Environclean has initiated an anti-litter campaign in Peterborough, UK dubbed 'its in your hands' Campaign. Peterborough is the designated 3rd Enviromental city in UK and she wants to be the 1st environmental Capital of UK.
Some interesting facts
What is litter?
Legally speaking, the word litter is given a wide interpretation. Litter can be as small as a sweet wrapper, as large as a bag of rubbish, or it can mean lots of items scattered about. Litter is most commonly assumed to include materials often associated with smoking, eating and drinking, that are improperly discarded, left by members of the public, or spilt during business operations as well as waste management operations.
Food litter
Research carried out by ENCAMS reveals a quarter of our streets are strewn with cast off food cartons, drink cans, pizza boxes and chip wrappers, yet in 2003 it stood at just 16%. source: ENCAMS
Plastic bags and bottles
Plastic bags can take between 400-1,000 years to break down, and like all forms of plastic they do not biodegrade. Instead they photodegrade, breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits that contaminate soil, waterways and oceans, entering the food chain when ingested by animals.
Many plastic bags and bottles end up as waste on our roads, in hedgerows, in parks and on beaches. When a plastic bag enters the ocean it becomes a harmful piece of litter. Many marine animals mistake plastic bags for food and swallow them, with painful and often fatal consequences.
All types of plastic are recyclable but unfortunately local authorities often find plastics recycling very expensive. The codes given below are usually found on plastic items; the bottles normally used for drinks are either code 1 or code 2, and these can be recycled. Source: DEFRA
Glass
Recycling just one glass bottle saves enough energy to light a 15-watt bulb for 24 hours!
Different types of glass go through different recycling processes. For example: Cookware (like pyrex dishes) melts at a much higher temperature than container glass and must be processed separately.
Overall recycled glass is melted at a lower temperature than brand new glass, which saves 30% of the energy used.
Find out about the process of recycling glass: SITA
Tin and other metals
Metals are usually separated into: aluminium (drinks cans) - non-magnetic, and steel (food tins) - magnetic (aerosols can be made from either)
Electrical items
Many high street retailers join a scheme whereby customers can take their unwanted electricals to recycling points set up around the country. Visit www.recycle-more.co.uk to find out where your nearest recycling point is.
Mobile phones and print catridges
envirocharities collects mobile phones and printer cartridges for reuse and recycling, raising funds and helping the environment. Click here to raise funds
Garden waste
Millions of tonnes of garden waste, such as grass cuttings, prunings and leaves, are sent to landfill sites each year – in fact it equates to filling the Royal Albert Hall with grass, twigs and leaves more than 70 times over!
Yet they’re a valuable source of nutrients which could be turned into something altogether more useful – COMPOST!
Source: www.recyclenow.com
Cigarette litter
People commonly mistake the material in cigarette butts for cotton wool; however they are made of cellulose acetate (plastic).
Cigarette butts are made of cellulose acetate, which takes up to 12 years to biodegrade. Chemicals leach from cigarette butts within one hour of contact with water.
An estimated 122 tonnes of cigarette butts, matchsticks and cigarette related litter is dropped every day across the UK.
40% of outdoor fires are caused by litter and refuse, according to the Home Office.
More information: ENCAMS
Abandoned cars
Abandoned and nuisance vehicles not only look unsightly but pose a real danger from fires, explosion and injury and crime.
More information: ENCAMS
Flytipping
The dumping of builder's rubble, furniture, household waste or any dumped waste is a problem.
Fly tipping is an offence punishable with severe fines.
Fly tipping should be reported to the local authority
Know any litterers??????
As part of the campaign, ENCAMS launched a dirty pig website to ‘pig up’ your friends and give them pig-like features. Simply visit www.dirtypig.org, upload a picture, piggy them up with a snout and ears then send it to them by email.
More information: ENCAMS
Useful Links:
www.encams.org
www.recycle-more.co.uk
www.wasteonline.org.uk
www.sita.co.uk
www.thebigtidyup.org