Last week, I happily discovered that there is a litter tracking app called Delete Litter.
At first I was a little daunted by counting individual pieces of litter I collected. That might work in areas that are not as densely littered, but if I am going around my block every day or every other day and still filling a bag with trash each time…that’s a lot of counting!
I didn’t see a way in the app to keep count as I was picking, but I found a post on the DL blog that led me to downloading a counter app I can access from my lock screen. With this system, it’s easy enough to pick up 10-20 pieces of trash and then quickly update the count along the way.
It’s interesting to add this data into my clean up efforts. Before finding out about Delete Litter, I was snapping photos of my full trash bags and adding them to a private “litter” album, just to keep a visual record of what I’ve done.
Now that I am creating “Litterlogs” and can see a “Litterboard” with other members doing this kind of work in their communities, I feel even more motivated to keep going. I am also curious to see how the quantity of litter changes (or stays the same) over time in a given area.
Litter attracts litter.
Don’t just take my word for it. Studies have shown this to be true.
I have been thinking about the behavior of littering and the social psychology of it ever since learning about Cialdini’s litter studies during my sophomore year of college.
“One of the most commonly reported findings from studies of littering behavior is that individuals litter into an already littered environment at a greater rate than they do into an otherwise clean environment.” (Cialdini et al., 1991)
So, where is the tipping point? How frequently do I need to do this work before these numbers drop significantly? How long does an area need to look relatively litter-free in order for litterbugs to stop littering? Does the behavior stop or do they just go somewhere else?
I am not sure I will be able to answer the last question in a quantitative way, but I know that keeping logs of my clean ups will help me get closer to understanding human behavior patterns at the hyperlocal level when it comes to littering. I look forward to sharing my data and observations in future posts.
My thanks go out to the Founder, Christopher Brenchley for creating this app and building a community that brings together people who care about leaving spaces and places better than they found them.