Why Do People Litter?

Research by Keep America Beautiful, Inc. found that people litter because people feel no sense of ownership, even though areas such as parks, beaches and schools are public property they believe someone else — a park maintenance or school worker — will pick up after them. Motorists and pedestrians often leave litter along roadways where it is blown about by wind or carried by storm water. Once litter has accumulated, it invites people to add more.

End Littering Resource: https://www.kab.org/resources/end-littering

Meet Peanut the Turtle

Your preschoolers can “meet” Peanut the Turtle! During this program an educator will bring puppet Peanut and share the story of how litter impacted her life and teach our youngest learners how they can help keep our planet clean!

To schedule a visit, contact us at 573-265-2993.*

*This year we are offering to bring Peanut to classrooms virtually through Zoom.  Our litter educator will Zoom into your classroom to deliver the program live and allow student participation.  Contact us to schedule a virtual program!

Litter Prevention Resources

If you are interested in learning or doing more about litter at your school, you may find helpful to start with a school-yard clean-up activity.

Keep America Beautiful has resources for teachers and students including games and curriculum on the topic of litter for prekindergarten to 6th grade.

Waste in Place includes a resource guide and parent guide – Big Ideas for Growing Minds – plus multi-dimensional educational tools and games. The children’s books include: Where Does Gum Go, If It’s Litter and Keeping My Town Beautiful.

School organizations or older grade levels may want to take on a larger project. MoDOT offers an Adopt a Highway Program as which might be well suited for those individuals. Find more information here: https://www.modot.org/adopt-highway

We have a role to play in preventing litter. It takes just one person, one school, one business, one organization to positively impact the behavior of others in their community.