Adele O’Connor – BA, MBS Environmental Education Unit An Taisce

1. Adele O’Connor – BA, MBS Environmental Education Unit An Taisce

2. IBAL Irish Business Against Litter www.ibal.ie Set up in 1996: alliance of companies sharing a belief that continued economic prosperity – notably in the areas of tourism, food and foreign direct investment – is contingent on a clean, litter-free environment Financially Assisted By:

3. IBAL Members • KPMG • Windsor Motors • Ballymaloe • Glen Dimplex • Kelly’s Hotel • Conrad Hotel • Allergen • Colin Moore – Creative Design • Quinn Health Care • John Fleming Architect • Coillte • Merrion Hotel • CRH • Ireland’s Blue Book • Unilever • Pepsico • Irish Tree Centre • Musgrave Group • Janssen • Shamrock Foods Ltd • Irish Hotels Federation • Costelloe and Costelloe

4. IBAL Anti-Litter League AIM: TO ENSURE THAT ALL TOWNS / CITIES SURVEYED ARE CLEAN TO EUROPEAN NORMS

5. Positive Aspects of Clean Environment For the common good and the totality of the community

6. Negative Aspects of Litter • Effects the way people think about their area • Lessens civic pride / Lessens volunteering in the community • Leads to other environmental degradation • Can make areas feel unsafe

7. Definition Of Litter • “litter” means a substance or object, whether or not intended as waste (other than waste within the meaning of the Waste Management Act, 1996, which is properly consigned for disposal) that, when deposited in a place other than a litter receptacle or other place lawfully designated for the deposit, is or is likely to become unsightly, deleterious, nauseous or unsanitary, whether by itself or with any other such substance or object, and regardless of its size or volume or the extent of the deposit;

8. Litter – Public Places and Private Property If you own / are responsible for a place to which the public have access, you are obliged by law to keep the place litter-free, regardless of how the litter got there The owner / occupier of property that can be seen from a public place is obliged to keep the property free of litter.

9. Ideally: • Reduces the cost of cleaning for the LA • Enhances the appearance of the town / city • If properties are seen to be cleaning their own premises it may change the attitude to litter over time.

10. Litter Fines - • From Jan – June 2008 a total of 14,276 litter fines were served nationwide – of these only 45% were paid • Enforcement of litter laws is the most effective way of ensuring a litter free environment - Huge room for improvement • Monies collected to be used in law enforcement with regard to Litter

11. Quote from Dr. Tom Cavanagh “IBAL’s experience is that if a town achieves litter free status for 2 / 3 years it tends to stay Clean” (20/10/08) Once clean, it costs less to keep a town clean Litter attracts Litter

12. IBAL Anti-Litter League BEGAN IN 2002 – 29 TOWNS / CITIES 4 SURVEYS 2009 – 60 TOWNS / CITIES 2 SURVEYS These are Surveys – a snapshot of a situation on a particular day / time – it is not a census

13. Progress • 2002 – just 2 out of 29 towns / cities surveyed were Litter Free with majority either ‘Heavily’ or ‘Very Heavily Littered’ • 2009 – 39 out of 60 towns / cities (i.e. 65%) were Clean to European Norms with only 2 Litter Blackspots • Schools and train stations have shown significant improvement – over 90% of schools and 65% of train stations were litter free – August 2009 • Third Level Colleges / Universities – Hugely improved – UCC First Green Flag

14. Methodology 2010 • 53 TOWNS / CITIES -i.e. 48 towns and 5 cities 10 sites per town (20+ sites per city) Sites / Days / Time / Location Types will vary 2 SURVEYS – final result based on performance of both surveys *** First time to recognise provincial winners - Tree award at year end

15. Survey Form Completed by Trained SurveyorSeparate Form for each site • Quantitative and Qualitative Info: • Site Name • Location Type • Litter Grade (A, B, C or D) • Background Environmental Indicators • Date / Day / Time / Weather • Comment • Photographic Evidence

16. Survey Form – Litter Grades • Grade A = Clean to European Norms = 3 Points • Grade B = Moderately Littered = 2 Points • Grade C = Serious Litter Problem = 1 Points • Grade D = Litter Blackspot = 0 Points

17. Cleanliness Rating - CR (CR) between 0-100 • CR is determined by number of Grades A, B C and D • CR = [(Total Raw Score / Maximum Score) x 100] • e.g. of a town surveyed with 10 sites: 5 Grade As 3 Grade Bs 1 Grade C 1 Grade D = 22/30 X 100 CR = 73

18. The top category towns in the last survey averaged: • 70% Grade A • 15% Grade B • 15% Grade C • 0% Grade D

19. Location Type • Main Shopping Street • Public Car Park • Train / Bus Station • School / College / University • Residential • Industrial Estate • Public Park • River Walk / Promenade • Heritage / Amenity • Approach Roads – 40% of sites • Miscellaneous ** frequently very poor sites – lack of ‘ownership’

20. Approach Roads • 40% of sites One rural area in Ireland: 30% of households had no evidence of registered bin collection

21. Chewing GumGum Litter Task Force 2006-2009 • Chewing gum is litter. • There is a €150 for littering. • The GLT campaign encourages the public to dispose of their gum responsibly in a bin. IBAL asks Was anybody ever fined for spitting out chewing gum?

22. Chewing Gum • Current Gum – 25 years on the street – should this be sold? • Options for Chewing Gum?

23. Chewing Gum Options • Biodegradable Gum (can be swallowed or disintegrates in 24 hours) Or • Current Gum with additive to degrade in 2-4 weeks Or • Current Gum with extra tax Or • Ban Gum – Singapore option

24. IBAL on Twitter • August 2010 – twitter.com/litterspotter Citizens are encouraged to alert local authorities to litter blackspots in their area by emailingimages from their phone to litterspotter.2010@twitpic.com

25. Example of Photo submitted on Twitter Main road from Waterford City out to Tramore

26. Example of Photo submitted on Twitter Inniscarra Recreation (!) area west of Cork city. This was the scene on Wed 1st Sept at 1:30pm

27. Café Anti-Litter Notice