Each affiliate must conduct a Litter Index every year as part of Keep America Beautiful to quantify litter in its area.
Hilliard became an affiliate late 2017, and performed a Litter index in 2018 and 2019. (Audits were not performed in 2020 or 2021 because of the pandemic. Six Keep Hilliard Beautiful board members (KHB), performed the 2022 Litter Indicator last month. The route was planned ahead of time.It was completely random and included both residential as well as commercial areas.
All members traveled in the same vehicle. Once we had reached the index street, all talk stopped and each person graded it individually. The street is graded 1 to zero or minimal litter, 2 to slightly littered, 3 to very littered and 4 to extremely littered.
All grading sheets and averages for the day are calculated at the end of each route.
Hilliard has a very good overall score. It was 1.49 in Hilliard this year, which is between minimal littering and slightly littered.
Hilliard is becoming more littered every year. This is not a good sign. The score was 1.14 in 2018. In 2019, the score was 1.34.
Most residential streets were clean. Mixed-use roads and predominantly commercial roads were more littered than residential streets. This could be because residential areas have less traffic and people are more likely to litter their own neighborhood.
Advertising circulars left in plastic bags in residential areas are one category of litter that hasn’t been counted over the three years. These circulars are delivered on Saturday mornings as the index is being performed so that no one has yet been outside to pick them up.
Residents who leave bags of circulars in their yards or driveways for too long can create litter, which will lead to an increase in index scores. Keep Hilliard Green reminds residents that they should collect these bags after reading the information and clipping the coupons.
The plastic sleeve is not to be thrown away as it can become a tangler at a recycling center. It can be taken with your plastic grocery bags to recycling bins outside grocery stores.
Here are some other helpful hints.
To ensure that your trash doesn’t get out, please make sure you have it locked up in your truck bed.
Please don’t throw trash out of your car windows.
When you put your trash cans out to collect, make sure that the trash is secured. Place the hinge side facing the wind so that the lid stays closed.
If you want to take it up a notch, grab trash whenever you see itand participate in the litter pickups sponsored KHB. Check us out on Instagram @KeepHilliardBeautifulOH.
Together, we can keep Hilliard beautiful!
Melissa Muth is vice chair of the HilliardEnvironmental Sustainability Commission and the vice chair of Keep Hilliard Beautiful.