Talk:Litter

Earlier talk

I think most of the additions added by Norm are great. However, Norm also ad ded this one section, which is POV:

Who is to blame?

The rise of fast food companies serving their food in cardboard and plastic instead of using reusable plates have increased the ammount of litter in modern times. Smokers are also blamed since a lot of their ciggarette stubs end up as litter. Younger people often litter because they think it is "cool" to litter.

To say fast food restaurants are responsible for litter is like saying Smith & Wesson is responsible for gun-related crime or that McDonald's is responsible for making people fat. Fast food restaurants don't hire people to spread litter: in fact most encorage their patrons to responsibly dispose of their trash. The smokers sentence is also a little POV, but it is true a lot of them do toss their butts out of their car windows. Perhaps something should also be said about how they can spark fires? I don't know if the "younger people" sentence is completely accurate either. In short, it needs NPOV'ing and then can be added back in. Anyone want to take a shot at it? — Frecklefoot | Talk 18:46, Sep 13, 2004 (UTC)

No Citations

Can anybody provide references for the history section? It contains a large number of unsubstantiated assertions. It also contains informal opinions (e.g. "People do not care that they are violating the earth") that should be removed.--72.199.241.47 19:50, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

On March 19, 2007, I provided numerous citations from my paper, DO MESS WITH IT! A Sociopolitical Study of Littering and the Role of Southern and Nearby States. -S. Spacek

What Is Litter?

Responses to Below: SEE my paper. Provides thorough Definiton of litter. <Spacek, S. http://ecommons.txstate.edu/arp/27/> Stevewonder2 21:48, 19 March 2007 (UTC)stevewonder2

I'm curious just what is defined as litter and what is unavoidable human detritus? I assume that hair and skin that naturally fall off aren't considered litter but what about seeds that get stuck in our shoes or crumbs from our food that can find their way accidentally into a vulnerable ecosystem they could disrupt? Or perhaps even vomit, which surely isn't littered intentionally. In response to the aforementioned reasons that littering is good: Why should anyone be hired to pick up trash? When someone is paid to do a job they are often motivated to try to preserve that job by assuring that the need for their job remains. If I were hired to pick up trash, it would be in my best interest to do exactly what this person is telling us to do. If I were employed to pick up trash, I would encourage everyone to litter so that not only would my job be more secure, but I might even get a raise. Isn't this the same tactic that tobacco companies use when they encourage kids to smoke? Why do we punish tobacco companies for trying to keep their income secure and not punish trash collectors for trying to encourage people to litter? At least acknowledge that the temptation to promote oneself at the expense of ones community exists. Now, I'm baffled that this person thinks that the lack of an alternative to littering is a reason FOR littering. And I'm also baffled that they can't think of any good alternatives to littering either. However, it's not my job to come up with solutions to littering. There's a limit to how much help I'm willing to hand out free of charge. I find it very hard to follow this persons reasoning and can only recognize one sound, albeit controversial, reason that littering COULD have a positive impact. Eddietoran 22:19, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

Speaking of smoking, how are smokers expected to not litter? When you're done with a cigarette you have no choice but to throw the butt on the ground, unless by some chance there happens to be one of those public ashtrays there. You have to get rid of your cigarette before you can get on a bus, and I doubt anyone just pockets it.

No, you're supposed to throw it in a public trash can. Unless you're smoking on some rural park trail hundreds of miles from civilization, or you live in a city with really bad public services, there is always a trash can nearby. And if you're driving, that's what the ashtray is for; you're supposed to keep the stubs in the ashtray until you get to a trash can (and of course all gas stations have cans). --Coolcaesar 03:38, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

Legal Consequences

Responses to below: See My paper, DO MESS WITH IT. <http://ecommons.txstate.edu/arp/27/> AN online document can answer your law availibility questions. ALL fifty of the United States have anti-litter laws. See National Center for Environmetal Decision-Making Research. “Review Laws,” in Decision Maker’s Guide to Controlling Litter and Illegal Dumping. [online] <ref www.ncedr.org/guides/litter/step41.htm > ~~~~stevewonder2

• Not keen on this section as at present it only states the law in two US states. Seems to me it would be better generalising the section or getting rid of it completely. Any idea/thought? Cls14 16:10, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

A Thought - Move to Littering

"Littering" means "To Scatter", and as such, the noun "Litter" is less direct - meaning "that which has been scattered". Most laws dealing with "Litter" define the "act of littering", rather than what "litter is". The same thing = ie "a beer bottle" can be litter in one context, yet valid merchandise in another context. It would seem far more consistent to define "Littering" as the scattering or abandonment of anything without permission ... 71.244.156.62 (talk) 21:31, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

reporting littering

I can't stand that i can't report littering in california. do any states have a system where citizens can report littering? Or do all states in the US require a police officer to see littering to do something about it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.47.174.66 (talk) 01:46, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

Litter defined and described

Litter can be simply defined as any man-made, man-used, misplaced solid waste. For example, a banana peel thrown in the gutter is litter, an apple fallen from a nearby tree is not. Further, litter is generally categorized by those who fight it on a day-to-day basis as a symptom, a consequence, inappropriate behavior at seven to ten major sources or types of sites.

Those sites include:

Primary Sites/Sources

1. Improper business putouts 2. Improper household putouts 3. Improper multi-family community putouts 4. Construction/demolition sites 5. Loading/receiving docks 6. Uncovered vehicles

Once loose due to improper containerization or failure to be cleaned up promptly, litter moves by wind, water, animals or vehicles until it becomes trapped along a curb, ditch, fence, bush, etc. It then invites secondary littering...the kind that unfortunately gets most of the attendion about "the litter problem."

Secondary Sites/Sources

7. Motorists 8. Pedestrians

All of the above taken together have created an atmosphere, a culture really, that it is okay to handle solid waste carelessly, to leave it lay wherever it my fall or be seen. This has helped foster what can be called "special sites/sources" including:

Tertiary-Special Sites/Sources

9. Illegal dumping - a persistent bad habit or a persistent social system failure? 10. Public place littering - movie house managers estimate that cleaning up after each showing of a movie in modern theaters generates an annual cost of $8,000 to $12,000.

One recent local community study indicated that major entities surveyed in its public and private sectors were spending over $8.4 million dollars annually picking up litter each year. If true, that is over $40.00 per capita and $1,000 per hour 24-7-365. If translatable to the U.S., the annual cost to America's businesses, governments, and citizens exceeds $1 Trillion.

The national organization most experienced in teaching local communities to effectively and sustainably reduce litter is Keep America Beautiful, Inc. [http:www.keepamericanbeautiful.org] —Preceding unsigned comment added by BHorton2 (talk • contribs) 04:01, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

California penalty

The text says $100, and the photo says $1,000. Which is correct? The Source given in the text does not open in a reasonable time for me (I have dial up, like many people, not a fast connection). Sincerely, ~~~~

Who's to blame for litter

I have removed the section "Who's to blame for litter?" as the entire section was a big mess. The title was unprofessional, The first paragraph of the article was little more than a list of people who litter, and the other section was written like a grade seven essay. Not only did it not elaborate on some of the points it was trying to make, which for the most part were uncited, it was also written from a non-NPOV. If such a section is deemed necessary for this article, it would have to be entirely rewritten in order to solve these problems. Therefore, I have removed the section. ~~~~ {{subst:Unsigned|1=Twipie|2=07:31, 1 March 2009 (UTC)}}

what is litter