several years. Council had looked at removing bins at other coastal reserves and had expected a negative response, so it was good to get the request from Ruakaka, he said.
"It is good for our district as a whole. It shows that the community will take the lead when it comes to looking after an environment and that it expects locals and visitors to be responsible too." "We are very happy to take part in this experiment to see how it turns out. We are all hoping for a good result." "So far, it's been successful. The bins used to be overflowing with rubbish, and the birds came in and scattered it." "Already Ruakaka appears to have taken ownership of this beach." If the trial is successful, the RPRRA would like to see council erect signs at the North and South entrances of Ruakaka to proclaim it as a litter-free area. "No bins, no rubbish, better beaches," he said.
'Small hand' picking up litter to beautify Baiyun Mountain
By Yuanjian Zhang, Ocean News Times, China
(June 6, 2013) The kids had a special environmental Children's Day from the Guangdong Provincial Environmental Protection Foundation, the Guangzhou Municipal Women's Federation, organized by Guangzhou Urban Management Committee, the Guangdong Provincial Environmental Protection Volunteer Corps contractors, Amway (China Commodity Co., Ltd. )
The 'big hand little hand, Yunshan more beautiful’ people brought Baiyun Mountain environmental charity volunteer activities to Baiyun Mountain yesterday. Three thousand children and parents in the 'lung' Baiyun Mountain pass were making eco-friendly postcards, picking up trash and finding other ways to express environmental aspirations, hopes that on Children's Day, this special holiday, through their own actions, they will arouse environmental protection, energy saving, livable attention.
At the launching ceremony, 200 children were awarded the 'civilized BYS little angel' title, part of the family was awarded the 'Green Star' medal and certificate. After the presentation more than 200 children families opted for picking up trash mountain. In less than one hour, the volunteers will rid Baiyun mountain of mineral water bottles, plastic bags, cigarette butts and other garbage as well. All are put into garbage bags and classified. Upon completion of the collecting activity participating small children received small gifts.
The 'big hand little hand, Yunshan more beautiful’ people brought Baiyun Mountain environmental charity volunteer activities to Baiyun Mountain yesterday. Three thousand children and parents in the 'lung' Baiyun Mountain pass were making eco-friendly postcards, picking up trash and finding other ways to express environmental aspirations, hopes that on Children's Day, this special holiday, through their own actions, they will arouse environmental protection, energy saving, livable attention.
At the launching ceremony, 200 children were awarded the 'civilized BYS little angel' title, part of the family was awarded the 'Green Star' medal and certificate. After the presentation more than 200 children families opted for picking up trash mountain. In less than one hour, the volunteers will rid Baiyun mountain of mineral water bottles, plastic bags, cigarette butts and other garbage as well. All are put into garbage bags and classified. Upon completion of the collecting activity participating small children received small gifts.
“Snap, Send, Solve” service boasts results 'Down Under'
Free app has a five-star rating on iTunes and has been downloaded by over 20,000 people across Australia.
By KRISTINA TADDEO, UNISA Student, www.ontherecord-unisa.com.au
(May 27, 2013)
At the convenience of just a touch of a button, residents can now report issues to their local council in less than 30 seconds.
The application ‘Snap Send Solve’ allows users to capture and report on issues including graffiti, litter, parking, street cleaning, trees and noise, or make a general request or give feedback. After snapping a photo, the app determines the user’s local council through the smartphone’s GPS location.
The server then sends back all relevant details, including the council’s location and contact information. All reports are sent from the app via the user’s email address, so the council can communicate directly to fix the issue.
Campbelltown resident Matt DeRossi says he uses the app on a regular basis and finds it useful.
“I have sent three emails and many phone complaints to the council to come and collect dumped rubbish on my property and waited five weeks with no response. Last week I used the app to report graffiti and it was gone within 24 hours,” Mr DeRossi says.
He believes the app was definitely worth downloading and has told all his neighbours and family about how effective it is.
“The great thing about it is the convenience and simplicity; I’ve even used it on a lost dog and had an immediate response,” he says. “Advances in technology have flourished… useful apps like this make our community a safer and cleaner place to live.”
Continue reading ...
At the convenience of just a touch of a button, residents can now report issues to their local council in less than 30 seconds.
The application ‘Snap Send Solve’ allows users to capture and report on issues including graffiti, litter, parking, street cleaning, trees and noise, or make a general request or give feedback. After snapping a photo, the app determines the user’s local council through the smartphone’s GPS location.
The server then sends back all relevant details, including the council’s location and contact information. All reports are sent from the app via the user’s email address, so the council can communicate directly to fix the issue.
Campbelltown resident Matt DeRossi says he uses the app on a regular basis and finds it useful.
“I have sent three emails and many phone complaints to the council to come and collect dumped rubbish on my property and waited five weeks with no response. Last week I used the app to report graffiti and it was gone within 24 hours,” Mr DeRossi says.
He believes the app was definitely worth downloading and has told all his neighbours and family about how effective it is.
“The great thing about it is the convenience and simplicity; I’ve even used it on a lost dog and had an immediate response,” he says. “Advances in technology have flourished… useful apps like this make our community a safer and cleaner place to live.”
Continue reading ...
Non-profit has tons of success clearing litter from Pennsylvania waterways
(May 20, 2013)
Cereal maker, Post, sponsors Paddle Without Pollution, a nonprofit organization, which cleans waterways throughout Pennsylvania and cleared 2.6 tons of litter from Chartiers Creek in April. In honor of the 60th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary's historic ascent of Mount Everest, Patch and Grape-Nuts are teaming up to highlight those who inspire people around them to climb their own mountains. This story was originally posted on the ChartiersValley Patch.
Melissa Rohm and her husband, David, both avid kayakers, got tired of picking litter out of the waterways that they love. So, they founded the nonprofit organization Paddle Without Pollution to make a difference.
"In the summer of 2011, we launched our kayaks on the South Side downtown just for kicks and thought we'd paddle to Heinz Field and come back," Melissa said. "We didn't get very far when we started seeing just piles and piles of trash. When you're down on the water, you get a really close-up view."
Melissa said that she off-handedly suggested organizing regular waterway cleanups, and her husband came up with a name—and a plan. She said that it can be discouraging to see so much trash in the water. But the volunteers also come across wildlife, including—once—a small alligator, which Melissa said is rewarding because it reminds them of how important their work is. Kayaks provide a low-impact way of working in the environment and allow volunteers to reach places that motor crews can't access, Melissa said.
Paddle Without Pollution now sponsors about 16 events per year and uses volunteers in kayaks and canoes to clean up rivers, creeks, lakes and wetlands across Pennsylvania. Each cleanup attracts between 20 and 50 volunteers, and Melissa said that volunteers do not need to have kayaking or canoeing experience to help out. In April, the group tackled Chartiers Creek in Upper St. Clair and South Fayette townships, pulling a whopping 2.6 tons of trash from the water.
"Every cleanup, you find interesting things," Melissa said. "You have to laugh at what you find. You think, 'How does this stuff get in there?'
Someone found a 20-pack of Ramen noodles, all kinds of toys, a ladder, and one water ski—and tires, like always."
And the group will continue its mission, which is more about the environment than the sport.
"We're not hardcore kayakers; we're hardcore passionate about the water," Melissa said. "We're around it all the time, and we want to see it be healthy."
Cereal maker, Post, sponsors Paddle Without Pollution, a nonprofit organization, which cleans waterways throughout Pennsylvania and cleared 2.6 tons of litter from Chartiers Creek in April. In honor of the 60th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary's historic ascent of Mount Everest, Patch and Grape-Nuts are teaming up to highlight those who inspire people around them to climb their own mountains. This story was originally posted on the ChartiersValley Patch.
Melissa Rohm and her husband, David, both avid kayakers, got tired of picking litter out of the waterways that they love. So, they founded the nonprofit organization Paddle Without Pollution to make a difference.
"In the summer of 2011, we launched our kayaks on the South Side downtown just for kicks and thought we'd paddle to Heinz Field and come back," Melissa said. "We didn't get very far when we started seeing just piles and piles of trash. When you're down on the water, you get a really close-up view."
Melissa said that she off-handedly suggested organizing regular waterway cleanups, and her husband came up with a name—and a plan. She said that it can be discouraging to see so much trash in the water. But the volunteers also come across wildlife, including—once—a small alligator, which Melissa said is rewarding because it reminds them of how important their work is. Kayaks provide a low-impact way of working in the environment and allow volunteers to reach places that motor crews can't access, Melissa said.
Paddle Without Pollution now sponsors about 16 events per year and uses volunteers in kayaks and canoes to clean up rivers, creeks, lakes and wetlands across Pennsylvania. Each cleanup attracts between 20 and 50 volunteers, and Melissa said that volunteers do not need to have kayaking or canoeing experience to help out. In April, the group tackled Chartiers Creek in Upper St. Clair and South Fayette townships, pulling a whopping 2.6 tons of trash from the water.
"Every cleanup, you find interesting things," Melissa said. "You have to laugh at what you find. You think, 'How does this stuff get in there?'
Someone found a 20-pack of Ramen noodles, all kinds of toys, a ladder, and one water ski—and tires, like always."
And the group will continue its mission, which is more about the environment than the sport.
"We're not hardcore kayakers; we're hardcore passionate about the water," Melissa said. "We're around it all the time, and we want to see it be healthy."
UK surfer starts wave against Bank Holiday tourists who leave litter behind to ruin beaches
(May 15, 2013)
Local Carl Walsh wants to surf and he wants people not to turf. The surfer is pushing for the appointment of town litter wardens after holiday weekend beach visitors left a load of litter behind them. The Scarborough News tells the story:
A Scarborough surfer is calling for action on beach litter after South Bay beach was left strewn with rubbish after the Bank Holiday weekend.
Carl Walsh, who has Vibe surf shop in St Nicholas Cliff, says he was shocked at the state of the beach when he went down to do one of his daily surf reports. He is now calling for Scarborough Council to consider the idea of litter wardens, as he believes that enforcing the law on littering is the only way to protect our precious coastline.
Local Carl Walsh wants to surf and he wants people not to turf. The surfer is pushing for the appointment of town litter wardens after holiday weekend beach visitors left a load of litter behind them. The Scarborough News tells the story:
A Scarborough surfer is calling for action on beach litter after South Bay beach was left strewn with rubbish after the Bank Holiday weekend.
Carl Walsh, who has Vibe surf shop in St Nicholas Cliff, says he was shocked at the state of the beach when he went down to do one of his daily surf reports. He is now calling for Scarborough Council to consider the idea of litter wardens, as he believes that enforcing the law on littering is the only way to protect our precious coastline.
South West Australian town is litter free because of this man
(May 9, 2013)
Walpole proudly declares itself as a “litter free” town and this can be largely attributed to one man, Michael Filby. Mr Filby ensures hundreds of kilometres of highway in the South West are kept a litter free zone and collects rubbish along the No.1 Highway from Kent River in the east to the Shannon River in the north on a weekly basis. He has created a rubbish bag holder that is attached to his car during his cleaning missions.
A former landscape photographer, Mr Filby said he felt an obligation to keep Walpole clean and described the act of littering as “disgraceful” and “unacceptable”.
“If you notice when you come into Walpole it says ‘welcome to litter-free Walpole’ and that is significant,” Mr Filby said. “Walpole is the first town, or the first district, to declare itself ‘litter-free’, when you go to any other town in Australia you’ll find ‘don’t litter’,” he said.
Mr Filby said he had the authority to issue on-the-spot fines to anyone he sees littering.
Manjimup shire councillor Dave Tapley who is also on the council for Keep Australia Beautiful described Mr Filby’s efforts as “marvellous”.
“The job he does is truly incredible and people don’t realise the effort, it’s just massive,” Mr Tapley said.
Mr Filby said he would continue to protect the Walpole area and hopes to play a role in eliminating littering in Australia.
(From Manjimup-Bridgetown Times)
Walpole proudly declares itself as a “litter free” town and this can be largely attributed to one man, Michael Filby. Mr Filby ensures hundreds of kilometres of highway in the South West are kept a litter free zone and collects rubbish along the No.1 Highway from Kent River in the east to the Shannon River in the north on a weekly basis. He has created a rubbish bag holder that is attached to his car during his cleaning missions.
A former landscape photographer, Mr Filby said he felt an obligation to keep Walpole clean and described the act of littering as “disgraceful” and “unacceptable”.
“If you notice when you come into Walpole it says ‘welcome to litter-free Walpole’ and that is significant,” Mr Filby said. “Walpole is the first town, or the first district, to declare itself ‘litter-free’, when you go to any other town in Australia you’ll find ‘don’t litter’,” he said.
Mr Filby said he had the authority to issue on-the-spot fines to anyone he sees littering.
Manjimup shire councillor Dave Tapley who is also on the council for Keep Australia Beautiful described Mr Filby’s efforts as “marvellous”.
“The job he does is truly incredible and people don’t realise the effort, it’s just massive,” Mr Tapley said.
Mr Filby said he would continue to protect the Walpole area and hopes to play a role in eliminating littering in Australia.
(From Manjimup-Bridgetown Times)
Twin Lakes, Ontario student an Earth Day Canada scholarship recipient
by Sara Ross, Orillia Packet & Times
(May 4, 2013)
ORILLIA - When Kelsey Shaw noticed the world’s environmental health was only getting worse, she decided to take action.
“I’m going to have to do something about it,” the Twin Lakes Secondary School student recalled thinking in Grade 9.
Shaw — now in Grade 12 — has done a lot.
She restarted the school’s Green Team, which had sat stagnant for seven years, brought a composting program to the school, reforested the school grounds, got involved in community environmental groups and more.
“The only way I was going to make a difference is getting involved in the community and getting my peers involved in the school,” Shaw said.
For her leadership skills and dedication to the environment, Shaw has been named a 2013 Toyota Earth Day Scholarship winner.
Earth Day Canada — a national environmental charity — and Toyota Canada Inc. awarded 20 eco-conscious students across the country with $5,000 scholarships. Read more ...
ORILLIA - When Kelsey Shaw noticed the world’s environmental health was only getting worse, she decided to take action.
“I’m going to have to do something about it,” the Twin Lakes Secondary School student recalled thinking in Grade 9.
Shaw — now in Grade 12 — has done a lot.
She restarted the school’s Green Team, which had sat stagnant for seven years, brought a composting program to the school, reforested the school grounds, got involved in community environmental groups and more.
“The only way I was going to make a difference is getting involved in the community and getting my peers involved in the school,” Shaw said.
For her leadership skills and dedication to the environment, Shaw has been named a 2013 Toyota Earth Day Scholarship winner.
Earth Day Canada — a national environmental charity — and Toyota Canada Inc. awarded 20 eco-conscious students across the country with $5,000 scholarships. Read more ...
Teen’s project aimed at ending cigarette butt litter
(April 28, 2013)
Don’t be a Butthead. That’s the message 17-year-old Noah Hamil is trying to get out to the community. But it’s not some crude name-calling campaign. As part of his Eagle Scout service project, Noah is spearheading a community-wide clean-up campaign aimed specifically at cleaning up discarded cigarette butts and making residents aware of the problems they cause when carelessly thrown on the ground. Noah and 35 other Rome residents recently went out to some of the busiest intersections in Rome to clean up cigarette butts. Friends and fellow scouts joined Noah at intersections along 11 miles from Huffaker Road to Riveside Parkway and from Hwy. 41 to 8th Street where they spent several hours picking up hundreds of cigarette butts. With the help of the Rome Police Department, the cleanup crew (whose members ranged in age from 8 to 40) scoured the sidewalk, grass and pavement around the intersections and the result was 20 one-gallon bags filled with cigarette butts. “And that’s only at those intersections,” Noah said. “Of course people throw cigarette butts everywhere but major intersections where people have to slow down or change directions is usually where you see the most cigarette butts. So that’s where we focused our attention.” Noah’s public awareness campaign is his Eagle Scout project but he also feels strongly about the issue. “I really want people to be aware of the harm that cigarette butts have on the environment when you just throw them on the ground,” Noah said. CONTINUE READING ... |
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Climate change affecting Earth Day cleanup schedules?
New York organizers talk date change after weather puts damper on another Beautify Niagara event
by Timothy Chipp / Niagara Gazette
(April 21, 2013)
Since 2006, the Niagara Beautification Commission has been living up to its name with massive, citywide cleanup efforts. But this year’s fell victim to a strong dose of Mother Nature’s wrath Saturday.
Two days after thermometers touched 80 degrees, snowflakes whipped through the air and a brutal wind made it difficult for volunteers to pick up some of the trash around Niagara Falls during the latest Beautify Niagara.
After rain spoiled the 2012 cleanup, organizer Norma Higgs said she’s considering a date change.
“I think next year, we’re going to move it to May,” Higgs said through a smile, despite the temperature barely reaching 40 degrees Saturday afternoon. “With last year and now this year, it’s been brutal. In past years, we had nice days. We’d have kids playing in the park. But climate change has really changed the seasons.” Continue reading ...
Since 2006, the Niagara Beautification Commission has been living up to its name with massive, citywide cleanup efforts. But this year’s fell victim to a strong dose of Mother Nature’s wrath Saturday.
Two days after thermometers touched 80 degrees, snowflakes whipped through the air and a brutal wind made it difficult for volunteers to pick up some of the trash around Niagara Falls during the latest Beautify Niagara.
After rain spoiled the 2012 cleanup, organizer Norma Higgs said she’s considering a date change.
“I think next year, we’re going to move it to May,” Higgs said through a smile, despite the temperature barely reaching 40 degrees Saturday afternoon. “With last year and now this year, it’s been brutal. In past years, we had nice days. We’d have kids playing in the park. But climate change has really changed the seasons.” Continue reading ...
Hospital services more like a hotel's
Litter prevention a factor and a focus of CEO's strategy
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(April 16, 2013)
CHICAGO: CEO Paul Pawlak prides himself on the hospital's culture, which he says he patterned after top restaurants and hotels. Silver Cross employees must greet visitors, pick up litter immediately and take guests to their destinations rather than give directions, he says, adding, “It's contagious.” |
Street Art and no Litter
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(April 12, 2013)
BASEL: Inspired by the success of similar programs using street art to encourage respect for a clean city, shochzwei has launched a project they are calling “Streetart Littering Basel.” To drive this anti-littering campaign, waste baskets have been converted into canvases for art. In early May, these receptacles will be displayed along the Rheinufer (Rhine walkway) between the Wettstein and Dreirosen bridges. For all the details (in German) with an executive summary (in English), download the report here. |
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Texas Trash Off event educates youth on littering
by Mason W. Canales | Killeen Daily Herald
“It really teaches the youth on why not to litter ... because you see the results right away.”
Cathie Gail, Executive Director, Keep Texas Beautiful on promoting litter education
(April 9, 2013)
Killeen and Copperas Cove residents will take part in the state’s largest litter education and clean up Saturday.
The Don’t Mess with Texas Trash Off is the largest one-day event in the state, said Craig Good, a board member of Keep Killeen Beautiful.
“(The Trash Off) began in 1986 as a call to action to refrain from littering on that particular day,” said Cathie Gail, executive director of Keep Texas Beautiful. “Now we have hundreds and hundreds of communities across the state that participate in thousands of events.”
The event isn’t just about collecting trash from roadways; it also promotes litter education.
“It really teaches the youth on why not to litter ... because you see the results right away,” Gail said.
Silvia Rhoads, executive director of Keep Copperas Cove Beautiful, said participating residents get first-hand experience seeing what people are littering and how much trash is being tossed out car windows, she said.
Another benefit is the cost savings of not having to pay state employees or contractors to clean up the roadways, said Ken Roberts, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Transportation.
“The cost savings to the taxpayer is significant because of the participation of our volunteers,” he said.
Recent success
Last year, more than 87,000 volunteers participated in 2,017 events, Gail said.
In TxDOT’s Waco district, there were about 8,000 volunteers in last year’s trash off, including about a third of the area’s 229 adopt-a-highway groups, Roberts said.
Keep Killeen Beautiful organized more than 450 volunteers who gathered more than 6,500 pounds of trash while Keep Copperas Cove Beautiful had about 80 residents collect 480 pounds of trash last year. Both groups are hoping for larger turnouts this year.
“Our goal is to increase the volunteers of Keep Killeen Beautiful,” Good said. “But it also is a goal to promote awareness of our environment and to educate everyone in that area.”
Cove’s group is hoping to break 100 volunteers this year, Rhoads said.
While the trash off is a one-day event, TxDOT hopes it encourages more adopt-a-highway members to clean roads all year, Roberts said.
“It still comes back to pride. Don’t Mess with Texas is about litter reduction, litter education, but it is also about pride and the natural beauty of the state,” he said.
Killeen and Copperas Cove residents will take part in the state’s largest litter education and clean up Saturday.
The Don’t Mess with Texas Trash Off is the largest one-day event in the state, said Craig Good, a board member of Keep Killeen Beautiful.
“(The Trash Off) began in 1986 as a call to action to refrain from littering on that particular day,” said Cathie Gail, executive director of Keep Texas Beautiful. “Now we have hundreds and hundreds of communities across the state that participate in thousands of events.”
The event isn’t just about collecting trash from roadways; it also promotes litter education.
“It really teaches the youth on why not to litter ... because you see the results right away,” Gail said.
Silvia Rhoads, executive director of Keep Copperas Cove Beautiful, said participating residents get first-hand experience seeing what people are littering and how much trash is being tossed out car windows, she said.
Another benefit is the cost savings of not having to pay state employees or contractors to clean up the roadways, said Ken Roberts, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Transportation.
“The cost savings to the taxpayer is significant because of the participation of our volunteers,” he said.
Recent success
Last year, more than 87,000 volunteers participated in 2,017 events, Gail said.
In TxDOT’s Waco district, there were about 8,000 volunteers in last year’s trash off, including about a third of the area’s 229 adopt-a-highway groups, Roberts said.
Keep Killeen Beautiful organized more than 450 volunteers who gathered more than 6,500 pounds of trash while Keep Copperas Cove Beautiful had about 80 residents collect 480 pounds of trash last year. Both groups are hoping for larger turnouts this year.
“Our goal is to increase the volunteers of Keep Killeen Beautiful,” Good said. “But it also is a goal to promote awareness of our environment and to educate everyone in that area.”
Cove’s group is hoping to break 100 volunteers this year, Rhoads said.
While the trash off is a one-day event, TxDOT hopes it encourages more adopt-a-highway members to clean roads all year, Roberts said.
“It still comes back to pride. Don’t Mess with Texas is about litter reduction, litter education, but it is also about pride and the natural beauty of the state,” he said.
Gallery shame for litter louts
From Lancashire Evening Post
(April 5, 2013)
Litter louts have been pictured on a rogue's gallery at a Preston shopping centre in a new bid to clean up a £2-mllion problem. Preston Council waste bosses are cracking down on lazy litter droppers by printing CCTV pictures of them caught in the act.
The first images were unveiled at an information stall in the St George's Shopping Centre yesterday, but their faces were partly obscured as the council wants to focus on education over the next few weeks before looking at prosecution. Further unobscured photos will be printed in the Evening Post from May as part of the council's campaign to clean up the city centre. Waste enforcement officers captured almost a dozen offences within just an hour of surveillance on the Flag Market, using their mobile CCTV van.
All of the litter louts were snapped sitting within a few yards of a bin, but tossed their rubbish on the ground instead of disposing of it properly.
Within minutes of setting up the stall yesterday, waste bosses spotted two of the culprits from the CCTV, an elderly couple, in the mall. The pair were confronted but denied the photo showed them dropping cigarette butts by a bench outside the Harris Museum.
Anne Millne-Riley, litter education officer at the council, said: "People who drop litter are sometimes embarrassed when you tackle them.
Some will say, 'I didn't know dropping cigarette butts was littering.' Other will say, It's keeping people in a job picking it up.' It's just irresponsible really.
"If people are educated, they will hopefully change their ways."
Waste enforcement officer Paul Cookson added culprits could be hit with an £80 fixed penalty notice. He said: "People are not thinking about what they are doing, but they are committing a criminal offence."
Littering and fly-tipping costs Preston Council almost £2-million a year to clean up. Coun Robert Boswell, cabinet member for environment, said: "That is a lot of money out of a budget of £23m - about eight or nine per cent of council tax."
Source: "Gallery shame for litter louts." Europe Intelligence Wire. 2013. Retrieved April 05, 2013 from accessmylibrary:
Litter louts have been pictured on a rogue's gallery at a Preston shopping centre in a new bid to clean up a £2-mllion problem. Preston Council waste bosses are cracking down on lazy litter droppers by printing CCTV pictures of them caught in the act.
The first images were unveiled at an information stall in the St George's Shopping Centre yesterday, but their faces were partly obscured as the council wants to focus on education over the next few weeks before looking at prosecution. Further unobscured photos will be printed in the Evening Post from May as part of the council's campaign to clean up the city centre. Waste enforcement officers captured almost a dozen offences within just an hour of surveillance on the Flag Market, using their mobile CCTV van.
All of the litter louts were snapped sitting within a few yards of a bin, but tossed their rubbish on the ground instead of disposing of it properly.
Within minutes of setting up the stall yesterday, waste bosses spotted two of the culprits from the CCTV, an elderly couple, in the mall. The pair were confronted but denied the photo showed them dropping cigarette butts by a bench outside the Harris Museum.
Anne Millne-Riley, litter education officer at the council, said: "People who drop litter are sometimes embarrassed when you tackle them.
Some will say, 'I didn't know dropping cigarette butts was littering.' Other will say, It's keeping people in a job picking it up.' It's just irresponsible really.
"If people are educated, they will hopefully change their ways."
Waste enforcement officer Paul Cookson added culprits could be hit with an £80 fixed penalty notice. He said: "People are not thinking about what they are doing, but they are committing a criminal offence."
Littering and fly-tipping costs Preston Council almost £2-million a year to clean up. Coun Robert Boswell, cabinet member for environment, said: "That is a lot of money out of a budget of £23m - about eight or nine per cent of council tax."
Source: "Gallery shame for litter louts." Europe Intelligence Wire. 2013. Retrieved April 05, 2013 from accessmylibrary:
Imagine That: Saying rubbish to littering!
By Gene Newman
COLUMNIST, NorthJersey.com
(April 3, 2013)
I’m getting tired of picking up after Ronald McDonald and his girlfriend, Wendy. Any fast-food place within a couple of miles of public parks and other nature sites like beautiful Lake Parsippany should be made to use camouflaged patterns on plates, cups and packages. Then when their messier customers toss this debris around, it won’t be so visible.
They say litter breeds litter. If a once pristine lawn looks like it’s almost a garbage dump, it will soon become a full-fledged one and neighboring property values will plummet.
Litter cleanup costs this country $11.5 billion a year and more than half of the rubbish comprises fast-food waste, paper and plastic. Crows and pigeons might take care of the edible stuff (not to mention flies, roving bears and rats), but what about the paper and the non-degradable plastic? How about Happy Meal plates made out of compressed birdseed and beer bottles made from pretzel dough? You could drink a little and then eat a little. It’s just a thought.
There’s an anti-obesity movement on that might increase our littering problems. If Chubby can no longer buy his favorite 16-ounce high-calorie beverage, he might opt for two 12-ounce drinks. That way we’ll end up with more litter and even more Chubby.
Also, anti-littering laws should be more stringently enforced. Repeat offenders could be sentenced to do a stretch of community service, picking up after their fellow litterbugs. It could be flexible with a sentence of 90 days or one ton, whichever comes first.
I’m getting tired of picking up after Ronald McDonald and his girlfriend, Wendy. Any fast-food place within a couple of miles of public parks and other nature sites like beautiful Lake Parsippany should be made to use camouflaged patterns on plates, cups and packages. Then when their messier customers toss this debris around, it won’t be so visible.
They say litter breeds litter. If a once pristine lawn looks like it’s almost a garbage dump, it will soon become a full-fledged one and neighboring property values will plummet.
Litter cleanup costs this country $11.5 billion a year and more than half of the rubbish comprises fast-food waste, paper and plastic. Crows and pigeons might take care of the edible stuff (not to mention flies, roving bears and rats), but what about the paper and the non-degradable plastic? How about Happy Meal plates made out of compressed birdseed and beer bottles made from pretzel dough? You could drink a little and then eat a little. It’s just a thought.
There’s an anti-obesity movement on that might increase our littering problems. If Chubby can no longer buy his favorite 16-ounce high-calorie beverage, he might opt for two 12-ounce drinks. That way we’ll end up with more litter and even more Chubby.
Also, anti-littering laws should be more stringently enforced. Repeat offenders could be sentenced to do a stretch of community service, picking up after their fellow litterbugs. It could be flexible with a sentence of 90 days or one ton, whichever comes first.
Volunteers turn out in force for annual Thorpeness beach clean
By Craig Robinson
From Felixstowe Star
(March 30, 2013)
Hardy volunteers braved icy easterly winds for a popular Easter tradition to ensure a stretch of coastline remains in tip-top condition.
Around 40 bags of rubbish were collected along Thorpeness beach yesterday. The clean up is a popular Good Friday tradition and attracted around 80 volunteers, including a number of families.
Organiser Bill Crow was delighted with the turnout.
“I really can’t thank people enough,” he said. “It went incredibly well. There was glorious sunshine but the conditions were quite difficult. We were working in an easterly wind and there was a very high tide which made it tricky. There was nothing out of the ordinary found but the beach was in a shocking state. Because of the easterly winds there was a huge amount of rubbish coming in from ships out to sea.”
Mr Crow said the clean up was a great family event and they encouraged children to make up stories about the litter they found, with the most creative winning a prize.
“One family has been coming for five years,” he said. “They book their holiday around it. So many people say it’s a great way to start Easter. It’s very humbling.
“We just aim for people to have as much fun as possible.”
Mr Crow also paid tribute to Suffolk Coastal District Council, which provided all the equipment for the clean up, and The Dolphin Inn, where volunteers gathered afterwards for wine and cheese.
Hardy volunteers braved icy easterly winds for a popular Easter tradition to ensure a stretch of coastline remains in tip-top condition.
Around 40 bags of rubbish were collected along Thorpeness beach yesterday. The clean up is a popular Good Friday tradition and attracted around 80 volunteers, including a number of families.
Organiser Bill Crow was delighted with the turnout.
“I really can’t thank people enough,” he said. “It went incredibly well. There was glorious sunshine but the conditions were quite difficult. We were working in an easterly wind and there was a very high tide which made it tricky. There was nothing out of the ordinary found but the beach was in a shocking state. Because of the easterly winds there was a huge amount of rubbish coming in from ships out to sea.”
Mr Crow said the clean up was a great family event and they encouraged children to make up stories about the litter they found, with the most creative winning a prize.
“One family has been coming for five years,” he said. “They book their holiday around it. So many people say it’s a great way to start Easter. It’s very humbling.
“We just aim for people to have as much fun as possible.”
Mr Crow also paid tribute to Suffolk Coastal District Council, which provided all the equipment for the clean up, and The Dolphin Inn, where volunteers gathered afterwards for wine and cheese.
Mayor's 'scumbag' comment causes firestorm
by Emily Previti
As reported in pennlive.com
(March 28, 2013)
Perry County residents and officials want Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson to apologize for a derogatory comment she made during a news conference Wednesday.
"[She's] calling people scumbags who she knows nothing about," said Ted Houtz of Landisburg. "She’s said a lot of dumb things over the course of her tenure, but this has to be one of the worst things I’ve ever heard her say."
Houtz was referring to a comment Thompson made during a news conference Wednesday about privatizing waste collection in the city.
"We're not opening up our flood gates for some scumbag that comes from Perry County who … comes here and wants to dump for free," Thompson said.
Perry County residents and officials want Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson to apologize for a derogatory comment she made during a news conference Wednesday.
"[She's] calling people scumbags who she knows nothing about," said Ted Houtz of Landisburg. "She’s said a lot of dumb things over the course of her tenure, but this has to be one of the worst things I’ve ever heard her say."
Houtz was referring to a comment Thompson made during a news conference Wednesday about privatizing waste collection in the city.
"We're not opening up our flood gates for some scumbag that comes from Perry County who … comes here and wants to dump for free," Thompson said.
Will Scotland Be Green in Twenty-Fourteen?
by Sheila White, Publisher, litterpreventionprogram.com
(March 22, 2013)
Can Scotland do it? Can this ambitious country get clean by 2014? That is the standard laid down by the national government at a private summit in Edinburgh this week. Higher fines. More clean teams. Rigid enforcement. Education. The pillars are set for a nation set on ridding its land of litter in time for a bevy of tourism events, the Commonwealth Games, Ryder Cup and The Homecoming among them.
I must say Scotland is doing a lot of things right. A Summit on Litter might inspire other countries to do the same. Although a closed affair, the spotlight was right where it should be and litter interests from Zero Waste Scotland, the National Trust, private businesses, invited agencies and politicians were all there in a room dealing with it.
Where I live there exists a certain blindness of convenience, an unwillingness to fully admit to a litter problem. They don’t want to look at the behaviour because they are unsure of how to fix it. The real solution is outside their box.
Conference coordinator Catherine Wilson and her team deserve praise for pulling off such an effort in such a short period of time, five months. However, doubt about the effort’s success cloud what should be an optimistic time for everyone.
'Will their proposed measures work?' is the question some wonder aloud before the summit even closes.
To an extent the efforts are destined to succeed by virtue of the number of people committed to them. But if Scotland is seeking to change littering behaviours, there’s a missing link that represents a new approach to dealing with littering. This is what I am told we have discovered by linking litter themes to memorable, catchy interactive songs. Because what’s missing in all the strategies is the element of music and the power it delivers to motivate, to inspire, to remember. Indeed, our program has been described as the “secret weapon”.
The heavy stick of fines and enforcement comes from the school of last resort. Far more effective is to make someone laugh, make them relaxed and receptive, then make them mindful.
Littering is an act of mindlessness. Until authorities come to better understand this point, the cycle of littering may well continue, even after Scotland pretties itself for an estimated 250,000 visitors next year. (Statistically, four in ten of them are prone to littering.)
While I was unable to participate in Scotland’s Litter Summit, I hold great hopes that one of the world’s more progressive countries will seek me out and look at what we’re doing. They need our 'weapon' in their toolbox.
Can Scotland do it? Can this ambitious country get clean by 2014? That is the standard laid down by the national government at a private summit in Edinburgh this week. Higher fines. More clean teams. Rigid enforcement. Education. The pillars are set for a nation set on ridding its land of litter in time for a bevy of tourism events, the Commonwealth Games, Ryder Cup and The Homecoming among them.
I must say Scotland is doing a lot of things right. A Summit on Litter might inspire other countries to do the same. Although a closed affair, the spotlight was right where it should be and litter interests from Zero Waste Scotland, the National Trust, private businesses, invited agencies and politicians were all there in a room dealing with it.
Where I live there exists a certain blindness of convenience, an unwillingness to fully admit to a litter problem. They don’t want to look at the behaviour because they are unsure of how to fix it. The real solution is outside their box.
Conference coordinator Catherine Wilson and her team deserve praise for pulling off such an effort in such a short period of time, five months. However, doubt about the effort’s success cloud what should be an optimistic time for everyone.
'Will their proposed measures work?' is the question some wonder aloud before the summit even closes.
To an extent the efforts are destined to succeed by virtue of the number of people committed to them. But if Scotland is seeking to change littering behaviours, there’s a missing link that represents a new approach to dealing with littering. This is what I am told we have discovered by linking litter themes to memorable, catchy interactive songs. Because what’s missing in all the strategies is the element of music and the power it delivers to motivate, to inspire, to remember. Indeed, our program has been described as the “secret weapon”.
The heavy stick of fines and enforcement comes from the school of last resort. Far more effective is to make someone laugh, make them relaxed and receptive, then make them mindful.
Littering is an act of mindlessness. Until authorities come to better understand this point, the cycle of littering may well continue, even after Scotland pretties itself for an estimated 250,000 visitors next year. (Statistically, four in ten of them are prone to littering.)
While I was unable to participate in Scotland’s Litter Summit, I hold great hopes that one of the world’s more progressive countries will seek me out and look at what we’re doing. They need our 'weapon' in their toolbox.
Vigilante dad fights crime on days off, including littering
by Martin Zavan, "A Current Affair" (Australia)
(March 14, 2013)
A Queensland security guard fed up with shoplifters is dedicating his spare time to fighting crime — armed with a video camera and a vigilante attitude. Logan resident Kevin Martin told A Current Affair that seeing people get away with stealing drove him to start his one-man anti-crime crusade, where he films troublemakers and restrains them until the police arrive.
"I'm just sick of them getting away with it. I'm just sick of it," Mr Martin said. "It's just getting worse and worse and worse."
When he's not nabbing shoplifters at the mall where he works, the father of nine patrols the streets of Central Queensland in his car, keenly monitoring his police scanner and eagerly awaiting a chance to help out the boys in blue.
"I love listening to the scanner… I like listening to it because when I'm working at a shopping centre or when I'm working I like to know when there's a stolen car in the area," Mr Martin said. "If I see it enter the shopping centre. I'll notify police."
Home videos shot by Mr Martin show him pursuing stolen cars, catching alleged shoplifters and aggressively confronting suspected litter bugs.
A Queensland security guard fed up with shoplifters is dedicating his spare time to fighting crime — armed with a video camera and a vigilante attitude. Logan resident Kevin Martin told A Current Affair that seeing people get away with stealing drove him to start his one-man anti-crime crusade, where he films troublemakers and restrains them until the police arrive.
"I'm just sick of them getting away with it. I'm just sick of it," Mr Martin said. "It's just getting worse and worse and worse."
When he's not nabbing shoplifters at the mall where he works, the father of nine patrols the streets of Central Queensland in his car, keenly monitoring his police scanner and eagerly awaiting a chance to help out the boys in blue.
"I love listening to the scanner… I like listening to it because when I'm working at a shopping centre or when I'm working I like to know when there's a stolen car in the area," Mr Martin said. "If I see it enter the shopping centre. I'll notify police."
Home videos shot by Mr Martin show him pursuing stolen cars, catching alleged shoplifters and aggressively confronting suspected litter bugs.
Butts banned at the beach - a Canadian breakthrough
Fines for lighting up in Manitoba parks to be $299
by Bruce Owen, Winnipeg Free Press
(March 8, 2013)
The only butt on the beach should be yours.
That was the message from the province Thursday as it revealed plans to ban smoking at its 82 public beaches, including Grand Beach, and the dozens of playgrounds in its provincial parks by the summer of 2014.
"We don't think that our beautiful sand beaches should be park ashtrays," Conservation and Water Stewardship Minister Gord Mackintosh said. "We only want one kind of butt on our beaches."
During the first year of the ban, park officials will only hand out warnings to offenders, Mackintosh said. By 2015, offence notices will be issued carrying a fine of $299.
Manitoba is the first province in Canada to make its public beaches and playgrounds smoke-free in all of its parks. Some American states such as California and Hawaii have had smoke-free parks and beaches for years. Jurisdictions in other countries have also brought in similar rules.
That was the message from the province Thursday as it revealed plans to ban smoking at its 82 public beaches, including Grand Beach, and the dozens of playgrounds in its provincial parks by the summer of 2014.
"We don't think that our beautiful sand beaches should be park ashtrays," Conservation and Water Stewardship Minister Gord Mackintosh said. "We only want one kind of butt on our beaches."
During the first year of the ban, park officials will only hand out warnings to offenders, Mackintosh said. By 2015, offence notices will be issued carrying a fine of $299.
Manitoba is the first province in Canada to make its public beaches and playgrounds smoke-free in all of its parks. Some American states such as California and Hawaii have had smoke-free parks and beaches for years. Jurisdictions in other countries have also brought in similar rules.
From The Scottish Sun: "Pick of the Litter"
Dogs pick up litter and set an example for us humans
by Moira Kerr
A DOG owner has dubbed her two mutts the Wombles — because they can’t stop collecting litter. [Evidence that dogs are smarter than some people? - Ed.]
Fiona Woodhouse’s pooches Zarah and Kyah are obsessed with clearing rubbish, just like the furry Seventies telly favourites.
Fiona and daughter Anna-May, 11, bag and dispose of mounds of debris brought to them on forest walks around Oban, Argyll.
Fiona, who runs Lochandubh Kennels in the town, says the dogs’ recycling habit started as pups when she taught them to be gun dogs on pheasant shoots.
She said: “They’re trained to retrieve but now they hunt in the undergrowth for rubbish and sniff it out. ”They pick up cans, bottles, newspapers and cartons — they are the Wombles of Lochandubh, doing their bit for the planet.”
Expert Charles Court said: “Dogs are more devoted in terms of environmental consciousness than we are.” (June 26, 2012)
Fiona Woodhouse’s pooches Zarah and Kyah are obsessed with clearing rubbish, just like the furry Seventies telly favourites.
Fiona and daughter Anna-May, 11, bag and dispose of mounds of debris brought to them on forest walks around Oban, Argyll.
Fiona, who runs Lochandubh Kennels in the town, says the dogs’ recycling habit started as pups when she taught them to be gun dogs on pheasant shoots.
She said: “They’re trained to retrieve but now they hunt in the undergrowth for rubbish and sniff it out. ”They pick up cans, bottles, newspapers and cartons — they are the Wombles of Lochandubh, doing their bit for the planet.”
Expert Charles Court said: “Dogs are more devoted in terms of environmental consciousness than we are.” (June 26, 2012)
Michael Sheen: Littering leads to low self-esteem
by Carl Yapp, BBC News
Hollywood actor Michael Sheen says he gets "very upset" by people throwing litter and it leads to communities having a low sense of self-esteem.
The Queen and Frost/Nixon star, from Port Talbot, is an ambassador for the anti-litter group Keep Wales Tidy (KWT).
Sheen has urged people to take more responsibility for their communities. At the end of KWT's 40th anniversary year it said cigarette ends still made up the largest proportion of litter ...
The Queen and Frost/Nixon star, from Port Talbot, is an ambassador for the anti-litter group Keep Wales Tidy (KWT).
Sheen has urged people to take more responsibility for their communities. At the end of KWT's 40th anniversary year it said cigarette ends still made up the largest proportion of litter ...
Mahoning County’s trailblazing recycling director retires today
by Peter H. Milliken of vindy.com
OHIO - DEC. 31, 2012 - Jim Petuch, the man who has personified litter control and recycling in Youngstown and Mahoning County for the past 30 years, retires today as county recycling director.
A native of Sharpsville, Pa., and a graduate of Slippery Rock State University, Petuch, 60, taught English in the Greenville, Pa., schools before moving to San Diego to work as Sea World’s merchandise manager.
Petuch’s litter-control and recycling career began in April 1982, when then City Health Commissioner Neil Altman hired him from among about 200 civil- service-exam takers as an environmental educator in the city’s litter-control program, which sponsored numerous community litter cleanups.
“I said ‘Well, I’m an educator,’ and I said, ‘I’m going to try for this,’” Petuch recalled.
“If it wasn’t for Neil Altman, we wouldn’t have the Green Team today. He started this whole thing,” Petuch said, referring to the name for today’s county recycling division.
A native of Sharpsville, Pa., and a graduate of Slippery Rock State University, Petuch, 60, taught English in the Greenville, Pa., schools before moving to San Diego to work as Sea World’s merchandise manager.
Petuch’s litter-control and recycling career began in April 1982, when then City Health Commissioner Neil Altman hired him from among about 200 civil- service-exam takers as an environmental educator in the city’s litter-control program, which sponsored numerous community litter cleanups.
“I said ‘Well, I’m an educator,’ and I said, ‘I’m going to try for this,’” Petuch recalled.
“If it wasn’t for Neil Altman, we wouldn’t have the Green Team today. He started this whole thing,” Petuch said, referring to the name for today’s county recycling division.
Pamela Ackerman honored for keeping Bridgman beautiful
from Harbour Country News, Michigan
DEC. 12, 2012 - Her purple gloves, plastic bag and long, gray ponytail have become a familiar sight on Lake Street in Bridgman.
They belong to Pamela Ackerman, who was officially thanked by the City Council for her volunteer efforts picking up litter along the city’s main thoroughfare during its Dec. 3 meeting.
“I’ve never been thanked before for picking up trash. I think people usually laugh at me and think I’m just looking for return-deposit cans,” Ackerman told the council.
Ackerman said she follows the litter, spending more time from Red Arrow Highway to Weko Beach during the summer and then after the tourist season, east through town as far as Harding’s Market. Found at work near the city’s library, “which is always busy this time of year,” the day after the meeting, Ackerman said the last time she got an award was from the 4-H Club when she was in seventh grade.
City Councilman Bob Liskey, who presented the city’s Certificate of Appreciation, said he hadn’t prepared a speech but wanted Ackerman to know that her efforts had not gone unnoticed. Ackerman, however, did prepare some comments which she shared with the council after receiving her certificate.
“I consider it a privilege to live in Bridgman, a privilege to be in one of the most beautiful smaller towns around Lake Michigan,” Ackerman said, and then proceeded thanking — by name — the many people who greet and encourage her along her route.
People honk and wave to Ackerman, who spends about four hours at her task three or four days a week. Rain or shine, she has been at it for the past 15 months since she and her husband, Donald, returned to Bridgman to assist her 91-year-old mother-in-law, Miss Bridgman of 1939 Wilda Marie Heyn Ackerman.
“I have boots that are good to 27-degrees below zero and I’ve done it in the rain if it’s warm. I like the rain,” Ackerman said.
She also enjoys the deer, wild turkeys and geese she sees along her route.
“Some people smoking cigarettes look the other way when they see me. I think they are embarrassed, but they shouldn’t be. I don’t mind. I have my rubber gloves and hand sanitizer,” she said, crediting her “laser eye” with being able to spot a cigarette butt at a good distance. “I don’t have a back problem so I’ll continue to pick up the trash until I can’t do it anymore,” Ackerman said.
They belong to Pamela Ackerman, who was officially thanked by the City Council for her volunteer efforts picking up litter along the city’s main thoroughfare during its Dec. 3 meeting.
“I’ve never been thanked before for picking up trash. I think people usually laugh at me and think I’m just looking for return-deposit cans,” Ackerman told the council.
Ackerman said she follows the litter, spending more time from Red Arrow Highway to Weko Beach during the summer and then after the tourist season, east through town as far as Harding’s Market. Found at work near the city’s library, “which is always busy this time of year,” the day after the meeting, Ackerman said the last time she got an award was from the 4-H Club when she was in seventh grade.
City Councilman Bob Liskey, who presented the city’s Certificate of Appreciation, said he hadn’t prepared a speech but wanted Ackerman to know that her efforts had not gone unnoticed. Ackerman, however, did prepare some comments which she shared with the council after receiving her certificate.
“I consider it a privilege to live in Bridgman, a privilege to be in one of the most beautiful smaller towns around Lake Michigan,” Ackerman said, and then proceeded thanking — by name — the many people who greet and encourage her along her route.
People honk and wave to Ackerman, who spends about four hours at her task three or four days a week. Rain or shine, she has been at it for the past 15 months since she and her husband, Donald, returned to Bridgman to assist her 91-year-old mother-in-law, Miss Bridgman of 1939 Wilda Marie Heyn Ackerman.
“I have boots that are good to 27-degrees below zero and I’ve done it in the rain if it’s warm. I like the rain,” Ackerman said.
She also enjoys the deer, wild turkeys and geese she sees along her route.
“Some people smoking cigarettes look the other way when they see me. I think they are embarrassed, but they shouldn’t be. I don’t mind. I have my rubber gloves and hand sanitizer,” she said, crediting her “laser eye” with being able to spot a cigarette butt at a good distance. “I don’t have a back problem so I’ll continue to pick up the trash until I can’t do it anymore,” Ackerman said.
Angry Isabelle, "eco-warrior", 9, writes to MP in protest over litter
From the Guardian Times, UK
OCT. 12, 2012 - A young eco-warrior is so fed up with the litter and dog mess – she has written a letter to voice her disgust. Isabelle Hallett contacted MP Gordon Henderson and Minster Parish Council after reaching her wits’ end at the amount of rubbish. The nine-year-old says it’s a problem across the Island including Sheerness high street, Eastchurch village and The Broadway, Minster. In particular she has noticed the mess at Sheppey Community Hospital, near her home in Barton Hill Drive, Minster.
Her mum Rachel Hallett said: “She says to me, ‘Mummy this is disgusting. I have had enough of it. People should be putting their rubbish in bins – why can’t they be bothered to do it?’ She was having a real rant about it – when there’s something she feels strongly about she does get quite passionate, so I said, ‘Why don’t you write a letter’.” Full Story Here
Her mum Rachel Hallett said: “She says to me, ‘Mummy this is disgusting. I have had enough of it. People should be putting their rubbish in bins – why can’t they be bothered to do it?’ She was having a real rant about it – when there’s something she feels strongly about she does get quite passionate, so I said, ‘Why don’t you write a letter’.” Full Story Here
Self-emptying litterbin system unveiled (UK)
Envac is the UK's only underground vacuum waste management system
SEPT. 5, 2012: A new sustainable offering to the built environment has been launched – the self-emptying litterbin.
The innovative vacuum technology system, developed by Envac, connects public litterbins to a waste collection system via a network of underground pipes.
Each bin contains a level sensor and once full, a valve beneath the bin opens, the litter is then sucked into the underground network and transported by air to a central collection station.
Envac's decision to launch globally follows the system’s recent success in Stockholm, Sweden.
The six-litterbin system handled more than two tonnes of waste throughout summer and processed an average of 170kg of public waste each week.
Envac will now hold a series of consultations with local authorities in the UK to discuss how the system can support their long-term infrastructure plans and waste management targets.
Mike Merriman, Envac UK's managing director, said: "Waste management is now an urban planning priority and if cities throughout the world are to remain globally competitive they need to be clean, attractive and sustainable.
"The self-emptying litterbin system tackles the pervasive issue of overfull litterbins and addresses the social consequences associated with litter within the public realm.
"Not only that but it handles in minutes what manual collection methods take all day to do and reduces the costs and disruption associated with conventional litterbin collection."
Envac’s automated waste management system has been integrated into Quintain Estates' Wembley City development, where it will manage the waste of more than 4,000 residential units.
The innovative vacuum technology system, developed by Envac, connects public litterbins to a waste collection system via a network of underground pipes.
Each bin contains a level sensor and once full, a valve beneath the bin opens, the litter is then sucked into the underground network and transported by air to a central collection station.
Envac's decision to launch globally follows the system’s recent success in Stockholm, Sweden.
The six-litterbin system handled more than two tonnes of waste throughout summer and processed an average of 170kg of public waste each week.
Envac will now hold a series of consultations with local authorities in the UK to discuss how the system can support their long-term infrastructure plans and waste management targets.
Mike Merriman, Envac UK's managing director, said: "Waste management is now an urban planning priority and if cities throughout the world are to remain globally competitive they need to be clean, attractive and sustainable.
"The self-emptying litterbin system tackles the pervasive issue of overfull litterbins and addresses the social consequences associated with litter within the public realm.
"Not only that but it handles in minutes what manual collection methods take all day to do and reduces the costs and disruption associated with conventional litterbin collection."
Envac’s automated waste management system has been integrated into Quintain Estates' Wembley City development, where it will manage the waste of more than 4,000 residential units.
The hero BBC news reader who took on a litter lout after he tossed a plastic bottle out of a car window
Daily Mail survey finds 97 per cent "view litter as a problem which is damaging their everyday quality of life"
By ELEANOR HARDING, THE DAILY MAIL ONLINE
MAY 9, 2012: It is an act of loutishness that few of us would be brave enough to challenge. But when a careless litterbug tossed a plastic bottle out of a car window at the weekend, one woman decided enough was enough.
Newsreader Alice Arnold - the civil partner of BBC presenter Clare Balding - has become a national heroine overnight after standing up to a litter yob while waiting in traffic on Monday.
Witnessing the bottle tumble to the ground from the car in front, she promptly got out of her car, picked it up and hurled it back through the open window.
Last night, Miss Arnold was hailed a ‘litter crusader’ after the incident near Hampton Court, Surrey.
But despite admitting her ‘heart beat faster’ during the confrontation, the Radio Four star, 49, shrugged off her heroic act – saying she ‘wasn’t brave, just cross’.
Miss Arnold is the latest celebrity to fight back against Britain’s culture of litter-dropping, with many others speaking out in support of the Daily Mail’s campaign, launched at the weekend, to Spring Clean for The Queen.
Yesterday she told about the moment she decided to make a stand, as the couple were returning in separate cars from a Bank Holiday Monday lunch at Arnold’s parents at around 3pm.
She told the Evening Standard: ‘I saw this car in front of mine with the windows wide open and out came this purple plastic bottle
‘Because we were sitting in stationary traffic we weren’t going anywhere. So I just got out and picked it up and threw it back in.
I thought, well, it’s broad daylight, there are lots of people around, it’s got to be a safe environment. It was a youngish couple with a few piercings. They didn’t say anything when I did it but they looked surprised. My heart beat a bit faster but I’m still alive.’
To her surprise, the shameful couple did not react – or even throw the bottle back out.
She added: ‘It all happened in about 20 seconds. It was so blatant and it was such a good opportunity to do something. It just angered me. I didn’t think about it, I wasn’t brave, I was just cross. I would do the same if I was in the park and saw a dog do a poo. I would go up to the owner and say “do you want a bag?”’
After mentioning the incident on Twitter, she has received huge support from friends online.
After the incident, Balding wrote: ‘I was in the car behind & thought ‘what the hell is she doing?’ Then thought “That’s my girl”.’
Fellow announcer Corrie Corfield tweeted: ‘My friend and colleague @alicearnold1 has done something today, which, frankly, deserves a Damehood at least. And remember she’s only tiddly.’
Miss Arnold formalised her relationship with Miss Balding with a civil partnership ceremony at Chiswick House, Chiswick, London, in 2006.
A recent survey for the Daily Mail found 97 per cent view litter as a problem which is damaging their everyday quality of life.
As the Mail continues its Spring Clean For The Queen campaign, the countrywide poll found that 94 per cent feel angry at the sight of someone dropping rubbish.
The problem of litter is growing at a rapid rate. The amount dropped in the UK has increased by 500 per cent since the 1960s. More than 30-million tons are collected from our streets each year.
The Mail survey of 2,000 people from across the UK found that the problem has not gone unnoticed.
Almost half of the nation, 47 per cent, believe Britain is worse than the rest of Europe, with 99 per cent believing litter to be having an impact on the environment and wildlife.
Furthermore, 82 per cent said litter was a problem where they lived, with 88 per cent believing the worst offenders to be teenagers. The worst type of litter was said to be fast food wrappers.
But even though 94 per cent said they feel angry at the sight of someone dropping litter, 68 per cent said they would do nothing because of a fear of a violent reaction, with just 16 per cent saying they would challenge the offender to pick it up.
A string of major companies including Tesco, Greggs and Dominos last night vowed to send their staff out litter-picking in support of the Mail’s campaign to clean up our streets.
They were joined by Subway and Pizza Hut in an overwhelming response to our drive to clean up the country ahead of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
Bosses at Dominos, the country’s largest pizza delivery chain, have asked staff in all of its stores to get out and clean in their communities.
And, in a new policy for the Mail's campaign, Pizza Hut will order its managers to keep pavements around their stores and delivery areas completely free of litter every day.
***
KFC: Staff do daily litter collections. Has pledged to send workers on extra collections in the run-up to the Jubilee Subway Front of shops checked for litter. Has promised to ‘go the extra mile’ to ensure shop-fronts are litter-free
Greggs: Daily litter checks at the front of shops. ‘Applaud and support’ the Mail’s campaign and will make extra efforts to combat litter around stores.
Pret A Manger: No information offered, no commitments made. Last night a spokesman said firm was ‘still considering’ its response.
Starbucks: Offers customers who bring their own cup a 25p discount to cut down on paper cups used, litter checks in and around cafes. Will be sending out teams of baristas to litter-pick ahead of Jubilee
Costa Coffee: Staff collect litter on cafe premises and outdoor seating areas. No pledge yet, but voiced support for campaign
Dominos: Boxes are made of 80 per cent recycled cardboard and customers are encouraged to recycle. Has asked staff to organise litter-picks in run-up to the Jubilee, several stores already signed up
Pizza Hut: Recycles all cardboard. Pizza boxes carry the Keep Britain Tidy logo, encouraging customers to dispose of litter responsibly. New commitment to keep pavements outside restaurants and delivery stores clean
Marks & Spencer: Staff clear litter in store car-parks. In run-up to the Jubilee, employees will be encouraged to use their annual, paid volunteer day to support litter-picking initiatives across the UK.
Tesco: Staff ensure stores and car-parks are litter-free. Has asked staff to organise litter-picks ahead of the Jubilee
Sainsbury’s: Staff clean stores, car parks and areas immediately around stores. No commitments made
Burger King: No national litter strategy, no commitments made
CAFFE NERO: No information given, no commitments made
Nando’s: No national litter strategy, no commitments made
West Cornwall Pasty: No information provided, no commitments made
EAT: No information provided, no commitments made
MAY 9, 2012: It is an act of loutishness that few of us would be brave enough to challenge. But when a careless litterbug tossed a plastic bottle out of a car window at the weekend, one woman decided enough was enough.
Newsreader Alice Arnold - the civil partner of BBC presenter Clare Balding - has become a national heroine overnight after standing up to a litter yob while waiting in traffic on Monday.
Witnessing the bottle tumble to the ground from the car in front, she promptly got out of her car, picked it up and hurled it back through the open window.
Last night, Miss Arnold was hailed a ‘litter crusader’ after the incident near Hampton Court, Surrey.
But despite admitting her ‘heart beat faster’ during the confrontation, the Radio Four star, 49, shrugged off her heroic act – saying she ‘wasn’t brave, just cross’.
Miss Arnold is the latest celebrity to fight back against Britain’s culture of litter-dropping, with many others speaking out in support of the Daily Mail’s campaign, launched at the weekend, to Spring Clean for The Queen.
Yesterday she told about the moment she decided to make a stand, as the couple were returning in separate cars from a Bank Holiday Monday lunch at Arnold’s parents at around 3pm.
She told the Evening Standard: ‘I saw this car in front of mine with the windows wide open and out came this purple plastic bottle
‘Because we were sitting in stationary traffic we weren’t going anywhere. So I just got out and picked it up and threw it back in.
I thought, well, it’s broad daylight, there are lots of people around, it’s got to be a safe environment. It was a youngish couple with a few piercings. They didn’t say anything when I did it but they looked surprised. My heart beat a bit faster but I’m still alive.’
To her surprise, the shameful couple did not react – or even throw the bottle back out.
She added: ‘It all happened in about 20 seconds. It was so blatant and it was such a good opportunity to do something. It just angered me. I didn’t think about it, I wasn’t brave, I was just cross. I would do the same if I was in the park and saw a dog do a poo. I would go up to the owner and say “do you want a bag?”’
After mentioning the incident on Twitter, she has received huge support from friends online.
After the incident, Balding wrote: ‘I was in the car behind & thought ‘what the hell is she doing?’ Then thought “That’s my girl”.’
Fellow announcer Corrie Corfield tweeted: ‘My friend and colleague @alicearnold1 has done something today, which, frankly, deserves a Damehood at least. And remember she’s only tiddly.’
Miss Arnold formalised her relationship with Miss Balding with a civil partnership ceremony at Chiswick House, Chiswick, London, in 2006.
A recent survey for the Daily Mail found 97 per cent view litter as a problem which is damaging their everyday quality of life.
As the Mail continues its Spring Clean For The Queen campaign, the countrywide poll found that 94 per cent feel angry at the sight of someone dropping rubbish.
The problem of litter is growing at a rapid rate. The amount dropped in the UK has increased by 500 per cent since the 1960s. More than 30-million tons are collected from our streets each year.
The Mail survey of 2,000 people from across the UK found that the problem has not gone unnoticed.
Almost half of the nation, 47 per cent, believe Britain is worse than the rest of Europe, with 99 per cent believing litter to be having an impact on the environment and wildlife.
Furthermore, 82 per cent said litter was a problem where they lived, with 88 per cent believing the worst offenders to be teenagers. The worst type of litter was said to be fast food wrappers.
But even though 94 per cent said they feel angry at the sight of someone dropping litter, 68 per cent said they would do nothing because of a fear of a violent reaction, with just 16 per cent saying they would challenge the offender to pick it up.
A string of major companies including Tesco, Greggs and Dominos last night vowed to send their staff out litter-picking in support of the Mail’s campaign to clean up our streets.
They were joined by Subway and Pizza Hut in an overwhelming response to our drive to clean up the country ahead of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
Bosses at Dominos, the country’s largest pizza delivery chain, have asked staff in all of its stores to get out and clean in their communities.
And, in a new policy for the Mail's campaign, Pizza Hut will order its managers to keep pavements around their stores and delivery areas completely free of litter every day.
***
KFC: Staff do daily litter collections. Has pledged to send workers on extra collections in the run-up to the Jubilee Subway Front of shops checked for litter. Has promised to ‘go the extra mile’ to ensure shop-fronts are litter-free
Greggs: Daily litter checks at the front of shops. ‘Applaud and support’ the Mail’s campaign and will make extra efforts to combat litter around stores.
Pret A Manger: No information offered, no commitments made. Last night a spokesman said firm was ‘still considering’ its response.
Starbucks: Offers customers who bring their own cup a 25p discount to cut down on paper cups used, litter checks in and around cafes. Will be sending out teams of baristas to litter-pick ahead of Jubilee
Costa Coffee: Staff collect litter on cafe premises and outdoor seating areas. No pledge yet, but voiced support for campaign
Dominos: Boxes are made of 80 per cent recycled cardboard and customers are encouraged to recycle. Has asked staff to organise litter-picks in run-up to the Jubilee, several stores already signed up
Pizza Hut: Recycles all cardboard. Pizza boxes carry the Keep Britain Tidy logo, encouraging customers to dispose of litter responsibly. New commitment to keep pavements outside restaurants and delivery stores clean
Marks & Spencer: Staff clear litter in store car-parks. In run-up to the Jubilee, employees will be encouraged to use their annual, paid volunteer day to support litter-picking initiatives across the UK.
Tesco: Staff ensure stores and car-parks are litter-free. Has asked staff to organise litter-picks ahead of the Jubilee
Sainsbury’s: Staff clean stores, car parks and areas immediately around stores. No commitments made
Burger King: No national litter strategy, no commitments made
CAFFE NERO: No information given, no commitments made
Nando’s: No national litter strategy, no commitments made
West Cornwall Pasty: No information provided, no commitments made
EAT: No information provided, no commitments made
Litterers beware! Almitra’s on the prowl
(from Deccan Chronicle, www.deccanchronicle.com)
By Darsjana Ramdev
APRIL 30, 2012: The Dragoness of Bagalur, that’s what Almitra Patel's family used to call her when she was younger. A more unlikely tyrant there never was. But you would be wrong to underestimate her gentle benevolence, for Almitra knows how to get things done. From her lovely, old-fashioned farmhouse somewhere along the road to Bagalur, where she stays with her giant Alsatian, Almitra builds schools all over South India at her own cost, plays mother and nurse to the villagers who live nearby, and is a member of the Supreme Court Committee for Solid Waste Management.
Almitra and her husband moved to Bengaluru in 1972, to set up a factory. “I wanted a house outside the city, where my kids could have pets and room to grow up,” says Almitra. “Back then, Lingarajapuram had a bar, a bakery and a bangle shop, in that order of social priority,” she laughs. The Siddharth Education Society in Tumkur had teachers to educate children in Kothanur, but no proper school building. Children were taught in living rooms and verandahs that belonged to generous households. “We built our first school for them. It had 12 rooms and was built by a brilliant man who used only traditional methods,” Almitra recalls.
The demands of this new calling increased manifold: they built toilets and a storeroom for one village school, they added a primary school to the first construction too. In 2008, Almitra put up a 15-room block with an attached open stage. The rammed-earth construction used soil from the basement next door along with stone quarry dust and very little cement. “Leftover soil usually ends up on the highway, which we didn’t want,” she explains. The 19,000 square foot school is believed to be South Asia’s largest earth-rammed structure.
Almitra says she understood the value of education when growing up. “My parents took charge of an ailing school near Nasik, which my mother ran until four days before her death at the age of 90,” says Almitra. “We have grown up valuing education.”
Almitra has built a school in her father’s memory at his birthplace, a small fishing village near Mumbai.
Living on the outskirts of Bengaluru, Almitra’s family and all the nearby villages found themselves facing a terrible menace: Garbage. The municipalities would dump their waste just outside city limits. This attracted swarms of stray dogs that quickly formed packs and returned to their feral roots.
“The dogs would slaughter sheep in broad daylight, they killed 624 chickens in our poultry farm in one night because the boy forgot to look the door,” says Almitra. The roads became so unsafe after dark that farmers would walk home in groups to protect each other from the dogs.
The turning point came when, one day, an official arrived on her doorstep and said to her, “Why are you complaining about garbage? Magadi road is much worse.” According to him, the regular landfills had long since run out of space and requests for new areas were strongly opposed by the builders’ lobby that was afraid that land prices would depreciate.
Around this time she met Captain Velu and learnt of his model of door-to-door collection of dry waste so it could go to rag-pickers. Wet garbage would be turned into compost that would go back to the soil and fertilise it. In 1994, Surat was struck by a plague, caused by garbage and the unforgiving monsoon rains that flooded the city.
“We got into my van and for the next 30 days, we drove from one city to the next. We covered 30 cities all over the country to propagate the door-to-door waste management plan,” she says. Almitra has visited 152 cities in India since the year 1994. “For a five kilometre distance outside the city, you’re in no man’s land,” she says.
Municipalities have their hands tied by the fact that they cannot buy land outside municipal limits, so the matter of dumping garbage was left to the State Government. That’s when Almitra made her way to the Supreme Court to get some direction on waste management. “We wanted funds for waste
management, which we received,” she says.
Her newest pet project is waste minimisation, where people are taught to separate waste into what’s useful and what’s not before they dispose of it. She is also making tiny solar lamps that she intends to supply to un-electrified areas and also to relieve loadshedding. “I’ve already supplied these to the nomads in Gujarat,” she says.
Thus, the little old lady with snowy white hair and a disarming smile rushes about like a whirlwind. “My husband and I had more money than one needs to live on, so I do this,” she says simply. In a world rife with bad news, where human suffering is made into a media circus, where people have learned to bask in their neighbour’s misery, it is heartening to find the good there is, too.
Almitra and her husband moved to Bengaluru in 1972, to set up a factory. “I wanted a house outside the city, where my kids could have pets and room to grow up,” says Almitra. “Back then, Lingarajapuram had a bar, a bakery and a bangle shop, in that order of social priority,” she laughs. The Siddharth Education Society in Tumkur had teachers to educate children in Kothanur, but no proper school building. Children were taught in living rooms and verandahs that belonged to generous households. “We built our first school for them. It had 12 rooms and was built by a brilliant man who used only traditional methods,” Almitra recalls.
The demands of this new calling increased manifold: they built toilets and a storeroom for one village school, they added a primary school to the first construction too. In 2008, Almitra put up a 15-room block with an attached open stage. The rammed-earth construction used soil from the basement next door along with stone quarry dust and very little cement. “Leftover soil usually ends up on the highway, which we didn’t want,” she explains. The 19,000 square foot school is believed to be South Asia’s largest earth-rammed structure.
Almitra says she understood the value of education when growing up. “My parents took charge of an ailing school near Nasik, which my mother ran until four days before her death at the age of 90,” says Almitra. “We have grown up valuing education.”
Almitra has built a school in her father’s memory at his birthplace, a small fishing village near Mumbai.
Living on the outskirts of Bengaluru, Almitra’s family and all the nearby villages found themselves facing a terrible menace: Garbage. The municipalities would dump their waste just outside city limits. This attracted swarms of stray dogs that quickly formed packs and returned to their feral roots.
“The dogs would slaughter sheep in broad daylight, they killed 624 chickens in our poultry farm in one night because the boy forgot to look the door,” says Almitra. The roads became so unsafe after dark that farmers would walk home in groups to protect each other from the dogs.
The turning point came when, one day, an official arrived on her doorstep and said to her, “Why are you complaining about garbage? Magadi road is much worse.” According to him, the regular landfills had long since run out of space and requests for new areas were strongly opposed by the builders’ lobby that was afraid that land prices would depreciate.
Around this time she met Captain Velu and learnt of his model of door-to-door collection of dry waste so it could go to rag-pickers. Wet garbage would be turned into compost that would go back to the soil and fertilise it. In 1994, Surat was struck by a plague, caused by garbage and the unforgiving monsoon rains that flooded the city.
“We got into my van and for the next 30 days, we drove from one city to the next. We covered 30 cities all over the country to propagate the door-to-door waste management plan,” she says. Almitra has visited 152 cities in India since the year 1994. “For a five kilometre distance outside the city, you’re in no man’s land,” she says.
Municipalities have their hands tied by the fact that they cannot buy land outside municipal limits, so the matter of dumping garbage was left to the State Government. That’s when Almitra made her way to the Supreme Court to get some direction on waste management. “We wanted funds for waste
management, which we received,” she says.
Her newest pet project is waste minimisation, where people are taught to separate waste into what’s useful and what’s not before they dispose of it. She is also making tiny solar lamps that she intends to supply to un-electrified areas and also to relieve loadshedding. “I’ve already supplied these to the nomads in Gujarat,” she says.
Thus, the little old lady with snowy white hair and a disarming smile rushes about like a whirlwind. “My husband and I had more money than one needs to live on, so I do this,” she says simply. In a world rife with bad news, where human suffering is made into a media circus, where people have learned to bask in their neighbour’s misery, it is heartening to find the good there is, too.