3 great examples of successful litter prevention programs

There are many reasons why people shouldn’t litter. Green Eco Services cited some of the harmful effects of litter to the environment, wildlife and ultimately, to every single person in the planet. A tiny litter can pile up little by little until it becomes a mountain of trash which can easily become a breeding ground for rats and bacteria. This poses a threat to public health. Even the smallest litter can go down storm drains and travel to the ocean which can harm the fishes and other ocean life. The cost of cleaning up litter will go high and eat up taxpayers’ money. The local economy can also be affected and could result in a bad tourism.

Because of these realities, many litter prevention programs have emerged from different areas which were seen to be successful in their efforts. Here are three examples of the litter prevention programs that were recently recognized for their effective campaign .

N Harmony with Nature

What could be more innovative and catchy than mixing music and litter prevention in one event? N Harmony with Nature (NHWM) has proven that music is a powerful mover for people to act in contributing to a litter-free environment. The Franklin County Times reported that NWHM is a litter prevention program helping local events like the W.C. Handy Music Festival to be litter-free. The NHWM ensured that there were available trash receptacles and recycling bins for all people who come to the public events. This simple yet effective program for a cleaner environment helped educate people to become more conscious of keeping public spaces clean. N Harmony with Nature was recently awarded in Florida as the Southeastern Regional winner for “Outstanding Completed RC&D Project for 2012.”

Newnan’s Cigarette Litter Prevention Program

Newnan has given importance on promoting litter prevention by simply providing ash receptacles in more strategic public areas and distributing pocket ash trays. Being a part of a more holistic anti-litter campaign of the city, Newnan’s cigarette litter prevention program pushes to educate the people about a litter-free environment by ensuring that public ash receptacles are available for people to properly and responsibly throw their cigarette butts and ashes in these containers. The program is also Newnan’s effort to contribute to the National program “Keep America Beautiful” and were said to have a proven track record.

Keep America Beautiful Cigarette Litter Prevention Program

The Downtown Green Bay, Inc. (DGBI) and Keep America Beautiful proved that their joint efforts for the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program have been effective and successful with the decrease of cigarette litter by 17% this summer according to DGBI. The target groups and partners for the program were the local organizations and businesses in Green Bay area to raise their awareness and contribute in enforcing the law. Part of the success of the program came from the positive response and action of the business owners and patrons.