Litter Affects Neighborhoods and Whole Towns
BY BILL PRIMAVERA
Litter. Littering. Litterbug.
They would be almost cute sounding words were it not for their meaning and the deleterious effect can have on our communities, neighborhoods and individual properties.
I regret that I was unable to participate in my town’s annual clean-up on Earth Day because of a bad back. What’s more regrettable is that any of us must compensate for others’ disregard for our environment.
The issue of litter and its relation to the real estate business became abundantly clear to me on one occasion when I was driving to a house showing on a rather busy street. The young couple I was accompanying told me to cancel the appointment even before seeing the property. I thought the reason may have been that they preferred a quieter street. But that was not the issue.
“I can’t live on a street where people just let litter lie there like that,” the wife said. “Does the whole town have so little respect for the environment?”
I don’t know how extensive the research is, but Keep America Beautiful, an organization dedicated to stop littering and recycling, tells us that houses for sale in littered neighborhoods usually don’t get the best prices, and littered towns have less chance of attracting new businesses, residents and tourists.
Because I owned a property for many years that was surrounded on three sides by roads, two of which were relatively busy, I believe that I am somewhat of an expert on road litter.
What people discard from their cars or as pedestrians shows something about how they live. While the major offending throw-away in the ‘70s was cigarette butts, I find that today it is mostly cups from slush machines, plastic containers for bottled water and beer cans.
I think there must be a lot of overweight litterbugs out there because most of the packaging materials I pick up are either from McDonald’s or Burger King.
The frustrating thing is that only twice did I actually see someone discard litter from a car. I suspect most litterers must check first to make sure that nobody is looking or they rid themselves of the refuse of their gustatory sprees in the dead of night when most of us are fast asleep.
Keep America Beautiful also tells us that 75 percent of Americans admit to littering within the past five years. (I’m in the 25 percent of those who never litter, and I’m sure you are too.)
We are also told that most litter offenders are males 18 to 34 years old who eat in fast food restaurants at least twice a week, go out for entertainment at least once a week and drive more than 50 miles a day. So, while we may never catch them, we know a little more about them.
To help individuals, most towns have a clean-up day at least once a year, usually around Earth Day. When I checked with Kim Angliss-Gage, who’s in charge of refuse and recycling in my hometown of Yorktown, I learned that our town picked up more than 10 tons of roadside litter last season.
While most towns have codes that classify littering as illegal and impose fines for businesses or individuals, do you know anyone who has ever been fined for littering?
The two times that I caught litterers in the act proved quite interesting.
The first time, I saw a young man at a stoplight throw out a large soda cup, still filled with ice. I pulled alongside the offender, rolled down my window and, perhaps venting years of frustration in not catching anybody in the act, I shouted, “Pig!” His equally gruff response to me is unprintable for a family newspaper.
But just recently, I had a better experience as a litter vigilante. Again, I saw a young man in front of me toss out a wrapper of some kind from his car window, and again I was able to pull alongside the car. With the kind of moderation that comes with the years, this time I said, “You know, it would be really nice if you didn’t throw your trash on the road.” This young man, obviously embarrassed, said sheepishly, “I’m sorry, sir,” and got out of his car to retrieve it.
From what I’ve observed along the roads, I was thinking that littering has lessened somewhat in the past decade, but Angliss-Gage assures me that it’s as prevalent as ever.
“It’s just that we have more knights in orange vests who help us out in picking up litter throughout the year,” she said.
I know that I always did this around my property and am thankful for all the others who do the same.
Bill Primavera is a Realtor® associated with William Raveis Real Estate and Founder of Primavera Public Relations, Inc. (www.PrimaveraPR.com). His real estate site is www.PrimaveraRealEstate.com, and his blog is www.TheHomeGuru.com. To engage the services of The Home Guru to market your home for sale, call 914-522-2076.
Examiner Media – Keeping you informed with professionally-reported local news, features, and sports coverage.
