Causes of Littering | I Spy on Litter | Great American Cleanup™ | Litter-Free Schools | Litter Survey Results

Keep Texas Beautiful introduced the now famous "Don't Mess With Texas" campaign years ago to raise awareness about litter prevention. Keep Cincinnati Beautiful adopted the slogan
"Don't Trash the 'Nati".

 

 

 

Don't Throw Down on K-TOWN

In the fall of 2003, Keep Knoxville Beautiful sought the help of a UTK student advertising agency called PR Concepts to develop a new litter prevention awareness campaign aimed at males aged 16 to 25.   

In the summer of 1998 the Texas Department of Transportation conducted a phone survey of 1,201 licensed drivers randomly selected for age, gender and geography.  The margin of error in the study was +/-2%.  In the survey, 22% of respondents admitted littering within the last 3 months.  Another group of "reformed" litterbugs 16% said they had littered in the past but not in the last 3 months.  Another 14% said they did not litter but felt littering was OK - not a problem.  In all, 52% admitted littering or tolerating litter.  51% of smokers and 45% of truck drivers admitted littering or being tolerant of litter.  The study produced a rank order of characteristics of a person most likely to admit littering.  Those characteristics are:

  • Age - 24 and under
  • Smoking cigarettes
  • Eating fast food at least 2 nights a week
  • Driving more than 50 miles a day
  • Going to bars or other nighttime entertainment at least once a week
  • Being single, never married

The Institute for Applied Research observed people's litter behavior in public places in 16 U.S. states and 3 Canadian provinces.  They found littering begins at an early age, rises during the teens and early 20's and begins dropping off sharply when people reach age 35.  Here is a chart summarizing the findings:

Percent of Persons Observed Littering Consumer Products
(18 U.S. States & 3 Canadian provinces)
 

Age Group: 

 1-5 6-14 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55 plus
 Product              
 Snacks, Candy, Gum 7.1% 49.5% 29.1% 8.9% 1.9% 1.5% 1.5%
 Beer & Soft Drinks 3.1% 12.5% 37.6% 26.4% 0.0% 5.1% 0.0%
 Take-out Food, Drink 1.2% 9.6% 44.4% 24.1% 11.3% 5.4% 4.1%
Source: Institute for Applied Research

PR Concepts conducted two focus groups of UTK male students, ages 18 to 23.  Those students provided very valuable information about their littering behavior and what would make them stop littering.  Here are some highlights of their reactions:

  • All the students admitted littering at one time or another.
  • Trash containers needed to be literally everywhere to really encourage proper disposal.
  • A famous spokesperson would not convince them to stop littering - a compelling message would.
  • If they personally knew who had to pick up after them they might not litter.
  • If they were certain they would be caught and punished they would not litter.

Based on the survey data and the focus group results, the creative staff at Citadel Communications in Knoxville developed the slogan "Don't Throw Down on K-Town".  Keep Knoxville Beautiful originally purchased advertising time to run three ads on stations reaching county, rock and rap music audiences. 
   

Listen to the radio spots promoting
Don't
Throw Down
on K-TOWN!

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