Why Do People Dump?

A study conducted by Keep America Beautiful, Inc. identified several factors which lead to littering:

• No sense of community or private ownership of the property;
• An assumption that someone will clean up after them;
• A belief that it won’t make any difference to add trash to an already littered site;
• Proper trash disposal is, or is perceived to be; difficult or expensive.

How Can We Stop It?

Site cleanups alone won’t stop repeat dumping, but the Adopt-A-Site program does. Addressing the factors which lead people to dump, each Adopt-A-Site project follows four main steps:

1. Community volunteers pledge to monitor the site before the cleanup begins;
2. The site is cleaned in collaboration with the CVSWMD;
3. Volunteers and CVSWMD staff develop ways to indicate site ownership, such as erecting signs, planting grass and flowers, etc.
4. A volunteer group(s) monitors the site for at least one year, removing any garbage as it appears.

Get Involved!

Community involvement and ownership are the keys to success in every Adopt-A-Site project. So get involved! Site identification, volunteer organization, cleanups, monitoring, and site beautification are the specific areas where you can help.

Contact the CVSWMD if you have a site in mind, have a group ready to dig in, or want to join an existing Adopt-A-Site project.

Strengthen Local Control

Illegal dumping is best handled with quick and consistent local enforcement. To enable this kind of response, encourage your community to adopt a local ordinance to prohibit illegal dumping. Both the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Pollution Control Division and the Vermont League of Cities and Towns have draft ordinances towns may adopt.

Contact:

Vermont League of Cities and Towns
Telephone: 802-229-9111
http://www.vlct.org

Agency of Natural Resources
Pollution Prevention Division
Telephone: 802-241-3840

What is Illegal Dumping?
Request a brochure about the Adopt-A-Site program.