A Litter Bit Better! 2012 Final Results

A Litter Bit Better! 2012 Final Results

 

The final results are in! Over 13,1000 pounds of waste was collected during 2012’s A Litter Bit Better! event. Over 3,116 volunteers in 245 groups picked up over 5,635 acres in Rochester! Neighborhoods were beautified, citizens gave back to their community, and all of that waste was prevented from polluting our land and water. While 12,000+ pounds of litter is a very large number, it is 9,042 pounds less than last year! It is exciting to see the downward trend of litter collected year after year, even with volunteer numbers staying steady.

Organizers expanded the program this year, specifically targeting non-English speaking communities by partnering with the Intercultural Mutual Assistance Association and Hawthorne Education Center. A Save the Date card was translated into 7 different languages and distributed throughout the community. As a result, the survey responses indicated more participation from these groups.

Some anecdotal highlights of this year’s event include:

  • For the third year in a row, total waste collected has decreased. Half of the groups that responded to surveys said they found less litter this year in the areas they have collected in over multiple years. We hope this means that more people are littering less.
  • The average time spent collecting is between 1.5-2 hours.
  • 80% of survey respondents pick up litter at other times during the year.
  • Some of the weird finds this year were: men’s underwear, a cat bed, a set of car keys, a love letter, a broken toilet, a pair of slippers, and a bicycle in the river!

Just because the event happens in April, doesn’t mean individuals and groups aren’t making Rochester A Litter Bit Better! throughout the year!

  • The Rochester Downtown Alliance and A Litter Butt Better! teamed up to offer the “Butt Kickers!” of John Adams Middle School a bounty on cigarette butts picked up from the Downtown landscape. This group of 25 individuals picked up 24,811 butts in approximately 5 hours. The bounty of “a nickle a butt” resulted in $1,240.55 dollars being raised for the school’s science lab.
  • Down by the Riverside concert goers were encouraged by volunteers to put their cigarette butts and other litter in the proper place.
  • LitterMan roamed Honkers Stadium and reminded people to put their trash in the can so it did not become litter.

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