Stop the Litter

Brain Storming

Wouldn't It Be Great If

Individual Action

…parents taught their children not to litter

…people recycled more items

…everyone would put their trash in the back seat of their car until they get home, then empty it

…every truck came with a cover which automatically snapped on when loaded

…people would respect the the land beongs to God and therefore we need to keep it clean for Him

…everyone picked up litter on their travels

Group Action

…every community took responsibility for its own appearance and trained their children that trash is tacky

…community groups provided car litter bags

…every school spearheaded a campaign for "cleanest community" involving local business, churches, and fire departments

…we could get "seed" money from corporate fast food companies and convenience stores to raise awareness

…there were decomposable fast food containers

…the people who have committed to adopting roadways would keep them clean

…we encouraged road construction crews to keep the area clean

Spreading the Word / Marketing

…we had a poster campaign to increase awareness (ex: Are you trashy? followed by pictures and information on dumping)

…we had a litter/trash calendar

…mount a media campaign drawing attention to the problem

…we had an ad campaign with bumper stickers, t-shirts, and billboards with subject "Litter Hurts" in the same manner as the God billboard series (e.g., "Litter is ugly, I am not impressed," - God)

…one day a month was Litter Awareness Day and each month a different segment of the community (ex: churches, schools, businesses) makes an effort to increase awareness by putting signs on their marquees

…we contacted all contractors and homebuilders to ask them to talk to their employees about covering their trucks and rewarded clean construction crews

…there were pictures in local papers of project areas before and after pick up to show the difference and raise awareness of the difference it makes

…make more apparent that recycled materials are used productively

…there were competition among fast food restaurants for the least disposable material

…there were a community awareness campaign

…there were more signs about not littering

…local pulpits take this message to their congregations

…we could leverage the phrase, "Watauga County is Home of Mother Nature"

…we could make recycling more transparent so people are aware of where recycled material goes (i.e., not to the landfill)

…we could raise environmental awareness (e.g., through education) so that responsibility for our beautiful county is taken by each individual

…there were a "Smokey the Bear" type character for school litter campaigns

Education

…we could get involved with elementary and high schools to get children involved in litter pickup at their schools

…kids are taught where "away" is… as in "throw it away!"

…we started an educational program on "litter education" starting in pre-school

…we had character education, teaching pride and awareness of the problem

Facilities / Signs / Services

…the dump offered garbage bags for cars

…there were signs on dumpsters to encourage recycling of appropriate items

…there were more trash cans outside of fast food restaurants with signs that read, "Throw it here!"

…fast food bags had large writing saying "Don't Litter - Use this bag as a car litter bag"

…there were regularly scheduled big item drop off days at container sites

…consumers had to pay for plastic bags to reduce their use

… fast food facilities encouraged their people to use their own containers

…recycling facilities emptied containers more often - cardboard container is often full on Saturdays

…there were Pitch In baskets at critical areas

…recycling centers were open 24/7 and accepted large items

…we had county-wide trash/garbage pickup

…dumps were open later on weekends

Legal Approaches / Consequences

…North Carolina had a container deposit law

…Watauga County had its own deposit law

…we had a Bottle Bill

…people got paid for their trash

…opaque garbage bags were outlawed in Watauga County

…the laws on the books about littering were enforced by local authorities

…litter fines were enforced with offenders' names printed in the paper

…we had an alternate penalty to serve on a litter pick-up crew

…community service hours were used for litterers to pick up trash

…prisoners supported trash pickup, especially large items like tires below road banks and in rivers

…Boone could be a "litter trap" - like some towns are known as speed traps

…the county could hire an officer who could investigate and prosecute illegal dumping

…we could set up "litter stoppers" ; had a "trash stoppers hot line"

…we required auto repair shops to recycle antifreeze

…before being issued a building permit a construction company had to sign an agreement to keep the site clean throughout the project

…the phlinx system

…we had citizen citations for littering

…we had a public pillory

…trash could be fingerprinted and the violators captured and sentenced to a prison term.

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