Showing posts with label Green Up. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Green Up. Show all posts
Thursday, June 24, 2010
January 2010 New Years Salute and Greetings from Vermont
Raise your hands if you like Litter. No hands, that was easy! Let us take a pledge to refuse to look down on litter unless we are willing to help pick it up. South Burlington: Green and Clean, and Litter Free in 2010!
Litter picking is an All Season Sport - Litter Survey @ sensitive areas in South Burlington, Vermont
How do you sustain and maintain Green Mountains? It takes lots of rain and sunshine. Our rain quota filled in July (and then some). Now we need some Sun! How do we keep South Burlington Clean as well as Green? Litter prevention and litter round up is the Vermont way. Volunteers picked up tons of trash on Green Up Day filling their quota (and then some). Now we need prevention measures to keep our neighborhoods, city streets, and streams Green and Clean. Keeping a small trash bag in the car is one way to reduce the likelihood of trash thrown out the window.
As much as we want August, September, October, and beyond to be sunny, we know, we need rain periodically to keep our beautiful scenery green. So it is with maintaining and sustaining a clean urban environment-pleasant to view, safe for nature’s outdoor creatures and us. Eleven ecologically sensitive stream areas cleaned up on Green Up Day now, only two months later show the need for litter prevention diligence and a pick up a piece every day attitude.
These eleven ecologically sensitive sites today average 14 pieces of litter per a 50 linear foot walk with some areas as high as 24 pieces of trash per 50 linear feet; much improved over the pre-Green Up Day defamation but worse than the pristine condition immediately following the volunteers cleanup effort in May. What has since accumulated may suggest to us where to focus our prevention work.
Heavy trash (tires, barrels, shopping carts, 55-gallon drums) were evident in May but not so now. The break out of trash at these sites in July was as follows: Takeout food or drink wrappers/containers (40%), non redeemable bottles or cans-predominately water bottles (16%), plastic-non food packaging ( 15%), cardboard or paper-non food packaging (10%), redeemable bottles or cans (9%), cigarette packaging (3%), automobile parts (2%), clothing/cloth (1%), miscellaneous (5%).
Good news: all that rain in July has assured tall green growth in these areas hiding for now much of the litter. The absence of heavy trash is also good news. On the not so good side at least one site (Market Street) was laden with five large partially torn garbage bags of household trash. In addition, another location, (Bartlett Bay road) had litter directly in a stream. Also remember where the litter may be hidden now, it may be in view later in the year, either due to seasonal vegetation die off or lawn mower hits (multiplying the littered effect) or due to the wind transporting the litter to our sidewalks, streets and yards.
Like the sun finding its way through the clouds, each of us can be lookouts for litter hot spots. Then individually or as community groups, we can pick up a piece every day, or at least not wait until next May to maintain and sustain our Green and Clean urban environment. Is your neighborhood litter free?
As much as we want August, September, October, and beyond to be sunny, we know, we need rain periodically to keep our beautiful scenery green. So it is with maintaining and sustaining a clean urban environment-pleasant to view, safe for nature’s outdoor creatures and us. Eleven ecologically sensitive stream areas cleaned up on Green Up Day now, only two months later show the need for litter prevention diligence and a pick up a piece every day attitude.
These eleven ecologically sensitive sites today average 14 pieces of litter per a 50 linear foot walk with some areas as high as 24 pieces of trash per 50 linear feet; much improved over the pre-Green Up Day defamation but worse than the pristine condition immediately following the volunteers cleanup effort in May. What has since accumulated may suggest to us where to focus our prevention work.
Heavy trash (tires, barrels, shopping carts, 55-gallon drums) were evident in May but not so now. The break out of trash at these sites in July was as follows: Takeout food or drink wrappers/containers (40%), non redeemable bottles or cans-predominately water bottles (16%), plastic-non food packaging ( 15%), cardboard or paper-non food packaging (10%), redeemable bottles or cans (9%), cigarette packaging (3%), automobile parts (2%), clothing/cloth (1%), miscellaneous (5%).
Good news: all that rain in July has assured tall green growth in these areas hiding for now much of the litter. The absence of heavy trash is also good news. On the not so good side at least one site (Market Street) was laden with five large partially torn garbage bags of household trash. In addition, another location, (Bartlett Bay road) had litter directly in a stream. Also remember where the litter may be hidden now, it may be in view later in the year, either due to seasonal vegetation die off or lawn mower hits (multiplying the littered effect) or due to the wind transporting the litter to our sidewalks, streets and yards.
Like the sun finding its way through the clouds, each of us can be lookouts for litter hot spots. Then individually or as community groups, we can pick up a piece every day, or at least not wait until next May to maintain and sustain our Green and Clean urban environment. Is your neighborhood litter free?
Litter picking is an All Season Sport - Misconceptions about cigarette butts. Cig butts top Vermont's litter list.
Cigarette butts impose daunting math problem. As six year old asks "Why do People Litter?"
Six-year-old Francine Able of South Burlington recalled when her dad challenged her to count the fireflies in the back yard one early summer night. At first, it was easy- for just one or two burning lights flew about. However, as others joined in the fray, hundreds if not thousands of the small insects infiltrated the Spartan sky. The following year when spring and Green Up day arrived, Mr. Able challenged Francine to count all the pieces of litter they would find and dispose. Francine was sure success would be hers this time. However, to Francine's surprise litter splattered the area they had cleaned up last Green Up day, imposing another daunting math problem.
Stalling, Francine asked her dad, “why do people litter?” to which he responded:
• Lack of knowledge of the environmental effects of littering.
• Litter has already accumulated. The more litter present the more people are inclined to litter.
• Lack of social pressure to do the right thing.
• Number, placement and appearance of disposal containers at or near the site are inadequate.
• People who litter often feel no sense of pride in the areas they are littering.
• They do not view the item as litter. That is often the case with cigarette butts.
Given the enormity of the pending count, Francine decided to try to improve her odds of success. “Cigarettes butts are small and inconsequential so I don't need to count them,” she suggested.
Photo by Rosanne Greco
To which Mr. Able responded, “Cigarettes may be small but they are more harmful to our environment than first meets the eye. Think of the volumes of cigarettes tossed on our streets many of which end up in our streams, rivers, and lakes. In addition, remember:
• Cigarette butts are not biodegradable (Most filters are made of plastic-like cellulose acetate.)
• The chemicals that leach out of the filters may harm aquatic life at the bottom of the food chain.
• Fish and other marine creatures as well as birds may ingest cigarettes mistaking them for food.”
As you can see here and especially at the outside entrances to public buildings, many people do not believe they are, littering when they throw their cigarette butts on the ground. We need to get the message out that cigarette butts are litter, in order to change the behavior that contaminates our urban landscape, harms wildlife, pollutes our waters, and creates a gargantuan mathematical challenge for you Francine.
Looking on the bright side Francine calculated that the day's Green Up haul of litter larger than a cigarette were down from last year. “Dad, now we need to get as strong a message out to folks about the harmful impacts of cigarette litter. If we do that do you think cigarette littering behavior will change and next year I won't need a calculator when we come back here next Green UP day?”
Mr. Able replied, “Francine, you can count on that!”
References: Bulleted litter facts from Prince Edward Islands web site:
http://www.gov.pe.ca/enveng/litter/index.php3?number=61866&lang=E
*Fictional story and characters. No intention to represent any real individual.
June 2009
March 2012 update
You Tube-"Butt Really" song by Michael Franti: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP_rg4xShac
Toxicity of Cigarette butts: http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/novotny_20legacy_20slides_1_.pdf
More Cig. Butts Facts: http://www.legacyforhealth.org/PDF/Environmental_Toolkit.pdf
Top 10 trash items in our oceans: http://www.oceanconservancy.org/our-work/marine-debris/2012-data-release.html
Six-year-old Francine Able of South Burlington recalled when her dad challenged her to count the fireflies in the back yard one early summer night. At first, it was easy- for just one or two burning lights flew about. However, as others joined in the fray, hundreds if not thousands of the small insects infiltrated the Spartan sky. The following year when spring and Green Up day arrived, Mr. Able challenged Francine to count all the pieces of litter they would find and dispose. Francine was sure success would be hers this time. However, to Francine's surprise litter splattered the area they had cleaned up last Green Up day, imposing another daunting math problem.
Stalling, Francine asked her dad, “why do people litter?” to which he responded:
• Lack of knowledge of the environmental effects of littering.
• Litter has already accumulated. The more litter present the more people are inclined to litter.
• Lack of social pressure to do the right thing.
• Number, placement and appearance of disposal containers at or near the site are inadequate.
• People who litter often feel no sense of pride in the areas they are littering.
• They do not view the item as litter. That is often the case with cigarette butts.
Given the enormity of the pending count, Francine decided to try to improve her odds of success. “Cigarettes butts are small and inconsequential so I don't need to count them,” she suggested.
Photo by Rosanne Greco
To which Mr. Able responded, “Cigarettes may be small but they are more harmful to our environment than first meets the eye. Think of the volumes of cigarettes tossed on our streets many of which end up in our streams, rivers, and lakes. In addition, remember:
• Cigarette butts are not biodegradable (Most filters are made of plastic-like cellulose acetate.)
• The chemicals that leach out of the filters may harm aquatic life at the bottom of the food chain.
• Fish and other marine creatures as well as birds may ingest cigarettes mistaking them for food.”
As you can see here and especially at the outside entrances to public buildings, many people do not believe they are, littering when they throw their cigarette butts on the ground. We need to get the message out that cigarette butts are litter, in order to change the behavior that contaminates our urban landscape, harms wildlife, pollutes our waters, and creates a gargantuan mathematical challenge for you Francine.
Looking on the bright side Francine calculated that the day's Green Up haul of litter larger than a cigarette were down from last year. “Dad, now we need to get as strong a message out to folks about the harmful impacts of cigarette litter. If we do that do you think cigarette littering behavior will change and next year I won't need a calculator when we come back here next Green UP day?”
Mr. Able replied, “Francine, you can count on that!”
References: Bulleted litter facts from Prince Edward Islands web site:
http://www.gov.pe.ca/enveng/litter/index.php3?number=61866&lang=E
*Fictional story and characters. No intention to represent any real individual.
June 2009
March 2012 update
You Tube-"Butt Really" song by Michael Franti: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP_rg4xShac
Toxicity of Cigarette butts: http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/novotny_20legacy_20slides_1_.pdf
More Cig. Butts Facts: http://www.legacyforhealth.org/PDF/Environmental_Toolkit.pdf
Top 10 trash items in our oceans: http://www.oceanconservancy.org/our-work/marine-debris/2012-data-release.html
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