A Litter Bit Better! 2013 Final Results

A Litter Bit Better! 2013 Final Results

The final results are in! Over 3,189 volunteers in 228 groups picked up litter at 245 collection sites that covered 5,185 acres of land in Rochester. These efforts resulted in 24,364 pounds of litter being removed from the environment in 2013’s A Litter Bit Better! event.

2013 was the 7th annual Help Make Rochester A Litter Bit Better! event. Each year, thousands of volunteers collect litter from across Rochester. Together in the past 7 years, these individuals, service groups, businesses, scout troops, faith-based organizations, neighborhood associations, and families have worked together to remove over 83 tons of litter from the community.

The number of people volunteering their time to A Litter Bit Better! is impressive. Individuals from all walks of life participate each year. 70% of volunteers in 2013 had previously participated in A Litter Bit Better! and 13% have been involved in the event each of the past 7 years.

Some anecdotal highlights of this year’s event include:

  • For the third year in a row, total waste collected has decreased. Half of the groups that responded to surveys said they found less litter this year in the areas they have collected in over multiple years. We hope this means that more people are littering less.
  • The average time spent collecting is between 1.5-2 hours.
  • 80% of survey respondents pick up litter at other times during the year.
  • Some of the weird finds this year were: men’s underwear, a cat bed, a set of car keys, a love letter, a broken toilet, a pair of slippers, and a bicycle in the river!

Just because the event happens in April, doesn’t mean individuals and groups aren’t making Rochester A Litter Bit Better! throughout the year!

  • The Rochester Downtown Alliance and A Litter Butt Better! teamed up to offer the “Butt Kickers!” of John Adams Middle School a bounty on cigarette butts picked up from the Downtown landscape. This group of 25 individuals picked up 24,811 butts in approximately 5 hours. The bounty of “a nickle a butt” resulted in $1,240.55 dollars being raised for the school’s science lab.
  • Down by the Riverside concert goers were encouraged by volunteers to put their cigarette butts and other litter in the proper place.
  • LitterMan roamed Honkers Stadium and reminded people to put their trash in the can so it did not become litter.

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