Litter-ology: Understanding Littering and the Secrets to Clean Public Places

By KKCCTC and Robert Curnow

“Litter-ology successfully translates theory into practice. Want to know why people litter in public spaces and how this can be stopped? Read this book.”
- Natacha Dobrovolsky, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Environmental Sustainability Engagement Leader

WHY ON EARTH DO PEOPLE LITTER?

Imagine if all our public places were clean and free of litter. The litter in parks, beaches, shops, transport stops, waterfronts and roads wouldn’t be ending up in stormwater, polluting our waterways. It would end up where it belongs, in the bin. In Litter-ology, environmental psychologists Karen Spehr and Rob Curnow share their insights gained in over 20 years working on changing people’s disposal behaviour in public places.

They help us understand:
• Why people litter (and why they use the bin)
• Who litters and how they do it
• What people say about their littering is not necessarily what they do
• How social norms work to prevent littering
• Personal responsibility and littering
• The power of rewards and sanctions

Based on up to date research evidence, Litter-ology is a highly readable guide for all those who are trying to get results in keeping their public places clean and litter free.

“The most comprehensive treatise of littering behaviour ever written. Highly recommended.”
- John Schert, Executive Director, The Bill Hinkley Center for Solid and Hazardous Waste Management, University of Florida.

“Litter-ology reflects all that Keep Auckland Beautiful learned and is now putting into practice. It will be a tremendous tool.”
- Iris M. Donoghue MNZM, Chairperson, Keep Auckland Beautiful

“Litter-ology will be of great assistance whenever I have decided on a solution to the problem before checking my assumptions. Every disposer should read it at least once.”
- Stan Moore, CEO, Australian Packaging Covenant

“Narrating real-world case studies, a comprehensive and insightful conversation about the who, when, where, how and why behind littering. Practical and enlightening, an invaluable tool for anyone who’s serious about tackling litter.”
- David Imrie, Chief Executive, Keep NSW Beautiful

“This lively, informative book helps demystify behavior and provides smart tips and strategies for reducing litter. We’ll draw on Litter-ology for our community-focused marine debris prevention programs.”
- CJ Reynolds, University of South Florida College of Marine Science, and Executive Director, International Ocean Institute-USA

• Language: English
• Publisher: KKCCTC
• Release date: Jul 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9780994162205

KKCCTC

Karen Spehr was co-director of Community Change and a psychologist who worked for 28 years on changing people’s behaviour in relation to the environment. In partnership with environment protection agencies, local and state government and NGOs in Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Karen worked to reduce littering in public places and help change household water and energy saving habits. Her work on littering behaviour, received an Australasian Environmental Excellency Award and she was the founding director of the Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement.

Book preview

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Contents

About The Authors

Acknowledgements

Foreword

CHAPTER 1: Introduction

Measuring Behaviour

What We Found

Someone’s Great Idea

Being Prepared

CHAPTER 2: Who Litters and How They Do It

People Who Litter

Excuses For Littering

How People Litter

Negative Disposal Behaviours

Positive Disposal Behaviours

CHAPTER 3: Why People Litter

‘Care of Place’ Factors

Social Norms

Physical Features – Mediators for Social Norms

Responsibility Factors

Social Compact

Sense of Community

Penalties and Rewards

Individual Factors

What I Do Doesn’t Really Matter

But I Didn’t Put It There

People’s World View

Incorrect Beliefs

The Ick Factor

Habit

Conflicting Preferences

Two Disposal Behaviour Wildcards

Type of Place

Type of Item

Factors at Work

CHAPTER 4: Care of Place and Littering

Clean Equals Clean

Social Norm Champions

Bin Signals

Position

Identification

Visibility

Accessibility

Consistency

Wind and Scavenging

‘No Bins’ Policies

Beyond Cleaning and Bins: The Care and Maintenance of Infrastructure

CHAPTER 5: Personal Responsibility and Littering

Someone Else Will Clean Up

The Social Compact

Do As I Do – Leading By Example

A Proper Mindset

First Do No Harm

Sense of Community

CHAPTER 6: Penalties, Rewards and Littering

The Stick

Enforcement and Social Sanctions

The Threat of Penalties

The Carrot

Rewards That Might Not Work

Rewards and Long-Term Change

CHAPTER 7: Making Progress

Measuring Progress

Final Messages

References

About The Authors

Karen Spehr and Rob Curnow are co-directors of Community Change, psychologists who have been working for over 20 years on changing people’s behaviour in relation to the environment. In partnership with environment protection agencies, local and state government and both large and small environment agencies in Australia, New Zealand and the United States, they have worked to reduce littering in public places and achieve changes in household water and energy saving. For their work on littering behaviour, they received an Australasian Evaluation Society National Excellence Award. Previously Karen was the founding director of the Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement and Rob was Senior Lecturer in community psychology and organisational psychology at Monash University. They live in Melbourne, Australia. For more about their work visit http://www.communitychange.com.au.

Litter-ology

Understanding Littering and the

Secrets to Clean Public Places

Karen Spehr and Rob Curnow

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Published in Australia by

Environment Books

17 Chetwyn Crt, Frankston Vic 3199, Australia

Tel: [phone]

First published in Australia 2015

Copyright © Karen Spehr & Rob Curnow 2015

The moral rights of the authors have been asserted.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

National Library of Australia Cataloguing–in–Publication entry

Creator: Spehr, Karen, author

Litter-ology: understanding littering and the secrets to clean public places/Karen Spehr, Rob Curnow.

ISBN: 9780994162212 (paperback)

Subjects: Litter (Trash)—Australia.

Street cleaning—Australia.

Other Creators/Contributors: Curnow, Rob, author

Dewey Number: 363.7280994

Cover design by Austin Rubben

Typesetting by Angel’s Pen

Printed in Australia by Griffin Press

Only wood grown from sustainable regrowth forests is used in the manufacture of paper found in this book. Griffin Press is a member of the Zero Waste SA Resource Efficiency Assistance Programme (REAP).

Disclaimer

All care has been taken in the preparation of the information herein, but no responsibility can be accepted by the publisher or author for any damages resulting from the misinterpretation of this work. All contact details given in this book were current at the time of publication, but are subject to change.

The advice given in this book is based on the experience of the individuals. Professionals should be consulted for individual problems. The author and publisher shall not be responsible for any person with regard to any loss or damage caused directly or indirectly by the information in this book.

Acknowledgements

We owe a debt of gratitude to the many thousands of people in public places who have helped improve our understanding of disposal behaviour and who willingly (and often enthusiastically) told us their stories about littering and bin use.

People who work in litter prevention are a passionate lot and we’ve gained great insight from collaborating with cleaners, volunteers, waste and environment educators, planners and policy makers, communicators, youth workers, evaluators and enforcement officers. Thank you so much for your contributions.

We’ve also been fortunate to partner with numerous organisations that have encouraged us to conduct projects that helped provide the most accurate results in achieving measurable change. This wasn’t always their easiest option but they went with it anyway. For giving us continued support and collegial guidance over so many years, we would like to thank John Schert, Roz Hall, Stan Moore, David Imrie, Iris Donoghue, Harry Copeland, David Hitchcock, Brooke Flanagan, Henry Pepper, Bernie Quinn, Nicole Greenwood, Liz Jeremy, Nick Chrisant, Jenny Pickles and Karen Cosson.

Professor Margot Prior did more than provide us with a Foreword. She inspired us as postgraduate students and continues to influence us with her leadership and contributions to psychology, the environment and the community.

Julie Postance provided us with invaluable publishing advice and kept our enthusiasm alive when it was flagging. Amanda Spedding was the most helpful editor ever. Any writing errors from here on are entirely ours.

Kerry Millard designed insightful and funny cartoons of our littering behaviour disposal types and Michael Leunig kindly gave permission for us to use his ‘Understandascope’ cartoon. Other cartoons were provided by Stan Eales, Bill Proud, Mark Newman, Conan McPhee, Dan Reynolds, Fran, Todd Condron, Glenn and Gary McCoy, Chris Madden, Guy & Rodd, Dan Collins, Betsy Streeter, Len Hawkins, Royston Robertson, Werner Wejp-Olsen and Jack Corbett. For the following photos thank you to: Stan Paczkowski for Melbourne’s Hosier Lane; Brandmovers (India) for the NH7 WiFi bin; George Patterson Y&R Sydney for the Junk Jukebox; Ioglo Design Agency for Fumo; and Steven Bai and Sam Johnson (alumni of the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning at the University of Sydney) and Dr Martin Tomitsch (Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney’s Design Lab and Director of the Design Computing program) for TetraBIN.

And finally, to all our family and friends who have never quite understood what we do for a living, this book might help!

Karen Spehr and Rob Curnow

Melbourne, Australia

Foreword

I am delighted to see this excellent book written by two psychologists, Karen Spehr and Rob Curnow, who have been practitioners working in the field of littering behaviour and its prevention, in partnership with environmental agencies for more than 20 years. It is an important book in dealing with a very significant and ongoing problem in our societies. The authors have very fittingly been honoured with an Australasian Evaluation Society National Excellency Award for their ground-breaking environmental work. They have worked on a range of environmental issues including water, energy conservation, and climate-change adaptation, and over the years have established the world’s biggest behavioural database on littering behaviour and, most significantly, bin use.

Karen and Rob have been well trained in scientific method as applied to human behaviour and are well aware of the importance of an evidence-based approach in developing sound knowledge and prevention strategies across the various domains of community and environmental psychology. They have used rigorous measurement and observation of human behaviours which are critical in obtaining reliable data on what is going on and why, in public places – in this case, in litter land. After 20 years and thousands of behavioural observations and interviews carried out via trained field researchers working in and around cities and towns, they are truly the Australian, if not the world experts on what influences peoples’ disposal behaviours in public spaces. Unsurprisingly this is a complex and intransigent problem that needs multiple solutions.

The good news is that two thirds of people are doing the right thing and putting their litter in bins; however, we still need to tackle the endemic problems created by those who don’t act ethically. Rob and Karen have analysed the questions of who litters, how, and where they do it, and their excuses for doing so. In fact the book is full of excellent psychological analyses of human nature, and the important influence of social and community norms and a sense of responsibility in the way people deal with litter. They also provide knowledge on what strategies can work and have worked to reduce littering problems. What are the effects for example, of rewards and penalties in tackling littering in community spaces?

Throughout this book there are lots of interesting examples of a range of littering activities in a variety of places including sports venues, and they report some examples of the lengths the virtuous citizen will go to find somewhere to do the right thing with their rubbish. There are numerous funny stories of the odd behaviours of human beings, and many delightful cartoon illustrations so this is a book which is both entertaining and very serious. This highly-readable book makes a great contribution to environmental science and to the understanding of social and community concerns. Everyone should read it.

Professor Margot Prior AO, FASSA, FAPS

Melbourne School of Psychological Science, University of Melbourne

CHAPTER 1: Introduction

As community psychologists we weren’t always interested in littering. In the early 90’s, we were used to facilitating positive social change at the community-wide level and were conducting projects with ‘hard to reach’ groups like homeless young people, at-risk juvenile offenders and the bereaved. But littering?

Like most people, we were frustrated at seeing litter in public places knowing that these items were being carried by stormwater to the world’s oceans and polluting our beaches, but it hadn’t really crossed our minds at a professional level. However, a phone call from a local environment protection agency asking for specialist information on how best to influence community behaviour led to our first litter prevention study and before we knew it, requests from local government, industry groups and not-for-profits came flooding in.

As community interest in environmental behaviour increased over the next two decades, our work extended to household water saving and energy reduction as well as littering. But while interest in water and energy saving waxed and waned depending on drought, floods or changes in government priorities, the problem of littering in public places was of perpetual concern. Local councils typically directed a significant chunk of their budget in managing public places and the litter in them, and were hungry for any insight to help solve their problems. The broader community, always passionate about the problem of litter, continued to become even more engaged as the consequences of littering became even more prominent in the media.

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While the impact of litter on ocean wildlife can be pretty much ‘out of sight, out of mind’ for many people, the presence of littered items is ‘in sight and top of mind’ for most of us as we visit our own parks, beaches, shops, transport stops, waterfront areas and public buildings. And it’s our disgust