July 3rd Litter Factoid...Space, The Final Fronteer

At my age, still remember when man walked on the moon...fast forward some 40 plus years for today's factoid.  

Did you know that we humans have managed so far to litter outer space with over 18,000 pieces of space garbage (they only count and track pieces larger than four inches)?  That is a LOT OF SPACE JUNK, and maybe the various nations launching stuff into space need to come up with a Litter Control program for outer space.

If you count space litter of less than four inches, NASA estimates there are over 135 million pieces of man-made metal debris orbiting the Earth.  Seems anywhere man goes, litter follows...do your part, and pick up some litter every where you go.

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.

Reduce Litter, Go Bagless

Just as important as recycling our waste streams, is reducing them, and a very easy way to reduce is too go bag free when heading out to the grocery store, or shopping.  BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag) is a great way to keep plastic bags out of our landfills, out of our environment, and out of our waterways and oceans...stop the site of plastic bags blowing in the wind by bringing your own plastic bags, own the battle cry of "Reduce, Recycle and Reuse. 

Each of us doing our small part can make a difference when all those small parts are added together, and bringing your own bags shopping can contribute to a cleaner environment.  US Retailers each and every year hand out over 380 BILLION plastic shopping bags, and another 10 Billion paper bags.  Those bags too often end up blowing in the wind, ending up in trees, on the sides of our roads, and clogging our water ways.  Saying, "No thank you, I brought my own bags" is a great way to contribute to cleaner world.  Bringing canvas will reduce your own carbon footprint, and save the energy it would take to produce and transport paper and plastic bags to your local vendors.

Canvas Bag Suppliers

• Eco Bags...Get Hip Get Green brings reusable shopping bags to a forefront of both “E”s: environmentalism and education. Each sale will also mean a donation to the children’s environmental group, The Green Ambassadors. The Green Ambassadors provide high school students with experiences that foster personal growth, community service, and leadership skills to tackle the most critical environmental issues facing our planet.
• Green Bags Unlimited...Welcome to Green Bags Unlimited!  Your source for customize, reusable, Eco-friendly bags and totes.  As a supplier and designer, we service distributors around the world.  Our fabrics range from natural to recycled materials.