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LITTER FACTS
1. The Definition of Litter
Litter is simply trash that is put in the wrong place.
Trash belongs in the garbage can, in the recycling bin, in a reuse facility, at a sanitary landfill, or at a waste-to-energy plant.
Trash is called “litter” when it ends up in the wrong place: on the ground, on roads and highways, in trees, in neighborhoods, blowing in the air, in creeks, rivers, lakes, or oceans, etc.
2. The Most Littered Items
The most littered items in the entire world are cigarette related: cigarette butts, matches, packaging, etc. Other commonly-littered items:
3. The Seven Major Sources of Litter
Litter comes from:
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- motorists (trash can be put in the receptacles found at busy intersections in Plano, or it can
be put in a litter bag in your car to be disposed of later) |
- uncovered trucks (to make sure things don’t blow out of truck beds, tarps or other kinds of
coverings are needed to secure or hold items down) |
- household trash collection areas (when you put your trash out at your house, put the trash in sealed bags before putting them in your trash container, and make sure the lid to your trash container is closed tightly)
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- business trash collection areas
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- business and industrial loading docks
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- construction and demolition sites
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4. Litter Can Take Many, Many Years to Decompose or Disintegrate
Commonly-littered items:
- Cigarette butts can take anywhere from 5 to 30 years to break down, but they will
never entirely decompose or disintegrate (because the filters are made of a cellulose
acetate – plastic – and contain over 165 chemicals!) |
- Styrofoam, glass, and car tires can take over 1 million years to break down or decompose!
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- Banana and orange peels, apple cores, half-eaten sandwiches, etc. (things people litter because they think they’re doing a good thing by feeding birds or little animals) can actually take up to 5 weeks to decompose if they’re NOT eaten; during those weeks, bacteria builds up from flies and other insects so that if birds and animals eat the food in its rotting stage, the animals will get very sick and may die
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- Aluminum cans take 200-500 years to decompose, while tin cans take up to 100 years to decompose
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- Plastic 6-pack holders take up to 600 years to decompose
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- Plastic sandwich bags can take up to 400 years to break down
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5. The SIX Most Common Reasons People Give for Littering
People litter because:
- they don’t feel the area “belongs” to them
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- they are too lazy to walk to the trash container
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- they think someone else will pick up after them
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- or they see other people litter, so they think it must be o.k.
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- there are no disposal containers available
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- litter has already accumulated so, by leaving the litter there, they're not doing anything that hasn't already been done
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6. Litter Is Expensive
The City of Plano spends approximately $500,000 each year toward litter and illegal dumping cleanups (The State of Texas spends almost $50 MILLION each year to pick up litter!). Most of the litter (about 90%) is picked up by the City of Plano’s work crew; about 10% of litter is picked up by dedicated Adopt-A-Highway and miscellaneous cleanup volunteers in various businesses, civic groups, churches, and schools.
Other ways litter can be “expensive” is directly to homeowners. Houses that are for sale in littered neighborhoods usually don’t get the best prices. And fires started by dropped or dumped litter (cigarettes, cans with toxic materials, etc.) cause millions of dollars in damage every year.
7. Litter Is Illegal
In Texas, if you are caught littering from a vehicle (throwing trash out of a car window, for instance), you can be fined up to $500. A second littering offense could get a fine up to $2,000 and as much as 180 days in jail (that’s 6 months or half a year!). Even if you open a package of gum and drop the wrapper on the sidewalk, you could get a fine, too.
8. Litter is Ugly, It Hurts People, Harms Plants, and Kills or Injures Animals
Here are some ways litter can be dangerous:
- people get in car accidents trying to avoid litter on the roadways
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- young children fall on litter in playgrounds and can get hurt
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- illegally dumped garbage can kill or stunt plant growth
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- many small animals crawl into bottles or jars and get stuck and slowly starve to death
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- birds, small animals, and water creatures eat or get tangled in plastic bags or plastic 6-ring holders
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- animals get cut from certain types of litter and can die from infected cuts
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9. Litter CAN Be Controlled
All of us can take responsibility to educate people, especially our family and friends, about the awful effects of littering. Hopefully, they will make more of an effort to always put their trash in the correct place, and will help spread the word to others about litter prevention. Our example is the best way to educate others, so first and foremost - don’t litter!