Trash Blows! Stow It!

Trash Blows! Stow It!

As part of the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program (MBNEP) Trash Blows! Stow It! campaign, Partners for Environmental Progress (PEP) is on a mission to reduce the amount of litter caused by trash that blows out of pick-up trucks. PEP is working on this mission with Dog River Clearwater Revival (DRCR) through their DRCR’s EPA/GOMP grant.  One of the largest environmental issues we face along the Gulf Coast is litter and its effects on our local waterways. 

Our Trash Blows! Stow It! campaign is a truck trash education program targeting PEP member companies, other local businesses and truck owners about the environmental and economic impacts of truck bed trash blowing onto our roads and waterways, specifically the Mobile Bay and Dog River watersheds.

DID YOU KNOW?

  • Clean communities have a better chance of attracting new residents, new businesses, and tourists.1
  • 85% of littering is the result of individual attitudes. 2 
  • Motorists generate 53% of litter in the U.S. roadways each year.3
  • Almost 29% of truck drivers are aware of unsecured trash flying out of their truck beds.4
  • It takes plastic bottles 450 years to decompose in the environment. 5
  • Litter cleanup costs the U.S. almost $11.5 billion each year, with businesses paying $9.1 billion, and taxpayers picking up the remainder.6

How can YOU reduce truck bed trash?

  • Be aware of trash in your truck bed and stow it before hitting the road.
  • Install a receptacle in your truck bed to collect trash.
Take the Trash Blows! Stow It! pledge

How can YOUR BUSINESS get involved?

Educate employees:

  • Educate employees about the problems caused by loose trash blowing out of trucks.
  • PEP has developed a free digital package of PEP’s Trash Blows! Stow It! resources for you to use to engage your employees and customers in reducing truck trash and litter. Contact Jennifer Denson, Executive Director, at (251) 345-7269 to learn more and to request the digital package. Our digital package includes:
    • Flyer
    • Poster
    • Yard sign

Digital flyer (8.5"w x 11"h) you can print and distribute to your employees.

Four (4) full-color postres (18"w x 24"h) to display at your business.

Two (2) full-color yard signs (24"w x 18"h) to display at your business.

Make changes:

  • Increase parking lot trash receptacles to be convenient and accessible to your employees. Littering significantly decreases when people are within 25 – 30 feet of a trash can receptacle.7
  • Encourage employees to stow all trash in a can before hitting the road.
  • Install truck bed trash receptacles in your fleet of vehicles.
  • Encourage employees to create “Green Teams” and participate in community cleanups. A “Green Team” consists of a small group of employees tasked to identify and initiate new green practices at your business. Including, but not limited to, recycling, reducing paper use, improving energy efficiency and more. Your “Green Team” can also educate colleagues about the benefits of participation and serve as cheerleaders for your clean up initiatives.
  • Reduce pollution and trash in our waterways by replacing styrofoam and plastics in your breakroom with reusable cups, plates, and utensils.

 

Join Create a Clean Water Future (CCWF) Campaign

  • The CCWF offers free resources and tips that can be easily achieved in your workplace.
Become a CWF Partner

Truck Bed Trash Can Design Competition – A Go Green Initiative

We have partnered with The Mobile Bay National Estuary Program (NEP) to further our education initiative by launching a Truck Bed Trash Can Competition. NEP is encouraging individuals to submit a design prototype of a DIY (Do it Yourself) trash repository for truck beds to help reduce the amount of litter blowing out of the beds of pick-up trucks.

Sources:

  1. “Litter Facts You Can’t Ignore.” Keep Liberty Beautiful, http://keeplibertybeautiful.org/litter-facts-you-cant-ignore.html
  2. Keep Louisiana Beautiful. (2015, September). https://keeplouisianabeautiful.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Litter-in-America-Executive_Summary_-_FINAL.pdf
  3. Don’t Mess With Texas. https://www.dontmesswithtexas.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/DMWT_Charts.pdf
  4. How long does it take garbage to decompose. (n.d.). Keep Cass County Nebraska Beautiful. https://www.keepcasscountybeautiful.com/images/PDF/Recycling/how_long_does_it_take_garbage_to_decompose.pdf
  5. Shocking facts about littering and its effects. StopLitter.org. https://stoplitter.org/facts-about-littering/
  6. Keep America Beautiful. (2019, November). Litter in America Fact Sheet – Litter Overview. https://kab.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/LitterinAmerica_FactSheet_LitterOverview.pdf
  7. How commercial trash cans can help prevent littering. (2020, January 23). PlayPower Canada. https://playpowercanada.ca/blog/how-commercial-trash-cans-help-prevent-littering/