Littering statistics
- Litter cleanup costs approximately $11.5 million per year
- Litter in a community can decrease property values by 7%
- 75% of Americans have admitted to littering in the past 5 years
- Men between the ages of 18-34 are most likely to litter than any other age group
- Tobacco products are the most littered item on U.S. roadways (38%)
- Motorists make up 52% of litter on roadways, and pedestrians make up 22.8%
- 85% of littering is the result of individual attitudes
- 17% of all disposals observed in public spaces were littering
- 15% of littering affects the environment
- Over 51 billion pieces of litter land on U.S. roadways each year
- Plastic bags/plastic garbage that are thrown in the ocean kill over 1,000,000 sea animals each year
- Current estimates project a total of 1.4 billion beverage containers on our nation's roadways
- Plastic foam takes over 500 years to disintegrate
- People under the age of 15 are the least likely to litter
- People under the age of 25 are the most likely to litter in a group
- The fine for littering can be up to $1,000