The problem
There are some environmental issues that nearly everyone finds frustrating.
Littering seems like a simple issue - just don't drop it, right?
62% of people feel angry when they see litter and it creates a whole host of problems, from spoiling local neighbourhoods to harming wildlife and polluting our waterways.
So why do people still litter, and what can we do about it? We’ve been exploring how to change littering behaviours for a decade, and this website brings together everything we’ve learnt in that time.
Where does litter come from?
An easy conclusion is that littering comes from lazy, selfish behaviour. Good people don’t litter, bad people do. If only it was that simple.
The reality, like with most human behaviour, is more nuanced. Understanding the why is both fascinating and frustrating.
Littering can be both deliberate and accidental.
Deliberate littering
What motivates people to litter is context-dependent and influenced by lots of things:
Location – is the place clean or is there already litter present? The presence of litter often leads to more littering, creating a feedback loop.
Who they are with – social norms, herd behaviour and peer pressure all shape behaviour. Some people feel more inclined to litter when alone, whilst some might be influenced when those around them are littering.
Messaging– Just telling people not to litter isn’t enough and tone matters! The finger-wagging approach can backfire – in fact, we found it can actually increase littering. Humour, playfulness and clear messaging have been more effective.
Bins – can we expect people do the right thing if there aren’t enough bins, they’re in the wrong place, or are frequently over-flowing? Humans are hard-wired to do the easiest thing - so we need to make binning easy.
Connection – when people feel connected to a place or their wider-community they are more likely to treat it with respect.
The litter – not all items are treated equally. Cigarette butts, which have been referred to ‘the last socially acceptable’ form of littering, are the most prevalent type of litter. Many people excuse chucking an apple core or banana peel on the floor because it’s biodegradable and some people can’t wait to get rid of their used food and drink packaging.
These are just some of the reasons, but believe it or not a lot of litter actually comes from people thinking they're doing the right thing. Ever heard of polite littering?
Accidental littering
One of the most challenging behaviours to tackle is when people strategically place litter in a tidy, careful or polite way.
This could be leaving packaging lined up next to overflowing bins, on top of walls or left behind on tables.
Keep Britain Tidy found in a survey that 27% of people admitted to ‘careful’ littering - leaving packaging behind when eating or drinking ‘on the go’, whilst, Randa Kachef and Michael Chadwick’s research found that 46% of non-cigarette related litter was ‘politely littered’.
What’s more, when they factored in accidental littering, such as an item escaping from an overly full bin, or falling out of someone’s pocket, 63% of all non-cigarette littering events were ‘unintentional’.
And then, there’s the issue of greedy seagulls, foxes and strong winds liberating litter from the bin.
Regardless of the cause, all litter has the same effect - it is blown or washed away by the weather, causing an eyesore and creating problems in the environment.
So, what can we do about littering?
At Hubbub, we’ve spent the last 10 years testing and experimenting with what does and doesn’t work when it comes to tackling littering.
The Neat Streets toolkit is full of inspiration and learnings for others trying to do the same, and our free campaign resources make it even easier to replicate.