What it is How many times have you seen a well-dressed, well-mannered, well-spoken person who casually throws wrapper

or container either on the ground or out of a window? How does that make you feel? Litter is an ever increasing problem in our times. It constitutes matter that is disposed of improperly, without consent, in an inappropriate location. The people who do this choose to leave their litter there instead of disposing of it in a bin. This phenomenon doesnt only occur in remote locations or roadsides but is common in city centers. Although it is the responsibility of the Msunduzi Municipality's to keep the city clean, the cities current state requires intervention by citizens. Simply put, our city shouldnt be as dirty as it is. It doesnt have to be this way. Unfortunately some people find valid reasons for littering. People take marketing pamphlets even though they know they will throw them next to the person distributing them. This doesnt help the marketers and is also rude. Others claim they litter to create employment. So by their logic we should all wallow in our own filth until someone comes and cleans up after us-I dont believe this is sustainable or healthy!. Some of the worst are those people that throw cigarette butts while they are still smoldering. The public is then exposed to secondhand smoke and unsightly half-smoked cigarettes. We cant forget about the clowns that try to throw rubbish into the bin from a distance, miss and are too embarrassed to pick it up and throw it in properly, so they walk away as if nothing happened. Behind some of these actions are the following attitudes: People cant be bothered or are too lazy to find a bin They have no sense of pride in their community They dont appreciate the consequences of littering They arent aware that some items are litter e.g. food, cigarette ends, chewing gum They believe Its OK to litter if no one can see you! They believe Its OK to litter if you are drunk! They believe there arent enough bins They believe the bins arent big enough They think one person cant make a difference Its rebellious and anti-authoritarian to litter There are much worse things in the world to worry about than litter .

Littering on the streets is one of the main reasons that our streets flood after heavy rains. Our stormwater drains get blocked by the litter that people throw directly into them or the litter that gets washed off the streets. The purpose of these drains is to take excess water off the streets into closest waterways rivers and beaches. Litter makes this system ineffective. Drivers are also guilty of littering carelessly. Throwing waste out of a car has been known to be the cause of road accidents, even resulting in death. Garden waste can also be defined as litter if it not placed strategically. The R1000 fine signs (without monitoring or enforcement) are not doing enough to deter people from leaving heaps of unsorted garden waste wherever they please. We need to be more creative with how we dispose of our garden waste, maybe by introducing compost-making schemes. All of these trends have contributed to Africa having some of the dirtiest cities in the world. If the attitudes dont change, our situation is likely to get worse because as we become more affluent, our consumption of disposable products will also increase.

Why its bad One of the things that makes most types of litter so bad is that it can exist in the environment for extensive periods of time. This is due to the fact that most types are not bio-degradable. The complexity doesnt end there because litter attracts more litter. Once it is present people are unlikely to respect that area because they dont feel a sense of ownership. If everyone else is littering then why shouldnt they? Or, alternatively, If nobody cares enough not to litter why should they are? Imagine if this crowd mentality could be applied to more positive things!. The bottom line is that this behavior is unfair on other citizens because most littering happens on public space. The problem is that that your sweet packet might seem insignificant until somebody else adds an apple core, tissues and eventually the city center is turned into a pigsty. When people think its convenient for them throw away their rubbish where they eat, they ignore laws of basic sanitation. This irresponsible action attracts flies and rats, which are both agents that spread disease. Leaving litter and forgetting about it doesnt mean that it will go away. Litter that is visible can trip people, present a fire hazard, slows streams (stagnant water has its own sets of problems) and can end up in our oceans. Wildlife that mistake it for food can be suffocated by the litter or become entangled in it thereby restricting their growth. Neighborhoods that appear disorderly attract unruly behaviors. This theory is known as Broken Windows Theory. Its founded on the principle that if one window is broken and not fixed soon, it will lead to other criminal behavior because no one seems to care about maintenance of the area. That area eventually becomes characterized by vandalism, graffiti and other types of crime. This means litter can contribute to general lawlessness. Once that occurs, people start avoiding that area, increasing mistrust and the general fear of crime thereby diminishing a sense of community. Even when litter is not visible it can still cause harm to the environment through chemical processes when it degrades. Some breaks down into toxic substances that can contaminate the air, soil and water. Litter is unhygienic and wasteful. For all litter that is disposed off, it needs to be processed in our landfill (which is not in the best of states) and more products need to be manufactured to replace those that have been used. Since COP 17 was hosted so recently, youd expect South Africans to still have a keen awareness of environmental issues but unfortunately that is not the case. We need to take the cleanliness of our city into our own hands. People are capable of maintaining a clean city because if you go to their homes, youll find that they are litter-free. What can be done about it As our population expands it is important to be conscious of our environment to ensure that it remains the way we would want it to. Higher rates of littering are associated with higher population densitys. Therefore there is a need to educate the young (who litter more on average) before littering becomes a habit. This measure can assist in breeding responsible adults. The public is already aware of the reason for littering and the consequences that I have mentioned. Now we need practical solutions to the problems that the city is now facing. A simple principle that could be a starting point is that of reduce, reuse and recycle. Reducing refers to decreasing the amount of consumption. Re use is self-explanatory. Recycling is about extending the life of products by treating them to make them reusable. Pietermaritzburg has a recycling center on corner of Greyling and Commercial that people could put to use and earn a living. Another system that could be introduced is that of fining. The only way that this would work is if the few random people that are caught get hefty fines to discourage others that are considering doing the same. It would be impossible to fine everyone that litters because it happens so randomly. If those people cant afford the fine then maybe they could spend few hours cleaning up their city. This would make a good example of those that dont respect others and it would clean up the environment. The true battle for a cleaner city starts at home. Families need to speak out against it and discourage others from doing it. A clean environment is a positive environment. Two ways that litterbugs can be dealt with: we can either punish those that do litter or reward those that dont. Even if you clean own area its enough to start a trend. More bins wont necessarily mean less littering. We need to be our own enforcement officers and improve our commitment to create a livable environment. Bins need to be well-placed and emptied

regularly to avoid them overfilling. This doesnt necessarily mean changing the whole world, even though it could, it requires effort on your yard/street/neighborhood! We need to fix this broken window of society as soon as its broken. Even its temporary measure, we need to take action to prevent further damage. This sends out a message that something is being done about the situation to curb further deterioration. This prevents the thinking that breaking one more doesnt matter (what difference does it make, so what if its another piece of litter). That mentality results in people who ordinarily would not dream of doing such things and who probably consider themselves law-abiding, becoming litterbugs. It sends out signals that renew the sense of mutual regard and the obligations of civility and makes things appear like they are not out of control. People litter because they do not feel responsible for public areas like streets and parks. The more they litter, the more it becomes a habit, and the worse the community looks. There isnt enough funding to resource the man-power and institutions to implement and monitor complex litter systems. There are many other things that this country is short of and where the money could be put to better use This means that battle against litter needs to start with the simple things.. Imagine going downtown without kicking up an empty can or slipping on a banana peal? A taxi rank where you wouldnt have to step over any rubbish?. These are some of the ideals that several campaigns are trying to achieve in Pietermaritzburg. Picture Perfect Pietermaritzburg gets companies to adopt a spot they keep clean and advertise on (P3) with a winning company getting profiled. Proudly Pietermaritzburg Citizens Initiative is making progress towards returning the city to its Garden City status. Take Pride in Your City campaign also encourages residents to come together and make Pietermaritzburg a better place. Lastly, schools take part in the Adopt-a-Spot campaign that creates competition amongst schools for keeping them litter-free. We need more initiatives of this nature. This can help to create pride in keeping PMB clean. Need to encourage citizens to have an active role in maintain the cleanliness of their city. We need to make our fight against litter work in our current context! Lets make slogans that people can relate to and clean up our cityand keep it that way (not only on Nelson Mandela Day) City of Choice? Dumisani Nqobile Ndaba 18 September 2012

References

Keep Pietermaritzburg Clean Association Private Bag 321 Pietermaritzburg 3200 South Africa Tel: 033 395 1201 Fax: 033 345 7558 Email: pascoec@msunduzi.gov.za Contact: Mrs Cherie Pascoe A non-profit organisation conducting waste management education for schools, individuals, communities, business and industry. KPCA promotes the Integrated Waste Management process and assists communities to seek solutions to their waste management challenges. http://www.falkirk.gov.uk/services/corporate_neighbourhood/estates_management/litterzone/litter_strateg y/litter_facts/dangerous_litter.aspx http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litter http://flagstaff.az.gov/DocumentCenter/Home/View/6817 http://www.witness.co.za/index.php?showcontent&global%5B_id%5D=60742 http://www.msunduzi.gov.za/site/gedi http://www.enviropaedia.com/company/default.php?pk_company_id=405 http://www.jccegov.com/recycling/adopt-a-spot.html http://www.witness.co.za/index.php?showcontent&global%5B_id%5D=22504 http://www.falkirk.gov.uk/services/corporate_neighbourhood/estates_management/litterzone/litter_strateg y/litter_facts/why_do_people_litter.aspx http://nakedchiefs.com/2012/05/14/politically-incorrect-why-africas-cities-are-the-dirtiest-in-the-worldand-village-food-is-bad-for-towns-how-it-began/ http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/litter/what_you_can_do.asp http://www.helium.com/items/1398654-evaluating-broken-windows-theory-of-crime http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/03/broken-windows/4465/