Stroll into your nearest town or city early in the daybreak and you’ll meet a number of sweepers meandering around tidying up the litter left from all the drunken activities of last night. It’s a regular early daybreak setting, especially the beeping noise! We don’t actually give litter a second thought as we assume it will all be tidied up for us.
Yet, there is a sometimes imperceptible yet significant influence litter has in terms of controlling the mood of people. We are more liable to think a neighbourhood is less well policed if litter is scattered around, and hence criminals see litter as a latent signal for a chance of a break-in, a mugging, or car-theft. The same sign develops some fearfulness in other individuals who worry they may be strolling into a more dodgy area and are concerned about possibly being robbed.
There’s also the influence on the aesthetic attraction of a location. Litter lying around can make a place seem a bit derelict even though it’s just been trashed by revellers from the previous night. This can harm the reputation of a location if individuals are visiting the location for this specific short period of time and only find it in its littered state.
Prevention is always better than cure when it comes to litter. There’s absolutely no purpose to throw litter if there are unfilled litter bins within the location. If there is a lack of bins, or the rubbish bins that are there are brimming, this is an issue to take up with the local council. Littering has a negative influence on everyone.
