Bitter About Litter

I am not an essayist but on behalf of Blog Action Day,
I am going to try and write a post on something that concerns the environment. And that topic is litter - an insidious disease that invisibly spreads.
As a runner and outdoors person, I am exposed daily to this contamination of the planet.

“Americans generate more then four pounds of trash per person…redundant packaging, all of which now litters every corner of our planet and is found washed up on even the most remote beaches.”
- Garbage Land

With this post I hope to achieve two things:

1. To have at least one person – stop and think before they toss an empty chocolate bar wrapper out the car window.
2. To encourage at least one runner to pick up an empty plastic bottle and deposit it into a trash receptacle. [Better yet - take it home to recycle.]

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I won’t be discussing what litter does to the environment or about the harm done to the flora and fauna. It should be apparent to anyone who can see, hear or feel.

Solutions

Years ago (1961-1983) in the United States, a campaign (PSA) was started to highlight the damages done by polluting our environment.

Pollution Prevention: Keep America Beautiful

During the promotion - Keep America Beautiful local teams had helped to reduce litter by as much as 88% in 300 communities.
(You can view the Iron Eyes Cody TV commercials here.) I think it’s time for another public awareness program about litter. Hopefully the internet via such initiatives as Blog Action Day will also be a venue used to promote and encourage ideas about the prevention of littering.

Stop buying water in bottles! And at races stay away from paper cups – bring your own. This picture of actor Matthew McConaughey and Lance Armstrong shows Matthew running with a reusable drinking cup.

"There aren't many things that are universally cool, and it's cool not to litter. I'd never do it." - Matthew McConaughey

See more about Water Bottle dilemma here.

Provide additional trash receptacles. I know, someone has to empty them. But as a hard working taxpayer, I vote YES for more trash cans.
(Finnie, W.C -- Field experiments in litter control.) Found that highways with trashcans in sight reduced the trash by nearly 30%. When greater numbers of trashcans were present, littering decreased. No surprise. But he also found that colorful garbage cans reduced litter by 14.9% over baseline levels. Brightly colored cans resembling birds were even more effective...
If you build them, they will come!

Related
Litterbugger - a definition.
Eco-Runner - a runner with a purpose.
Litter so eloquently described –> "On the Way to Work"

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