# The Psychology of Litter **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 25, 2006, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-psychology-of-litter/374008 "2006-09-25T02:28:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-psychology-of-litter/374008/41 "2006-09-27T16:53:27Z")
And what was the point of that? ---
**Author:** ![phall0106](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phall0106/32/5934_2.png) [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-psychology-of-litter/374008/42 "2006-09-27T17:27:07Z")
[QUOTE=pizzabrat] And what was the point of that? [/QUOTE] **Pizzabrat** , if you were referring to my post, I was responding to the original OP’s questions of: What determines a person’s propensity to litter? Why are certain groups of people more tolerant of litter in their surroundings than others? Is it cultural, does it have to do with social status, or is it some latent hostility to authority? From the prospective of the Danish college student I have been hosting for the past two and half weeks, simply being black and living in the city determines a person’s propsensity to litter. These groups of people (of whom she’s seen most frequently during her visit to the United States) are more tolerant of litter in their surroundings. Please note these are not my opinions, simply ones that have been expressed to me from someone who does not regularly live in the area in which I live. ---
**Author:** ![stretch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-psychology-of-litter/374008/43 "2006-09-27T17:35:57Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] I’m sure you’re right, although I’d like to try cursing them too. Seriously, I think an anti-litter campaign along the lines of “you drop litter because you’re an ignorant asshole” might actually work. Then again, it might completely backfire. [/QUOTE] Washington (state) has a pretty good [anti-litter campaign](http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/swfa/litter/). In July, I attended a presentation by the coordinator of the “Litter and It Will Hurt” campaign. The did focus groups of litterers and asked them why they litter. The reasons varied somewhat for the “[groups](http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/swfa/litter/campaign.html#a2)” of litterers. What I remember most is that the people who pitch beer cans do it because they don’t want to be busted for having an open container. Loose loads are usually poor planning–people forget to bring rope and tarps. “Trucker bombs” (long-distance drivers of many types use this method of waste disposal) are just because people can’t be bothered to find a rest stop. The end result of the focus groups–fines are what will motivate people to stop. Being turned in on the 800 number gets people a letter telling them that they were seen and what the fines are. A survey done with those letters indicates that people are mostly motivated to change their way by the realization that they were seen and it could have cost them money. What it boils down to: some people are assholes. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-psychology-of-litter/374008/44 "2006-09-27T18:02:22Z")
[QUOTE=stretch] Being turned in on the 800 number gets people a letter telling them that they were seen and what the fines are. [/QUOTE] I live in Washington State and I use the number to report what I consider to be the worst offenders. I don’t call in every last butterscotch wrapper that flutters out a car window; I reserve my efforts for the rare individual who dumps a huge handful of crap (like a McDonald’s bag filled with food boxes, soda cup, etc), or, much more commonly, anyone who tosses out a cigarette butt. The latter really grates my testicles. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-psychology-of-litter/374008/45 "2006-09-27T18:30:10Z")
[QUOTE=phall0106] From the prospective of the Danish college student I have been hosting for the past two and half weeks, simply being black and living in the city determines a person’s propsensity to litter. These groups of people (of whom she’s seen most frequently during her visit to the United States) are more tolerant of litter in their surroundings. [/QUOTE] As usual, being “black” gets convoluted with “being poor”. Bring her to Baltimore. Show her Remington, Pig Town, parts of Hampden. Poor white areas. Trashy as can be. Hookers, junkies, losers, thugs. All white. You know why? Because they’re poor, and they don’t respect education, and there’s no good jobs for people who think like that. Your Danish student’s opinion stems from ignorance and inexperience. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-psychology-of-litter/374008/46 "2006-09-27T18:37:15Z")
[QUOTE=dahfisheroo] Anonymity. I believe it is one of the main contributors for road rage as well. Hard to act like a jerk when people you know and respect are watching you misbehave. [/QUOTE] In Singapore, they put people’s faces and names on the front page of the paper for littering. Simple but effective. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-psychology-of-litter/374008/47 "2006-09-27T18:44:42Z")
Yeah, let’s model our society after Singapore :rolleyes: . ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-psychology-of-litter/374008/48 "2006-09-27T20:16:22Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] … much more commonly, anyone who tosses out a cigarette butt. The latter really grates my testicles. [/QUOTE] I’d suggest wearing pants, then. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-psychology-of-litter/374008/49 "2006-09-27T20:34:47Z")
My theory is that littering is the biggest problem in areas where people don’t own the property they live in, and is made worse when the population is very transitive as well. If people don’t have a stake in keeping the neighborhood looking nice, then why make the effort? I live in a weirdly mixed neighborhood, and there is housing close by that is for transients (no leases & paid weekly), and most of the regular rental aparments in town are close to me as well. This little area around my house has a terrible problem with littering that is just not an issue where most of the housing is owned and not rental. It makes me furious, because we ARE homeowners, and our property is always littered with cigarette packs, candy wrappers, fast food bags, even liquor bottles. It is really, really bad. Once I saw a car pull out of the McDonald’s down the street from my house, and while he was sitting at a stoplight, he opened his window and threw the lid & straw from his cup onto the street. This kind of thing is not unusual…I see people toss trash out of their car windows all the time. I saw someone walk PAST my garbage cans that were sitting on my driveway, and just ignore them and toss their trash in my driveway instead. It is really, really annoying…probably the one thing I hate most about my neighborhood. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-psychology-of-litter/374008/50 "2006-09-27T21:15:18Z")
[QUOTE=Renee] Yeah, let’s model our society after Singapore :rolleyes: . [/QUOTE] Incredible what an expansive political structure you were able to build out of a single observation! Karl Marx eat your heart out. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-psychology-of-litter/374008/51 "2006-09-27T21:59:16Z")
[QUOTE=Renee] Yeah, let’s model our society after Singapore :rolleyes: . [/QUOTE] Well, I’m not a huge fan of Singapore, but do you really think caning litterers is _that_ bad an idea? 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-psychology-of-litter/374008.md?page=2)