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Measurability and accountability are hallmarks of Keep American Beautiful, Inc. (KAB). Therefore, they become the hallmarks of the KAB affiliates as well – Keep Atlanta Beautiful, Inc., is a KAB Affiliate. KAB has developed a new methodology for measuring litter, designed to make litter-prevention work easier and reported results more credible. The results of the Litter Index are intended to help quickly and reliably assess the litter situation in our city and to achieve long-term, sustainable results with litter abatement programs. Each KAB affiliate is required to perform the Litter Index annually and report the results to KAB to remain an affiliate “in good standing.”
The results of the Litter Index are intended to help quickly and reliably assess the litter situation in our city and to assist us in achieving long-term, sustainable results with litter abatement programs. Because of the changes noted above, this year’s data are not comparable with last year’s data; all but three of the Districts had changes. We have showed the comparisons on the Litter Index: Comparisons where we also show the changed areas and new areas by District.
Each year two teams of trained volunteers (North Team and South Team) visually assess the entire city. Sub-areas were selected in each City Council District providing a fair representation of land use within the area, e.g., residential commercial, educational, recreational, industrial, and agricultural.Teams scored the sub-areas using a four-point scoring system to estimate the presence of litter in the area being scored. The teams went out over two days, for a total of ten hours, and traveled a total of 132 miles through the various sub-areas rating the amount of litter observed, to give each a score, as follows:
- 1 represents “No Litter”
- 2 represents “Slightly Littered”
- 3 represents “Littered”
- 4 represents “Extremely Littered”
These scores are the building blocks upon which the Litter Index process is based. The data collected on the 2010 scoring sheets was averaged to obtain scores for each City Council District and an overall score for the city of Atlanta. Each year, this process is duplicated using the same routes and scoring system to determine our successes or failures, by district, as we use the data gathered to determine the areas of most need. The scores will be reported to Keep America Beautiful and Keep Georgia Beautiful for use in compiling overall litter statistics.
Keep Atlanta Beautiful continues to encourage the residents of Atlanta’s neighborhoods to get out and clean up their streets and vacant lots. We offer free supplies to any group wanting to do cleanups, including a $50 gift card to Home Depot to purchase graffiti removal supplies and spray paint for painting over graffiti. We will roll out our Adopt a Spot program soon which will further encourage groups and individuals to select the area they want to maintain.
City Council members are encouraged to disseminate these findings to their NPUs and neighborhood leaders to help them identify areas that need cleanups. Based on the large numbers of trash bags, gloves, and recycle bags we have given out since this survey was done, we believe much of the litter and other debris has been picked up! |
