Prevent Littering: Simple Steps for a Cleaner Environment

Litter not only looks bad, but it also washes into gutters and ends up in streams and rivers to clog and pollute our water supplies and ultimately work against a cleaner environment. Litter can be insidious. However, you can do a number of things to stop littering and help others to understand how they are contributing to the litter build-up.

Instructions

• 1

  Keep a litterbag in your vehicle at all times. Put all your trash in it, including gum, food and paper.

• 2

  Pick up litter when you see it thrown carelessly on the ground. Be careful about picking up sharp objects with your bare hands to avoid infection.

• 3

  Talk to your friends and family when you see them litter. Help them to understand the ramifications of their actions. Take the opportunity to educate them about how their actions ultimately affect the environment.

• 4

  Join an organization such as Keep America Beautiful or Adopt a Road that picks up litter in a group, lobbies for trash receptacles and provides education to the public. Find a local Adopt-A-Road program through your state's environment departments.

• 5

  Encourage a group that you belong to already to get involved in an anti-litter campaign.

• 6

  Carry a portable ashtray with a cover if you are a smoker. Cigarette butts do not decompose and are difficult to clean up.

• 7

  Report littering to the proper authorities when you see it. Call your town or city government to find out who enforces littering ordinances. A special division may enforce littering on a large scale, while the police handle other infractions.