$11,000,000 spent on thrown away items in Tennessee every year! 

According to the latest StopLitter statistics, taxpayers spent eleven million dollars cleaning up litter on Tennessee roadways.  This figure does not even take into account the amount of money cities spend in incorporated areas. 

12,000,000 miles driven each year picking up litter in our state means Tennessee tax dollars paid huge amounts for fuel to keep litter vehicles on the roads.   “Littering is not only an eyesore, it costs taxpayers money,” stated Ed Cole of Tennessee Department of Transportation.  It is time to get serious about litter prevention.   

Money is not the only issue with littering.  A majority of litter winds up in our streams and waterways as pollution.  Not only are we trashing Tennessee, our trash flows from our waterways to other states and eventually to our oceans.  Litter is sickening and killing our fish, marine life, and birds.  It is time to StopLitter!

Litter influences communities.  One Dickson resident stated he would not buy property in a littered neighborhood as he feels litter indicates areas where criminal activity might be present.   Tourists avoid areas where litter is a problem for the same reason.  Most people would not feel safe shopping in an area that is trashy and littered.  Folks return to areas that are beautiful and clean for shopping and recreational activities. 

“Throw it out the window!”  That was the response of a four year old to the question of what to do with trash in the car.  Littering is a learned behavior.  We learn to litter from parents and peers.  “The answer to the littering problem involves more than just cleaning up trash.  Prevention is the key solution,” according to Edith Heller of Keep Tennessee Beautiful.   Education, especially at an early age, is vital to keeping our state clean.  However, without enforcement, all the education in the world will not stop the problem.
Tennessee averages 5,100 pieces of litter per mile on urban freeways (people actually counted litter to get the average!) Thirty percent is deliberate litter and seventy percent comes from unsecured loads.  Men litter more than women do and national studies show the worst offenders are 18 to 34 year olds.  Here are some results of a 2006 Tennessee poll of 18 to 34 year olds:

·    8% of men said they litter everyday as opposed to 2% of women
·    Only 37% of men claim to never litter while 57% of women say they never litter
·    62% said litter affects the way other people view their communities
·    Only half of smokers polled properly dispose of cigarette butts
·    81% of respondents said legal penalties would stop them from littering

Littering is a crime and studies show that people who litter have often committed crimes that are more serious.  Crime is more likely in a littered, blighted area, littered neighborhoods indicate a serious loss of community pride, and littered areas show a failure to obey the law.  

If you see someone littering, call the toll-free hotline at 1-877-8-LITTER (877-854-8837).