Litter Prevention

 

What is litter? 

Litter is improperly disposed of waste materials, both manmade and natural. Along US roadways, 51 billion pieces of litter are found per year. Tobacco products account for 38% of this waste, while paper (22%) and plastic (19%) are the other leading contributers to the litter stream. The majority (76%) of this waste is discarded by motorists and pedestrians. Improperly covered trucks also contribute to this problem with 16.4% of litter originating from this source.

 

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Why Worry About Litter?

The amount of litter present in a community greatly affects the quality of life of its residents. According to the National Association of Home Builders, property values decrease approximately 7% when excessive litter is present in an area. Environmental consequences of littering are also undeniable. Litter is often carried by wind and rain to waterways where it may degrade that ecosystem. Animals may crawl into bottles and become trapped, they may eat plastic bags and become unable to digest food, they may even confuse something toxic, like antifreeze, as a tasty treat.

 

All of these concerns add up to real cost. Fines for littering can reach up to $2,500. Communities that have a high rate of litter suffer from lost tourism revenue, increased costs for ecosystem restoration, expense for repairs of automobiles that hit a not-so-soft piece of litter, as well as the cost of removing litter. In 2009, Keep America Beautiful found that states, cities, and counties spend $1.3 BILLION on litter clean up efforts. Business spend over $9 billion on litter annually!

 

The good news: Visible litter is down 61% since 1969. However, there is still plenty of room for improvement!

 

 

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How You Can Help

 

Clean Valley Council works within the community and schools to show how litter can degrade the community, how it can affect animals, and how it can produce pollution.

  

Litter pickups and clean up programs such as Clean Valley Day, Fall Waterways Clean up,  Adopt-A-Highway, Clean Virginia Waterways, Assign-A-Highway, and other environmental programs offer citizens an opportunity to join together to make their community cleaner.

 

What can I do when I see someone Litter?

 

Each Virginia jurisdiction has a litter program manager or contact, and a unique litter program. Some jurisdictions encourage citizens to report litter bugs, heavily littered spots or stretches of road, or an illegal dump site. 

 

It takes the commitment of the local police force, judges, and witnesses to convict people of littering.  Therefore, many localities find other ways to combat litter in their jurisdiction. 

 

This can include training ambassadors to do litter outreach in the community, organizing litter pick ups, etc. Contact your local litter program manager to find out what you can do to help prevent litter in your jurisdiction. 

 

Botetourt County:

Ronald Smith

 Public Works Director
County of Botetourt
30 West Back Street, #4
Fincastle, VA 24090
Phone: 540-473-8316
Fax: 540-473-8360
Email: rsmith@botetourt.org
Website: Botetourt County Public Works  

 

Roanoke City 

Steve Taylor

Litter Prevention Program Manager

City of Roanoke

1802 Courtland Road

Roanoke, VA 24012

Phone: 540.853.1254

Fax: 540.853.1270

Email: steve.taylor@roanokeva.gov

 

Roanoke County

Nancy Bailey Duval

Solid Waste Manager
County of Roanoke
1216 Kessler Mill Rd.
Salem, VA 24153
Phone: 540-387-6200
Fax: 540-387-6112
Email: nduval@roanokecountyva.gov

 

City of Salem

James M. Fender, Jr.

Director of Solid Waste Management/Recycling Program Manager
City of Salem
P.O. Box 869
Salem, VA 24153
Phone: 540-375-3052
Fax: 540-375-4111
Email: jfender@ci.salem.va.gov

 

Town of Vinton

Michael G. Kennedy, P.E. 

Public Works Director
Town of Vinton
804 S. 3rd Street
Vinton, VA 24179
Phone: 540-983-0646
Fax: 540-985-4582
Email: mkennedy@vintonva.gov

 

 

Additional Resources:

http://www.deq.virginia.gov/recycle/lprevention.html

http://www.kab.org/

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