Reducing Roadway Rubbish...Do Your Part

Each year, more than 51 billion pieces of litter land on U.S. roadways. The result is almost 11.5 billion dollars in annual cleanup costs, some of which comes directly from schools and other community organizations. 

The presence of litter in a community lowers quality of life and property values. From the road, it can be swept by weather, traffic and/or animals into gutters, lawns and local waterways.

Most people are less likely to litter when in their own community because they care about the quality of their own environment. It’s much more tempting, miles away from anyone or any place we know, to chuck that cigarette butt or empty bottle out the car window. But if you don’t litter in your own backyard, why litter in someone else’s?

Let’s face it, when we’re stuck on the highway for miles, we don’t want to keep looking at the garbage accumulating in the passenger seat. In fact, studies have shown that about 23% of Americans are likely to litter from their car.

So how can we manage our car trash and take control of our environmental impact?

1. Use a car litterbag. This can be as simple as attaching a plastic bag to your gear shift or a hook on the passenger side. However, many companies also produce litter containers for cars that hook onto the back of seats or virtually anywhere you’d like to place one.

You can find some of these litter bags here.

2. Use a car ashtray. In addition to car litter bags, many companies also make car ashtrays that fit inside a cupholder. By designating one of your cup holders as an ashtray, you can create a convenient place to chuck your cigarette butts besides out the window.

3. Make rest stops, trash-toss stops as well. When stopping for gas, food or a trip to the bathroom, take an extra few seconds to dump your litter bag contents into the garbage. Through making a trash run a part of rest stop routine, you can prevent the accumulation of car garbage and roadway litter.

85% of littering results from individual attitudes and 52% of roadway litter is caused by motorists.  By changing the way we think about litter and better managing our car garbage, we can make a huge impact on the cleanliness of our environment, the quality of our communities and the money we have to spend cleaning up other people’s messes.