Litter

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Littering in Monterrey, Mexico. Paronamic - Littering.jpg
Littering in Monterrey, Mexico.

Litter consists of waste products that have been discarded incorrectly, without consent, at an unsuitable location. The word litter can also be used as a verb: to litter means to drop and leave objects, often man-made, such as aluminum cans, paper cups, food wrappers, cardboard boxes or plastic bottles on the ground, and leave them there indefinitely or for other people to dispose of as opposed to disposing of them correctly.

Contents

Large and hazardous items of rubbish such as tires, electrical appliances, electronics, batteries and large industrial containers are sometimes dumped in isolated locations, such as national forests and other public lands.

Litter is a type of human impact on the environment and remains a serious environmental problem in many countries. Litter can exist in the environment for long periods of time before decomposition and be transported over large distances into the world's oceans. Litter can affect the quality of life.

Cigarette butts are the most littered item in the world, with 4.5 trillion discarded each year. [1] Estimates of the required time for cigarette butts to break down vary, ranging from 5 to 400 years for complete degradation. [2] [3]

Causes

Strathfield Platform condition(2).jpg
Platform of Strathfield station in Sydney, Australia. Rubbish accumulated over months, perhaps years due to unsustained periods of frequent cleaning.
Trash left by panhandlers in Germantown, Maryland (23 April 2022), 02.31.07.jpg
Rubbish on a street corner in Germantown, Maryland, left behind by panhandlers.
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A small river's valley in India shows extensive littering of plastic and paper. Human waste, illustrated by the urinating man, increase fecal coliform and other bacteria levels in the water.
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Littering in nature

In addition to intentional littering, almost half of litter on U.S. roadways is now accidental or unintentional litter, usually debris that falls off improperly secured trash, recycling collection vehicles and pickup trucks. [4] Population levels, traffic density and proximity to waste disposal sites are factors known to correlate with higher litter rates. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Illegally dumped hazardous waste may be a response to the costs of dropping materials at designated sites: some of these charge a fee for depositing hazardous material. [10] Lack of access to nearby facilities that accept hazardous waste may deter use. Additionally, ignorance of the laws that regulate the proper disposal of hazardous waste may cause improper disposal.

According to a study by the Dutch organization VROM, 80% of people claim that "everybody leaves a piece of paper, tin or something, on the street behind". [11] Young people from 12 to 24 years cause more litter than the average (Dutch or Belgian) person; only 18% of people who regularly cause litter were 50 years of age or older. However, a 2010 survey of littering in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont in the United States, placed litterers aged 55 and over at less than 5%. The same observational study estimated that 78% of litterers are male. [9] Litter organizations, such as Keep America Beautiful affiliates, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, and the Bay Area Stormwater Management Agencies Association, have focused educational efforts on youth littering. [12] [13] [14] Negligent or lenient law enforcement contributes to littering behavior. Other causes are inconvenience, entitlement and economic conditions. A survey of dumping in Pennsylvania found that the largest number of illegal dumps were in townships without municipal trash hauling. [15] The same report also cites unavailability of curbside trash and recycling service, shortage of enforcement, and habit as possible causes. [16] The presence of litter invites more littering. [17]

Two-stage process model

The two-stage process model of littering behavior describes the different ways in which people litter. The model was proposed by Chris Sibley and James Liu and differentiates between two types of littering: active and passive. [18]

The theory has implications for understanding the different types of litter reduction interventions that will most effectively reduce littering in a given environment. The theory states that, all things being equal, passive littering will be more resistant to change because of two psychological processes: 1. diffusion of responsibility that increases as the latency between when an individual places litter in the environment and when they vacate the territory, and 2. forgetting, which is also more likely to occur at longer delays between when an individual places litter in the environment and when they vacate the territory.

Life cycle

Litter can remain visible for extended periods of time before it eventually biodegrades, with some items made of condensed glass, styrofoam or plastic possibly remaining in the environment for over a million years. [19] [20] [21]

About 18 percent of litter, usually traveling through stormwater systems, ends up in local streams, rivers, and waterways. Uncollected litter can accrete and flow into streams, local bays and estuaries. Litter in the ocean either washes up on beaches or collects in ocean gyres such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. About 80 percent of marine debris comes from land-based sources. [22]

Some litter that is collected can be recycled; however, degraded litter cannot be recycled and eventually degrades to sludge, often toxic. The majority of litter that is collected goes to landfills.

Effects

Litter can have a detrimental impact on humans and the environment in different ways.

Effects on humans

These car tires were discarded on the Middle Branch of Baltimore Harbor in this photo from 1973. Tire dumping is still a concern today and could be reduced by tire recycling. DISCARDED TIRES LITTER THE SHORELINE OF THE MIDDLE BRANCH OF BALTIMORE HARBOR NEAR WATERVIEW AVENUE - NARA - 547683.jpg
These car tires were discarded on the Middle Branch of Baltimore Harbor in this photo from 1973. Tire dumping is still a concern today and could be reduced by tire recycling.

Hazardous materials encapsulated within tires and other items of illegally dumped rubbish can leach into water sources, contaminate the soil and pollute the air.

Tires are the most often dumped hazardous waste.[ citation needed ] In 2007 the United States generated 262 million scrap tires. [23] Thirty-eight states have laws that ban whole tires being deposited in landfills. [24] Many of these discarded tires end up illegally dumped on public lands. Tires can become a breeding ground for insect vectors which can transmit disease to humans. [25] Mosquitoes, which breed in stagnant water, can transmit West Nile virus and malaria. Rodents nest in accumulated tires and can transmit diseases such as Hantavirus. [25]

When tires are burned, they can smolder for long periods of time, emitting hundreds of chemical compounds that pollute the air causing respiratory illnesses. Additionally the residue left behind can harm the soil and leach into groundwater. [25]

This bolus from a Hawaiian albatross (either a black-footed albatross or a Laysan albatross) has several ingested flotsam items, including monofilament from fishing nets and a discarded toothbrush. Ingestion of plastic flotsam can be an increasing health risk to albatrosses. Tern Island, French Frigate Shoals. Toothbrush regurgitated by albatross on Tern Island, Hawaii - 20060614.jpg
This bolus from a Hawaiian albatross (either a black-footed albatross or a Laysan albatross) has several ingested flotsam items, including monofilament from fishing nets and a discarded toothbrush. Ingestion of plastic flotsam can be an increasing health risk to albatrosses. Tern Island, French Frigate Shoals.

Visual pollution is a major effect of litter.

Open containers such as paper cups, cardboard food packets, plastic drink bottles and aluminum drinks cans get filled up with rainwater, providing breeding locations for mosquitoes. In addition, a spark or a lightning flash can start a fire if it strikes litter such as a paper bag or cardboard box.

Litter can be hazardous to health. Debris falling from vehicles is an increasing cause of automobile accidents. [26] Discarded dangerous goods, chemicals, tires, sharps waste and pathogens resulting from litter can cause accidental harm to humans.

Litter also carries substantial cost to the economy. Cleaning up litter in the US costs hundreds of dollars per ton, about ten times more than the cost of trash disposal, with a cost totaling about $11 billion per year. [5] [27]

Effects on wildlife

Animals may get trapped or poisoned with litter in their habitats. Cigarette butts and filters are a threat to wildlife and have been found in the stomachs of fish, birds and whales, who have mistaken them for food. Also, animals can get trapped in the rubbish and be in serious discomfort. For example, the plastic used to hold beverage cans together can get wrapped around animals' necks and cause them to suffocate as they grow. Other instances where animals could be harmed by litter include broken glass lacerating the paws of dogs, cats, and other small mammals.

Other effects

Organic litter in large amounts can cause water pollution and lead to algal blooms. [28] Cigarettes could also start fires if they are not put out and then discarded in the environment.

Extent

Litter is an environmental concern in many countries around the world. While countries in the developing world lack the resources to deal with the issue, consumer-based economies in the western world are capable of generating larger quantities of litter per capita due to a higher consumption of disposable products.

Branded litter

A number of credible studies have shown that fast food packaging is one of the most common forms of litter, while McDonald's is the most common brand of litter, despite having messages to dispose of it properly, such as the Ronald McDonald "tidy man" marking. [29] [30] According to Keep Britain Tidy in 2013, Cadbury chocolate wrappers, Walkers crisp packets and Coca-Cola cans were the three top brands that were the most common pieces of rubbish found in UK streets. [31]

Solutions

"No littering" sign as used in the U.S. No littering.svg
"No littering" sign as used in the U.S.
Holder for waste bags at a playground in central Ystad 2020, an initiative of the municipality to stop littering in public places. Avfallspasar - Ystad-2020.jpg
Holder for waste bags at a playground in central Ystad 2020, an initiative of the municipality to stop littering in public places.

Litter bins

Recycling and rubbish bin at a German railway station. DeutscheBahnRecycling20050814 CopyrightKaihsuTai Rotated.jpg
Recycling and rubbish bin at a German railway station.

Public waste containers or street bins are provided by local authorities to be used as a convenient place for the disposal and collection of litter. Increasingly both general waste and recycling options are provided. Local councils collect the waste and take it for reuse or recycling. However, there are some problems with this approach; if the bins are not emptied regularly, then the bins will overflow and can increase litter indirectly. Some local authorities will only take responsibility for rubbish that is placed in the bins, which means that litter remains a problem. People may blame a lack of well-placed bins for their littering. Hazardous materials may often be incorrectly disposed of in the bins and they can encourage dumpster diving.

Cleanup

Navy sailors remove and dispose of used tires littering the waterways of a naval base in Charleston, South Carolina. US Navy 090917-N-1783P-001 Naval Nuclear Power Training Command student volunteers dispose of used tires littering the waterways of Naval Weapons Station Charleston.jpg
Navy sailors remove and dispose of used tires littering the waterways of a naval base in Charleston, South Carolina.

Volunteers, sometimes alone or coordinated through organizations, pick up litter and dispose of it. Clean up events may be organized in which participants will sometimes comb an area in a line to ensure that no litter is missed. Organizations may promote litter cleanup events and may also have separate media campaigns to prevent littering.

In North America, Adopt a Highway programs are popular, in which companies and organizations commit to cleaning stretches of road. Keep America Beautiful has held litter cleanups called the Great America Cleanup since 1998 in over 20,000 communities nationwide. [32]

Earth Day cleanups have been held globally since 1970. In 2019, Earth Day Network partnered with Keep America Beautiful and National Cleanup Day for the inaugural nationwide Earth Day CleanUp. Cleanups were held in all 50 States, 5 US Territories, 5,300 sites and had more than 500,000 volunteers. [33] [34]

Commercial properties such as retail, office and industrial have litter picking maintenance programs. This service may be provided by property owners or contracted to various service providers by property management companies acting on owner's behalf. Litter picking is performed on foot using simple hand tools. A worker will walk the sidewalks, parking lot and landscape and sweep up litter material into a litter collection tool. Contents are emptied into a waste bin on job site.

In Kiwayu, a Kenyan island, some of the collected litter (flip-flops) is used to make art, which is then sold. [35] [36]

Litter traps

A Parks Victoria litter trap on the river to catch floating rubbish on the Yarra River at Birrarung Marr in Melbourne, Australia. Litter trap.jpg
A Parks Victoria litter trap on the river to catch floating rubbish on the Yarra River at Birrarung Marr in Melbourne, Australia.

Litter traps can be used to capture litter as it exits stormwater drains into waterways. However, litter traps are only effective for large or floating items of litter and must be maintained. A recent watershed litter survey showed a difference in the composition of street litter and stormwater litter. [37]

Monitoring dumping sites

Increasingly, there have been efforts to use technology to monitor areas prone to dumping. In Japan, a study used Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to map areas of dumping based on site characteristics. [38] Another study used satellite images to detect possible illegal dumping sites. [39]

Container deposit legislation

Container deposit legislation can be aimed at both reducing littering and also encouraging picking up through local recycling programs that offer incentives, particularly for aluminium cans, glass bottles and plastic bottles. In New York, an expanded bottle bill that included plastic water bottles increased recycling rates and generated 120 million dollars in revenue to the state General Fund from unclaimed deposits in 2010. [40]

In some countries such as Germany and the Netherlands, container-deposit legislation has been introduced on cans and plastic bottles. Parts of Belgium are also considering adopting such legislation. [41] People can thus collect refund value money from this type of waste. The result of this is that in Germany, hardly any cans or plastic bottles can still be found along the road. In the Netherlands, the amount of litter has dropped considerably since the new law was implemented, and 95% of the plastic bottles are now recycled. According to Chris Snick, the revenue that can be obtained from waste picking can be financially profitable in countries where container deposit legislation has been introduced: in 1 hour he managed to pick up 108 cans and 31 plastic bottles, earning him 13.90 euro (€0.10 per can/plastic bottle). [42] By comparison, in countries where only the value of the aluminum for example would be refunded, 139 cans would yield only 1.72 euro (0.0124 euro per can; assuming there is 15 grams of aluminum in a can, and with scrap aluminum valued at 0.8267 euro/kg [43] ).

Fines

No littering sign at a highway in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. No littering sign in Cape Cod.jpg
No littering sign at a highway in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Some countries and local authorities have introduced legislation to address the problem.

Actions resulting in fines can include on-the-spot fines for individuals administered by authorised officers in public or on public transport or littering from a vehicle, in which the vehicle owner is fined - reported by either responsible officer or third party, sometimes online. [44] [45]

Specific legislation exists in the following countries:

Anti-litter campaigns

The International Tidy Man International tidyman.svg
The International Tidy Man

Many groups exist with the aim of raising awareness and run campaigns including clean up events.

In the United States there are a number of organizations running anti-litter campaigns. Keep America Beautiful was founded in 1953, and promulgated the word litterbug, coined by its partner the Ad Council in 1947. [48] At least 38 states have high profile, government-recognized slogan campaigns, including Don't Mess with Texas; Let's Pick It Up New York; Don't Trash California; Take Pride in Florida; Keep Iowa Beautiful.

In Australia, Clean Up Australia Day is supported by many major Australian companies, firms and volunteers alike. Anti-litter organizations include "Keep Australia Beautiful", founded in 1963. It created the popular "Do the Right Thing" campaign and its Tidy Towns competition became well known being a very competitive expression of civic pride.

Keep Britain Tidy is a British campaign run by the Keep Britain Tidy environmental charity, which is part funded by the UK government.

History

Throughout human history, people have disposed of unwanted materials onto streets, roadsides, in small local dumps or often in remote locations. Prior to reforms within cities in the mid-to-late 19th century, sanitation was not a government priority. The growing piles of waste led to the spread of disease.

Anti-littering legislation seems to have existed in ancient Greece, as is evidenced by a road marker discovered on the island of Paros, bearing the inscription "whoever drops their litter on the street owes 51 drachmae to whoever wishes to claim them". [49]

To address the growing amount of waste generated in the United States, the Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965 was enacted. In 1976 the Federal government amended the Solid Waste Disposal Act, creating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which requires a "cradle to grave" [50] approach to the proper handling of potentially hazardous materials. RCRA gives authority to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate and enforce proper hazardous waste disposal. [51] Many countries now have laws that require that household hazardous waste be deposited in a special location rather than sent to landfills with regular refuse. Household hazardous waste includes paints and solvents, chemicals, light bulbs, fluorescent lights, spray cans, disposable batteries, and yard products such as fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and insecticides. Additionally, medical waste generated at home is considered a hazardous waste and must be disposed of properly.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basel Convention</span> Environmental treaty on disposal of waste

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, usually known as the Basel Convention, is an international treaty that was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations, and specifically to prevent transfer of hazardous waste from developed to less developed countries. It does not, however, address the movement of radioactive waste. The convention is also intended to minimize the rate and toxicity of wastes generated, to ensure their environmentally sound management as closely as possible to the source of generation, and to assist developing countries in environmentally sound management of the hazardous and other wastes they generate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Industrial waste</span> Waste produced by industrial activity or manufacturing processes

Industrial waste is the waste produced by industrial activity which includes any material that is rendered useless during a manufacturing process such as that of factories, mills, and mining operations. Types of industrial waste include dirt and gravel, masonry and concrete, scrap metal, oil, solvents, chemicals, scrap lumber, even vegetable matter from restaurants. Industrial waste may be solid, semi-solid or liquid in form. It may be hazardous waste or non-hazardous waste. Industrial waste may pollute the nearby soil or adjacent water bodies, and can contaminate groundwater, lakes, streams, rivers or coastal waters. Industrial waste is often mixed into municipal waste, making accurate assessments difficult. An estimate for the US goes as high as 7.6 billion tons of industrial waste produced annually, as of 2017. Most countries have enacted legislation to deal with the problem of industrial waste, but strictness and compliance regimes vary. Enforcement is always an issue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keep America Beautiful</span> Nonprofit organization

Keep America Beautiful is a nonprofit organization founded in 1953. It is the largest community improvement organization in the United States, with more than 700 state and community-based affiliate organizations and more than 1,000 partner organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illegal dumping</span> Act of dumping waste illegally

Illegal dumping, also called fly dumping or fly tipping (UK), is the dumping of waste illegally instead of using an authorised method such as curbside collection or using an authorised rubbish dump. It is the illegal deposit of any waste onto land, including waste dumped or tipped on a site with no licence to accept waste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marine debris</span> Human-created solid waste in the sea or ocean

Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is human-created solid material that has deliberately or accidentally been released in a sea or ocean. Floating oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the center of gyres and on coastlines, frequently washing aground, when it is known as beach litter or tidewrack. Deliberate disposal of wastes at sea is called ocean dumping. Naturally occurring debris, such as driftwood and drift seeds, are also present. With the increasing use of plastic, human influence has become an issue as many types of (petrochemical) plastics do not biodegrade quickly, as would natural or organic materials. The largest single type of plastic pollution (~10%) and majority of large plastic in the oceans is discarded and lost nets from the fishing industry. Waterborne plastic poses a serious threat to fish, seabirds, marine reptiles, and marine mammals, as well as to boats and coasts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Municipal solid waste</span> Type of waste consisting of everyday items discarded by the public

Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste, as in a garbage disposal; the two are sometimes collected separately. In the European Union, the semantic definition is 'mixed municipal waste,' given waste code 20 03 01 in the European Waste Catalog. Although the waste may originate from a number of sources that has nothing to do with a municipality, the traditional role of municipalities in collecting and managing these kinds of waste have produced the particular etymology 'municipal.'

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waste sorting</span> Environmental practice of separating waste categories to make it easy to recycle

Waste sorting is the process by which waste is separated into different elements. Waste sorting can occur manually at the household and collected through curbside collection schemes, or automatically separated in materials recovery facilities or mechanical biological treatment systems. Hand sorting was the first method used in the history of waste sorting. Waste can also be sorted in a civic amenity site.

There is no national law in the United States that mandates recycling. State and local governments often introduce their own recycling requirements. In 2014, the recycling/composting rate for municipal solid waste in the U.S. was 34.6%. A number of U.S. states, including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon, and Vermont have passed laws that establish deposits or refund values on beverage containers while other jurisdictions rely on recycling goals or landfill bans of recyclable materials.

Waste management in Japan today emphasizes not just the efficient and sanitary collection of waste, but also reduction in waste produced and recycling of waste when possible. This has been influenced by its history, particularly periods of significant economic expansion, as well as its geography as a mountainous country with limited space for landfills. Important forms of waste disposal include incineration, recycling and, to a smaller extent, landfills and land reclamation. Although Japan has made progress since the 1990s in reducing waste produced and encouraging recycling, there is still further progress to be made in reducing reliance on incinerators and the garbage sent to landfills. Challenges also exist in the processing of electronic waste and debris left after natural disasters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waste</span> Unwanted or unusable materials

Waste are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste product may become a by-product, joint product or resource through an invention that raises a waste product's value above zero.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Litter in the United States</span> Crime and environmental issue

Litter in the United States is an environmental issue and littering is often a criminal offense, punishable with a fine as set out by statutes in many places. Litter laws, enforcement efforts, and court prosecutions are used to help curtail littering. All three are part of a "comprehensive response to environmental violators", write Epstein and Hammett, researchers for the United States Department of Justice. Littering and dumping laws, found in all fifty United States, appear to take precedence over municipal ordinances in controlling violations and act as public safety, not aesthetic measures. Similar from state-to-state, these laws define who violators are, the type or "function" of the person committing the action, and what items must be littered or dumped to constitute an illegal act. Municipal ordinances and state statutes require a "human action" in committing illegal littering or dumping, for one to be "held in violation." Most states require law enforcement officers or designated, authorized individuals, to "...witness the illegal act to write a citation." Together, prosecutions and punitive fines are important in fighting illegal littering and dumping.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Litter in New Zealand</span>

Litter is a global issue and has a significant human impact on the environment. Litter is especially hazardous because it can enter ecosystems and harm a country's biodiversity. Litter is a prevalent environmental issue in New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wade Dump</span> Superfund site in Pennsylvania

Wade Dump was a rubber recycling facility and illegal industrial waste storage and disposal facility in Chester, Pennsylvania. It was located at 1 Flower Street on the western bank of the Delaware River just north of the Commodore Barry Bridge.

Products made from a variety of materials can be recycled using a number of processes.

Solid waste policy in the United States is aimed at developing and implementing proper mechanisms to effectively manage solid waste. For solid waste policy to be effective, inputs should come from stakeholders, including citizens, businesses, community-based organizations, non-governmental organizations, government agencies, universities, and other research organizations. These inputs form the basis of policy frameworks that influence solid waste management decisions. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates household, industrial, manufacturing, and commercial solid and hazardous wastes under the 1976 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Effective solid waste management is a cooperative effort involving federal, state, regional, and local entities. Thus, the RCRA's Solid Waste program section D encourages the environmental departments of each state to develop comprehensive plans to manage nonhazardous industrial and municipal solid waste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plastic pollution</span> Accumulation of plastic in natural ecosystems

Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles in the Earth's environment that adversely affects humans, wildlife and their habitat. Plastics that act as pollutants are categorized by size into micro-, meso-, or macro debris. Plastics are inexpensive and durable, making them very adaptable for different uses; as a result, manufacturers choose to use plastic over other materials. However, the chemical structure of most plastics renders them resistant to many natural processes of degradation and as a result they are slow to degrade. Together, these two factors allow large volumes of plastic to enter the environment as mismanaged waste which persists in the ecosystem and travels throughout food webs.

The global waste trade is the international trade of waste between countries for further treatment, disposal, or recycling. Toxic or hazardous wastes are often imported by developing countries from developed countries.

There are various issues of waste management in Thailand, including excessive plastic use, industrial waste, among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waste management in Australia</span> Waste management in Australia

Waste management in Australia started to be implemented as a modern system by the second half of the 19th century, with its progresses driven by technological and sanitary advances. It is currently regulated at both federal and state level. The Commonwealth's Department of the Environment and Energy is responsible for the national legislative framework.

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