{"id":37398,"date":"2024-02-21t16:14:45","date_gmt":"2024-02-21t16:14:45","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/?p=37398"},"modified":"2024-03-01t16:43:47","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01t16:43:47","slug":"lehigh-valley-litter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/lehigh-valley-litter\/","title":{"rendered":"talking trash: the lehigh valley\u2019s litter problem"},"content":{"rendered":"
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on her weekends off, lehigh university\u2019s library communication specialist kathleen frederick patrols allentown, pa city grounds with a 13-gallon trash bag; picking up the litter strewn along the roadways. typically, she\u2019ll fill the bag with cigarette butts, plastic bottles, and discarded newspapers. but sometimes she finds something stranger \u2013 a disfigured baby doll and a range of cassette tapes with the beverly hills cop soundtrack on them. she notices the litter that lines the streets and falls into sewer grates, and takes note of new neighborhoods she can add to her patrol.<\/p>\n\n\n

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photo from @lvcleanup<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

but it hasn\u2019t always been like that, she said she used to be \u201ctrash blind,\u201d like many allentown residents, ignoring the trash that peppers our streets. in a 2021 study<\/a> published by keep america beautiful, they found that nearly 50 billion pieces of litter plagued roadways and waterways across the united states. in pennsylvania, efforts have been made in recent years to combat this problem, through programs like allentown\u2019s sweep and pennsylvania\u2019s first litter action plan, published in 2021. both of which focus on reshaping residents\u2019 attitudes and behaviors around responsible waste disposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201ci wanted to show people what an area could look like when it\u2019s clean,\u201d frederick says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

during the covid lockdown, frederick began to take walks during her lunch breaks. when she realized the volume of trash in her area, she began to bring a plastic bag with her to collect litter. this small habit during her lunch breaks soon evolved into her local initiative, lehigh valley cleanup. frederick started lehigh valley cleanup in the beginning of 2021, while she started her social media accounts<\/a>, where she documents before and after photos of her cleanups, in october of 2021. to clean with frederick, volunteers need a yellow safety vest, a pair of gloves, and a trash grabber. frederick spends most of her cleanups in allentown, where she reports the greatest volume of litter, but also picks up in bethlehem and easton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

although a blind eye can be turned to the landscape, the same cannot be done for the volume of the issue. according to the pennsylvania litter action plan<\/a>, pennsylvania roadways have 502.5 million pieces of litter in total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[litter] has become part of the landscape,\u201d frederick says. \u201cthe volume of trash is outrageous, and i don\u2019t understand why.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ann saurman, the manager of the allentown city bureau of solid waste and recycling, oversees the city\u2019s contract with waste management which collects trash and recycling, hands out recycling bins to residents, and educates residents on city ordinances for things such as trash limits. additionally, saurman\u2019s department manages allentown\u2019s sweep program. the sweep program<\/a> started in 2005 and aims to enforce and educate allentown\u2019s solid waste and recycling ordinances. residents in violation of these ordinances are given a sweep violation ticket, for which must be paid, and the violation must be cleaned up. saurman believes litter stems from not knowing or understanding city ordinances, while many would simply blame it on carelessness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201calthough our sweep program writes tickets for infractions, the main purpose of it is to educate,\u201d saurman says.  \u201cif we’re at a property and we see that something’s wrong, first and foremost, they would try to get in contact with that resident to let them know that there’s a problem. because a lot of times residents don’t know that, that they’re even breaking rules or breaking ordinances, so it’s always most important to teach them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in a 2011 study<\/a> published in the journal of environment and behavior, personal, and environmental determinants of littering behavior were analyzed. the study concluded that the presence of existing litter significantly impacted the likelihood of littering in the observed experimental sites. coupled with this conclusion is the importance of convenient and strategic placement of trash receptacles. prior studies<\/a> have found that while the addition of more trash receptacles does not reduce litter, one conveniently, well-placed receptacle can greatly reduce littering in a given area.<\/p>\n\n\n

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photos courtesy of kathleen frederick.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

the pennsylvania litter action plan<\/a> projects that with the behavioral changes advised by the plan, pennsylvania can expect a 30% reduction of litter within the next five years. to keep track of the commonwealth\u2019s progress, the plan reports that they will conduct visible litter surveys each year starting in 2022, and then reconvene in 2027 to do a cumulative, follow-up study to see if the plan\u2019s recommendations were successful. with that, it is difficult to report on the efficacy of pennsylvania\u2019s first litter action plan but litter in pennsylvania is a pressing issue that the state faces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201clitter is one of the very few, non-political, non-divisive issues in anybody’s community,\u201d frederick says. \u201clitter begets litter, and if you pick it up, it\u2019s gone!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

kathleen frederick patrols allentown, pennsylvania streets with a 13-gallon trash bag. she started lehigh valley cleanup in 2021 to further engage her community in litter collection action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20155,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4938],"tags":[],"storyfest_categories":[],"class_list":["post-37398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pollution"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\ntalking trash: the lehigh valley\u2019s litter problem - planet forward<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"kathleen frederick started lehigh valley cleanup in 2021 to further engage her community in litter collection action.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/lehigh-valley-litter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"talking trash: the lehigh valley\u2019s litter problem - 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