How do trash cans attract more litter?
Comment on The gentrified forest near me removed the bins. .. From their café/picnic area
liv@lemmy.nz 1 week ago
This has been happening in New Zealand for a while. The theory seems to be that bins attract more litter and are a hazard to wildlife.
I was sceptical at first but it actually seems to work.
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 1 week ago
liv@lemmy.nz 1 week ago
I don’t know. I haven’t seen the research.
I was alarmed by it at first but it’s been a few years now and the parks where I go which used to have them don’t seem any more littered fwiw. If anything less so.
But that’s anecdotal and as I understand it the decision was made based on more than that.
Cryophilia@lemmy.world 1 week ago
I don’t think it works. I think the resulting litter is just more distributed and therefore harder to register. Instead of an overflowing trash can, it’s a napkin here, a cup there, and a lot of it ends up eaten by wildlife or in waterways so not very visible.
SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world 1 week ago
No, a lot of people are actual decent human beings and understand the simple concept of packing out your own garbage.
Cryophilia@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Or just…actually empty the bins?
SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world 1 week ago
And what if someone decides to empty their garbage from their vehicle filling it up and now it’s not being emptied until the next morning?
I’m guessing you would want someone standing there to empty it the second it gets full….?
liv@lemmy.nz 1 week ago
Idk, it looks like it works (or maybe people are just getting better at not littering and it correlates), but this is one of those things that can be measured so I’d trust department of conservation research over my own anecdotal evidence.