Litter

• Litter attitudes
• Litter count report

Litter Attitudes

What is Litter?

Litter is the result of people carelessly and thoughtlessly disposing unwanted material in the wrong place.

People litter when:

• They feel no personal responsibility for the property being littered.
• They know others will clean up after them.
• They see litter has already accumulated.

The eight basic sources of litter are:

• Pedestrians
• Motorists
• Uncovered trucks and trailers
• Household rubbish
• Commercial/Industrial operations
• Careless loading/delivery operations
• Construction and demolition sites
• Marine litter

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Litter Councy Report

As one measure of its effectiveness, the Keep Christchurch Beautiful Campaign does a visual count of litter twice a year at 86 confidential sites throughout the city. A second measure of effectiveness is the cost benefit analysis.

This is the first year for the new sites. The surveyor takes particular care to do the count on the same day of the week each time so that "conditions" such as cleaning schedules etc, are as similar as is possible.

Sites are located all over the city and include a variety of locations that fall within the following headings:

• Recreational/Open Space
• Residential
• Business/Retail
• Industrial/Commercial
• Schools

Each item of litter is recorded on a sheet under specific litter stream categories:

• Paper and Card
• Plastic
• Glass
• Broken Glass
• Tear Tab Cans (replaced by Drink Bottles)
• Cans
• Other items

The timing of litter counts has also changed. They will now take place during August and February. These times fit in better with the changing of school terms from a three term year to four term year.

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