Litter Myths and Facts

MYTH: Litter doesn't hurt anyone.

FACT: Litter is a safety and health hazard. Items like broken glass and other sharp objects can injure children and pets.
FACT: Litter is a breeding ground for fire (cigarette butts).
FACT: Food scraps, packaging and plastic bags can harm or poison birds and other wildlife.
FACT: Ingesting litter causes injury or death to thousands of pets, wild and farm animals.
FACT: Litter is a breeding ground for disease-causing bacteria. Pet droppings for instance can spread disease putting both people and animals at risk.

MYTH: Litter control is not important.

FACT: Litter affects everyone.

Litter may not be the most dramatic or exciting of the many problems that threaten the quality of our environment, but it is a problem which affects everyone in the community.

MYTH: Only certain types of people litter.

FACT: Litterbugs are everywhere!

Litterbugs can be found among people of every age, gender, race and geographic location.

MYTH: Litter doesn't affect the economy.

FACT: Litter discourages economic development.

Litter impacts real estate values. Good stores and important businesses will not locate in a community that lacks the pride to effectively control litter.

Rate of Biodegradability
Product	Time it takes to degrade
Cotton Rags	1-5 months
Paper	2-5 months
Rope	3-14 months
Orange Peels	6 months
Wool Socks	1-5 years
Cigarette butts	1-12 years
Plastic coated paper cartons	5 years
Plastic bags	10-20 years
Leather shoes	25-40 years
Nylon fabric	30-40 years
Tin cans	50-100 years
Aluminum cans	80-100 years
Plastic 6-pack holder rings	450 years
Glass bottles	1 million years
Plastic bottles	Never