Litter Prevention What's New
America Recycles Day - November 15, 2011
Find recycling events near you or sign up to host an event. Waste Reduction Resources from the EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency has two new resources available for teaching waste reduction. Check out Tools to Reduce Waste in Schools. This is a guide for schools for auditing their waste and how to develop a plan to reduce waste and increase recycling. The Quest for Less provides educational materials for K – 8 teachers. Help students understand that they can make a difference in their homes, schools, communities, and the environment.
VCLPR Conference Overview
Over 60 people registered to attend the Virginia Council for Litter Prevention and Recycling Conference that was held in Lynchburg at the Wyndham on October 19 – 20. The Wyndham is proud of its status as a green lodging facility. Attendees participated in a what makes the Wyndham a green hotel scavenger hunt Wednesday evening. Presenters gave talks about curbside and transfer station recycling and household hazardous waste collections. Dr. Sharon Gaston and Richard Halttunen shared their book Turtle without a Home and gave a puppet presentation about a turtle that leaves its pond because of trash and finds a friendly schoolyard habitat to make its new home. A police officer from Bedford discussed Virginia’s cover your load law. Pamela Cooper, Chesterfield County and Clara Mills, Spotsylvania County gave a special presentation for new litter program managers about materials they have developed for teaching about litter in their localities.
What's New
Find recycling events near you or sign up to host an event.
The Environmental Protection Agency has two new resources available for teaching waste reduction. Check out Tools to Reduce Waste in Schools. This is a guide for schools for auditing their waste and how to develop a plan to reduce waste and increase recycling. The Quest for Less provides educational materials for K – 8 teachers. Help students understand that they can make a difference in their homes, schools, communities, and the environment.
VCLPR Conference Overview
Over 60 people registered to attend the Virginia Council for Litter Prevention and Recycling Conference that was held in Lynchburg at the Wyndham on October 19 – 20. The Wyndham is proud of its status as a green lodging facility. Attendees participated in a what makes the Wyndham a green hotel scavenger hunt Wednesday evening. Presenters gave talks about curbside and transfer station recycling and household hazardous waste collections. Dr. Sharon Gaston and Richard Halttunen shared their book Turtle without a Home and gave a puppet presentation about a turtle that leaves its pond because of trash and finds a friendly schoolyard habitat to make its new home. A police officer from Bedford discussed Virginia’s cover your load law. Pamela Cooper, Chesterfield County and Clara Mills, Spotsylvania County gave a special presentation for new litter program managers about materials they have developed for teaching about litter in their localities.
What is litter? Litter is waste that is out of place. It is either manmade or natural. If outside a proper receptacle, items such as paper, plastics, glass, metal objects, building material scraps, discarded food items, cigarette and cigar butts, and rubber scraps are litter. Materials such as brush, weeds and tree leaves are not generally considered litter.
How do we make Virginia litter-free?
First is litter awareness: how does litter affect our lives, our community, and the environment? Local 
Litter Prevention Program managers work within the community and schools to show how litter can degrade the community, how it can affect animals, and how it can produce pollution.
Second is litter law enforcement; littering is against the law, with possible fines up to $2,500. Areas that are not littered tend not to be littered, so enforcement to stop littering is important.
Third, litter pickups and clean up programs such as Adopt-A-Highway, Clean Virginia Waterways, Assign-A-Highway, and other environmental programs offer citizens an opportunity to join together to make their community cleaner. (see Additional Litter Prevention Resources below)
Locality-specific litter prevention questions can be directed to your area Recycling and Litter Prevention Program Manager.
Additional Litter Prevention Resources
Citizen Involvement
- What's Your Recipe? - It is easy to make your own green alternative recipies for household cleaning, maintenance, and personal care. Making your own products means that citizens have to buy fewer products at the store thus creating less waste. Sheila Barnett, the litter and Virginia Naturally coordinator was interviewed by News Channel 6 about what citizens can do to help the environment. The news segment filmed her making laundry detergent.
- Adopt-a-Spot, Street, etc. Contact your local litter program manager.
- Clean Virginia Waterways - Participate in a water cleanup in Virginia or register your cleanup event.
Keep America Beautiful’s Littering is Wrong Campaign
What else is wrong besides litter? Check out the new campaign and write your own “What’s Wrong?” and vote for the best and worst wrongs that have been submitted.- Litter Brochure: Litter is More than just an Eyesore! Here's How You Can Help. This brochure gives a description of litter programs in Virginia that citizens can join and provides contact information for the litter programs. You may print this brochure and share it with others. There is a space on the back for you to put your organization's contact information.
- NOAA – Citizens Can Report Beach Litter
The Marine Debris Tracker app can be downloaded free for use on iPhones and Android phones (through Android Market). The tool allows users to report the type of debris and its location through GPS features pre-installed on a cell phone. The data reported are posted at http://www.noaa.gov/exit.html?http%3A%2F%2Fwww.marinedebris.engr.uga.edu%2F for viewing and downloading.
Traveling Display: Making Your Litter Clean-up Meaningful Posters. Take a three-pannel display to a local event to educate the public about why litter cleanups are important. If you want to print these posters and need directions, contact Jennifer Underwood at jennifer.underwood@deq.virginia.gov. - Stewardship Virginia - These citizen projects can involve litter cleanups.
- The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation has an Adopt-A-Stream Program for keeping Virginia's rivers, streams and creeks litter-free. This program is a litter education and clean-up campaign aimed at promoting citizen stewardship of the Commonwealth's water resources. The program is meant to reduce litter entering Virginia's waterways, promote education and outreach, and facilitate community involvement. Contact the Adopt-A-Stream Program Coordinator at (804) 692-0148 or by email at adoptastream@dcr.virginia.gov
- The Virginia Department of Transportation has an Adopt-a-Highway Program for roadside cleanups and flower planting. Call 1-800-PRIDE-VA (1-800-774-3382) or email adoptahighway@VirginiaDOT.org
- Virginia Ocean Conservancy Trash Free Seas
- Up, Up, and Away . . . NOT! Download a story/activity book about a balloon release and why it is harmful to animals and the environment. Get balloon facts and alternatives to balloon releases.
Historical/Informational
Lesson Plans and Activities for Litter and Recycling
- Buy, Use, Toss – Educational Curriculum for 9 – 12th Grade Students
- The Educator's Guide to Marine Debris: This guide was produced for the Southeast and Gulf of Mexico; however, the lessons are relavent to teaching about marine debris in Virginia's waterways.
- Pollution Solutions: Litter Lesson Plans with Standards of Learning Listed for each lesson.
- Ship2Shore: Learn about marine debris. Get lesson plans and suggestions for project proposals to help study and reduce plastic marine debris in the oceans. To access the lesson plans and proposals, the user must register with the website.
- Teacher Resources for Teaching about Litter and Recycling (Compiled by the Central Virginia Waste Management Authority - CVWMA)
- Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Litter and Recycling Activities
Successful Litter Programs
- Assign-A-Highway provides localities a program template and guidance to setting up a litter collection network using probationers. Successful in SW Virginia counties, this program can provide training for regional and local litter program staff. Contact Carol Doss at the Upper Tennessee River Roundtable, 276-628-1600.
- Litter Manual: How to Design, Implement and Measure Your Successful Litter Program
- Addendum to the Litter Manual
- Litter Ordinance (Buchanan County) Keep Southwest Virginia Beautiful developed a comprehensive litter ordinance. It is presently being used by Buchanan County.
- The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles has an Abandoned Vehicle Program, which pays localities $50.00 for each car that is recycled. This program is designed to
remove all abandoned, inoperable vehicles from public and private properties. Contact Teresa Jackson at (804) 367-1708 or Billie Vaughn at (804) 367-0191 to obtain an information packet.
Contact your local litter and recycling program manager: Recycling and Litter Prevention Program Manager.
Litter Prevention and Recycling Traveling Programs
- Critters Don't Need Litter - The Wildlife Center of Virginia
- Magic Pots and Recycled Bottles - Kathleen Jacobs & Puppets
- Peter Polluter, Larry Litterbug, Magical Earth Puppets - Litter, Recycling & Global Warming - Glee Mania Puppets
- Bash the Trash
Useful Litter and Recycling Websites
- Alice Ferguson Foundation - Useful information and lists cleanups taking place in the Northern Virginia region
- Central Virginia Waste Management Authority
- Keep America Beautiful has associate programs in Virginia including Keep Virginia Beautiful.
- Litter Decomposition Chart
- The Ocean Conservancy
- Scenic Virginia, Inc.
- Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation
- Virginia Recycling Association
Environmental Education for Formal and Non-Formal Educators (In addition to Litter and Recycling)
- Environmental education resources for teachers and students are available online and from Sheila Barnett, DEQ Environmental Educator, Virginia Office of Environmental Education (804) 698-4055 or email Sheila.Barnett@deq.virginia.gov.
- Virginia has established spring and fall campaigns to recognize and encourage voluntary conservation efforts, called Operation Spruce-Up and the Fall River Renaissance. Go to 25 Ways to Help Virginia's Environment and Virginia Naturally for additional information.