1. Pick it up

You don’t have to go to a formal litter clean-up event to clean up litter. It can be as simple as grabbing a shopping bag and taking a walk in your own neighborhood. On Tennessee roadways, you can find an average of one piece of litter every 5 feet. When you take a moment to pick up the trash you see, you are doing your local ecosystem a HUGE favor.

2. Hold companies accountable

So, you went on a walk and found a bunch of litter. Can you still see the brand names on some of the trash you found? Take a photo and tweet it to the brand that produced that piece of waste asking them to do better. These companies care what customers think, and a more circular economy would eliminate waste instead of rely on single-use products for profit.

3. Get your local governments involved

Have you noticed a particular part of town is usually filled with litter? All neighborhoods deserve clean public spaces. Take a picture and contact your local officials. It can be confusing to know who to contact so here is some advice:

• Always tell an elected official like a city councilperson or your mayor. Remember that they work for you! Tell them the issues you care about so that they can prioritize them too.

• If it is a local park that is being neglected, reach out to your parks & recreation department. City funds are directed to this department to keep your parks clean and accessible so they want to know if things are falling below par. Unfortunately, many parks and recreation departments can be small or underfunded so they depend on us to tell them if there are problems.

• If you noticed a street, sidewalk, or roadway is an issue, you’ll want to contact your public works department. This group is responsible for the upkeep of all public utilities and spaces.

If you want to know who your elected officials are, check out this amazing nonpartisan resource.

4. Provide waste receptacles

Oftentimes, people feel compelled to litter because it took too long to find a trash can. Consider placing a small trash can near your mailbox so people can dispose of their waste as they’re walking.

If you’re planning an event, having enough waste receptacles to prevent your guests from littering is important. Sheeco can help with this! We also specialize in helping events provide recycling and composting streams, which will significantly reduce the amount of waste going to the landfill.