Keep America Beautiful Litter Index

According to standards set by Keep America Beautiful, roadsides are ranked on a scale of 1 to 4 (1 representing no litter, to 4 being extremely littered). This program allows for a more systematic approach to litter control within Carbondale. The City is divided into 4 quadrants, plus SIU; each area has 10 sub-areas which are rated by 3-4 scorers. Carbondale’s total average score is approximately 1.45-1.65 each year. This year the overall average was 1.565, and for the first time in recent memory, all areas were under 2! 

Cigarette Litter Prevention
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​Cigarette butts are the #1 litter item in the WORLD, creating toxic waste which is hazardous for animals and plants. 

There are some things being done about it!

  • Follow this for more info:  Cigarette Butts--the most littered item in America
  • KCB received a grant in 2014 from KAB and Altria to develop our Cigarette Litter Prevention Program.  Our focus is South Illinois Avenue from College to Main.
  • With a little help from our friends, we placed smokers outposts and wall-mounted ashtrays at several places where the property owner was willing to empty them.
  • We passed out hundreds of personal ashtrays and auto ashtrays (that fit into a cup holder). They have been very popular.  If you'd like one - get in touch!
  • Keep Carbondale Beautiful's Cigarette Litter Prevention Program WSIU's morning conversation.  Listen here.
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  • Check out this technique to get people to happily dispose of their cigarette butts properly: 
  • Wherein you'll find links to Impact on environment including fish.
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                             Litter Survey: The High Cost of Doing Too Little
Every piece of litter costs money to remove! 
Keep Carbondale Beautiful conducted a litter cost survey to determine the amount of resources spent on cleaning up.   
Our results were pretty much in line with national trends, which indicate that litter costs amount to $40 per person per year.  Those findings continue to surprise many people.  It means that in a city like Carbondale, Illinois (pop. 25,000), the opportunity cost of litter amounts to a million dollars per year.  On an average day, over 100 person-hours are spent picking up litter.  What else could we be doing with that time?!?