It’s Ugly, It’s Unhealthy, It’s Unsafe: So Why Do People Litter?
Preliminary research efforts by MAG to find out why people litter show that littering is a complex behavior that can be attributed to a number of sources, including motorists, uncovered loads, pedestrians and more.
Before formally launching a new prevention and education campaign to reduce littering on regional highways, the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) wanted to first identify who the litterbugs are and why they litter. Secondary research conducted by RIESTER, the advertising and public relations firm hired by MAG to implement the campaign, finds that littering is an extremely complex and inconsistent behavior.
A significant portion of litter is accidental. Research finds that 40 percent of litter comes from debris blowing out of the backs of pickup trucks or other types of unsecured loads. The remaining 60 percent of litter is intentional, typically occurring in places where litter has already accumulated.
“What is interesting about the research is that it is tough to label a litterer,” said Phoenix Councilwoman Peggy Bilsten, who chairs a MAG subcommittee looking at resolving litter issues. “Someone may litter in certain situations, but not in others. The research finds that they can be influenced by a number of factors, including people thinking an item is not litter (such as a cigarette butt), laziness, lack of consequences for their actions, seeing litter already in a given area, or a lack of trash bins,” she said.
Bilsten notes that, although the vast majority of people claim to want to live in a clean environment, more than 75 percent of Americans admit to littering in the past five years. According to research in other states, the most common offenders appear to be single men aged 18-34. Other common litterbugs included smokers, those who eat fast food two times per week or more, those who frequent bars and night clubs, and those who drive pickup trucks. The research found that littering is not a consistent behavior, making it more difficult to target messages.
Littering is not only unsightly, it can cause environmental and health problems. Cigarette butts, for example, contain toxic chemicals that can end up in storm drains and contaminate water systems. Debris falling from unsecured loads can cause serious traffic accidents.
People give many reasons for littering. The sidebar (left) shows some of the specific findings relating to litter behavior uncovered through RIESTER’s secondary research of other states.
Bilsten says MAG will now conduct its own telephone survey to provide more specific information about why Arizonans litter, to see if patterns vary from other states. She notes that the research conducted so far provides a glimpse of the challenging task ahead.
“It is clear that first we need to help residents understand the scope of the problem and how they may be contributing to it,” she said. “People may think one small piece of trash doesn’t matter much, but it quickly adds up to a big problem. Litter is ugly, it’s unhealthy, it’s unsafe. We can put a statistical face on litterers. Now we need to put a personal face on it, so that those who trash our state understand the dangers and consequences of littering,” she said.
