• Litter Education
• Causes of littering
• Who Litters?
• Types of Litter
• Littering Behaviour
• Barriers to the disposal of litter
• Cultural and Social Attitudes

• Infrastructure Issues
• Social and Cultural Attitudes
• Infrastructure
• Rubbish Attracts Rubbish
• Excessive packaging
• Enforcement

Littering Education > Causes of littering > Littering behaviour

Littering Behaviour

The Williams et al (1997) study found that littering was most likely to occur at times when large numbers of people were outside eating and drinking in public places. They also found that 37% of all littering occurred at ‘transition points’, when people were moving from one activity to another, for example moving from sitting on a bench to walking away, or from waiting for a bus to getting on the bus.

They also discovered a tendency for people to place litter in ‘bin like objects’, such as planters or electric ground lights, even when there were bins nearby.

As part of this study, the researchers observed people who both used a bin and at times littered. They found that this ‘dual disposal’ behaviour followed one of three patterns:

Some littered before they had been spoken to about environmental issues, but were observed using a bin after the discussion;  Others binned most of their items but appeared to forget or misplace small light items (e.g. they would put a bottle in the bin but leave the cap on the bench); Many people consistently littered one type of object but binned others. In most cases, these people littered cigarette butts but disposed of other items in the bin.

It was also observed that some people litter quite deliberately. ‘Wedgers’ stuff disposable objects into small spaces where they will not be seen e.g. behind a seat; ‘Undertakers’ bury objects under sand or leaves; and ‘Foul shooters’ aim for the bin but miss and then leave the object on the ground