Volunteers for the Hampton Clean City Commission evaluated the city’s perceivable litter on August 5th and rated Hampton’s litter slightly higher than in 2008 during the same time. The 2009 score was 1.41, as compared to 1.38 for 2008. Both scores indicate that the city remains slightly littered.

An ideal score would be 1, while the worst possible score would be 4. The worst score Hampton received was a 1.64 in 2005, the best score was 1.29 in 2004. When the index began in 2000, the score was 1.56.

The Commission was particularly interested in determining if "Littering Is Illegal" signs placed last fall would have an impact on the index sites. It seems that they did not at most sites.

This year, the worst single site score was 2.94 on an interstate ramp, while the best scores were achieved by neighborhoods, of which half have known active Adopt-A-Spot or neighborhood organizations caring for them.

These findings highlight research across the nation that has shown that areas that are cared for regularly are cleaner and attract less litter than areas that are out of sight and not watched over by caring citizens. The presence of litter triggers more littering behavior, indicating a subtle societal norm that littering is "OK". Keeping litter cleaned up reduces the overall burden of litter on citizens and city services alike.

Notes from the volunteers who conducted the index show that there was a considerable amount of litter in our ditches, which is not good news for water quality or for flood prevention. Litter can block ditches and storm drains and enhance flooding during storms. Among the littered conditions noted in some neighborhoods were scattered tree debris and piles of uncontained trash placed at curbside for collection. Among littered conditions in some business districts were overflowing trash dumpsters and littered parking areas.

The Commission recommends that citizens concerned about litter in our community take the following steps:

• Always properly contain your trash so it does not become litter.
• Let family, friends, acquaintances, and customers know that litter is costly to everyone in terms of cleanup costs, lost economic opportunity, and community quality of life.
• When you see litter, pick it up and properly dispose of it.
• Support individuals and organizations engaged in litter prevention and removal. Some ideas include taking extra care in driving by cleanup volunteers to avoid injury to them, giving volunteers in action a "thumbs up" as you drive by, promoting litter prevention in your place of business or your faith community, and most of all, making sure you don’t contribute to the litter they pick up!
• Follow waste disposal recommendations from the City of Hampton (call 311 or 727-8311) to avoid neighborhood litter.
• Volunteer with the Hampton Clean City Commission to help educate others about litter prevention.

The Litter Index was developed by Keep America Beautiful, Inc. to help its affiliates track the status of litter in their communities. It is a tool that takes a snapshot of litter on the same day at the same time annually to help KAB affiliates keep tabs on the litter situations in their communities. For more information about the litter index, visit www.kab.org.

For more information about the Hampton Clean City Commission and its environmental quality programs, contact us at 727-1130 or hccc@hampton.gov.