It's Time For Our Government Leaders to Take Action to Clean Up the Mess in Massachusetts!
From Cape Cod to Boston to the Berkshires, litter is visible along nearly every Massachusetts highway, sidewalk, public park and beach. Plastic, aluminum, and glass beverage containers of all kinds, along with fast food trash, cigarette butts, vaping devices, plastic bags, nip bottles and other common types of debris are found everywhere.
Along our interstate highways, the problem is more acute, with discarded tires, car parts, construction materials, styrofoam, plastic buckets, plastic wrapping and “flyaway” litter from truckers marring the landscape.
Every year, thousands of volunteers from Keep Massachusetts Beautiful and other organizations spend countless hours battling the ever-growing piles of litter. Despite these efforts, volunteers are only cleaning up a fraction of the litter and much of it remains in place or makes its way into our streams, rivers and oceans.
Solutions to the Massachusetts Litter Problem
The Massachusetts state government devotes little to any money or effort toward LITTER PREVENTION in Massachusetts. The mess in Massachusetts sends a message that Massachusetts leaders really do not prioritize our state’s appearance or environmental health. For a state with an economy that relies heavily on tourism dollars, is this the message we want to be sending?
Rather than simply accepting the deplorable appearance of our roadsides and public spaces, KMB has been taking action since 2014 to clean up the mess in Massachusetts. Together with its 40 local chapters across the state, volunteers participate in the annual Great Massachusetts Cleanup. In 2024, these volunteers collected and removed 150+ tons of litter and debris. The estimated value of these volunteer hours is $750,000.
Unfortunately, these volunteer efforts alone are not adequate to solve the Massachusetts litter problem. To make meaningful long-term improvements, our government leaders should launch a proactive, comprehensive plan to build awareness, educate the public, enforce the law, and clean up the mess that lies untouched by human hands.
You can help by urging your state Representative, Senator, Lieutenant Governor and Governor to launch a statewide Massachusetts Litter Prevention Cleanup Task Force.
A key component of this Task Force would be to launch an Anti-Litter Public Awareness Campaign that would include
- A consistent anti-littering slogan and message: Keep Mass Litter Free! (or something similar)
- Messaging would be displayed on electronic message boards along our highways year-round, as well as on MassDOT-managed and donated billboards
- Public Service Announcements (PSAs) would be broadcast on TV and radio, local cable access channels, social media and be integrated with Registry of Motor Vehicles communications to drivers
Other states across the U.S. have PSA campaigns that raise awareness about litter prevention and teach residents and visitors alike about best practices for proper trash disposal. Some examples from other states include:
- Rhode Island: Clean Rhodes
- Texas: Don't Mess With Texas
- Tennessee: Nobody Trashes Tennessee
- Delaware: Keep Delaware Litter Free
- Virginia: Virginia is For Lovers, Not Litter
In addition to an Anti-Litter Public Awareness Campaign, additional litter prevention solutions in Massachusetts should include:
- Increased funding for MassDOT to combat highway litter. MassDOT currently lacks the personnel and funding it needs to keep up with the heavy volume of litter. With more resources and an increased focus on litter cleanup, crews could work year-round to prevent the deplorable conditions that currently exist.
- Increased enforcement of existing anti-littering and illegal dumping laws. Judging by the mess along our roadsides, the number of littering tickets issued in Massachusetts is quite low. People litter with impunity because there are rarely any consequences. If Massachusetts did more to enforce its anti-littering laws, this could change behaviors. Stricter enforcement of trucks with uncovered loads and illegal dumping would also have an enormous impact.
- Dedicated funding in the state budget to support Keep Massachusetts Beautiful. In many other states, Keep America Beautiful state-level affiliates receive ongoing state funding. In exchange, these affiliates promote the state’s Adopt-a-Highway and Sponsor-a-Highway programs, coordinate local and statewide litter cleanups, and administer educational programs focused on litter prevention and cleanup. Every $1 invested in Keep America Beautiful affiliates yields a significant return on investment, without the cost of hiring permanent state employees.
A cleaner, litter-free landscape is good for business, the economy, the residents of Massachusetts, and our environment. The time for our state leaders to take action on this issue is long past due.
