Editorial

Sterner measures are needed to stub out 'Tennessee trash'

Today's Topic: What can be done about littering?

Longtime residents will remember how Tennessee had a glaring problem with trash along roads and other public areas in the 1960s. In some areas, public dumping was common.

That was about the time that America as a whole began waking to the litter problem, thanks in large part to Lady Bird Johnson's "Keep America Beautiful" campaign. In this state, the first real change came in the 1970s, with the catchy "Tennessee Trash" television and radio ads.

The state has focused on education efforts ever since, but now it's appearing that sterner efforts may be needed. Whether it's a generational thing, the proliferation of fast food, the fact that people are spending more time in their cars or just sheer population growth, roadside litter is again starting to pile up. In 2005, the state picked up 13,000 tons of litter from roadways. Such efforts cost taxpayers about $6 million.

This is ironic, given increased environmental awareness in this country. Perhaps some people still do not know that simple rubbish such as bottles, cans, cigarette butts and wrappers can interfere with storm drainage and injure wildlife. But there is also the aesthetic value of an unspoiled landscape, and a negative economic impact on a region that has a littering problem. As Howard Cobbs, community development director for Keep Tennessee Beautiful, recently told The Tennessean, "If there is litter, people won't like to go there anymore. Businesses will leave."

What is being done, and what more can be done? The Tennessee Department of Transportation is throwing its effort into a hot line, 1-877-854-8837, to report littering, part of its Stop Litter campaign. Those who are reported will receive a letter from TDOT reminding them that littering is a misdemeanor punishable by fines.

There is also proposed legislation to set a 5-cent deposit on beverage containers. The bill is intended to give consumers incentive to hold onto their glass and plastic bottles for recycling, but the measure is strongly opposed by the beverage industry, who say it would amount to an ineffective tax on consumers of their products.

Bottlers may also object to the bill's requirements that they register with the state and pay fees on each container they distribute.

The bill is well worth consideration. It offers a plan for establishing redemption centers throughout the state for recycling beverage containers that would be administered by the state Division of Solid Waste Management and funded by the revenue from the deposits. The measure is currently under review in both House and Senate Government Operations committees.

Meanwhile, programs such as TDOT's Adopt a Highway help. To get the designation, organizations must agree to clean their stretch of road four times a year.

But more intensive education efforts also are desperately needed. Studies have shown that littering is highest among 16- to 34-year-olds. And a recent survey of 18- to 35-year-olds by Keep Tennessee Beautiful found that 48 percent admitted to littering; 6.5 percent thought litter had an economic impact; and only 3 percent thought litter laws were enforced.

It's important to get the message out in the right venues for this group. That means through programs at school and ads in youth-oriented publications and TV programming. Young Tennesseans still need to learn what their forebears who heard the '70s jingle know: "Lord, there ain't no lower class than Tennessee trash."

http://www.rctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070425/OPINION01/704250441/1007/MTCN0305