How to Fix San Francisco's Littering Problem (San Jose, Oakland: rental, house)

[dlyoung123]

I have an easy solution for this issue. I often when out and about here in west oakland. I just pick up litter I see and toss it into the nearest trash can. Now if everyone did this? Just pick up one piece of trash... Can you imagine? I have noticed a lot of plastic bags blowing about. Which I find most annoying. Ever try to chase one of those down on a windy day? Try it with a cane... I personally just reuse them. As food wrapping etc. With the final use as trash bags. That way when I do toss them. There weighted down more and are less likely to blow out of the dumpsters etc. Plus your getting two or more uses out of each bag.)

[Boompa]

Originally Posted by BoringOldMike4554

I think your missing the point a bit. And I know the poster above you certainly is. The same people who litter aren't usually the same people who perform violent crimes. But an area with a lot of litter is a an area that shows a lack of caring for it's surroundings. Another example of what i'm trying to get at is broken window theory: Broken windows theory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The second sentence on the page sums things up pretty well: "The theory states that monitoring and maintaining urban environments in a well-ordered condition may stop further vandalism as well as an escalation into more serious crime."

San Francisco is actually very clean in other ways. For example, it's air quality is amazing for a big city, but there is no question that it has a littering problem.

Pardon me if I think this Wikipedia based theory is internet litter

[BoringOldMike4554]

Originally Posted by Boompa

Pardon me if I think this Wikipedia based theory is internet litter

The theory has been around for decades (way before Wikipedia or the internet) so your internet litter comment doesn't make much sense. You can choose to disagree with it, though.

I would actually like to know what you think should be done.

[Boompa]

Originally Posted by BoringOldMike4554

The theory has been around for decades (way before Wikipedia or the internet) so your internet litter comment doesn't make much sense. You can choose to disagree with it, though.

I would actually like to know what you think should be done.

As I've stated before, having lived in other major cities that appear much worse, I don't see it as much of a priority.

[ubringliten]

Educate people when they are young in grade school. Teach them to clean up after themselves. Have kids go pick up litter around school during break time. Japan does this. Very simple.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by ubringliten

Educate people when they are young in grade school. Teach them to clean up after themselves. Have kids go pick up litter around school during break time. Japan does this. Very simple.

My middle school punished the entire class if there was trash left in the lunch room. 2 or 3 pieces of trash = automatic penalty.
1 piece of trash = 1 point, 3 or 5 points = penalty.

Penalty = Silent lunch (except for people with all A's that quarter, they had a special table and privileges to bring one friend to the table.)

I only remember penalty happening twice over those 2 years. Our high school cafeteria was pretty clean as well. And the school was in the top 5 in the state in all categories. I guess it worked. You also got citations for not walking on the right of the halfway. There were 3 rules in the motto, I don't remember the 3rd one, but it included "stay to the right" and "pick it up."

[bob lobblaw]

Originally Posted by ubringliten

Educate people when they are young in grade school. Teach them to clean up after themselves. Have kids go pick up litter around school during break time. Japan does this. Very simple.

I don't think Japan is a very good example......I lived in Kyushu for a year and found it incredibly littered and untidy. Can't really blame them though, everything you buy is wrapped and packaged an unecessary amount of times, there's so much waste over there.

I actually think SF is really clean, I don't see what the fuss is about.....try living in NYC if you think this is bad.

[mayorhaggar]

Yeah after seeing this topic I've been paying more attention to my surroundings in SF, and honestly there's hardly any litter at all. Shopkeepers sweep their sidewalks if anything gets dumped there, the city sweeps the streets every day or every other day, sidewalks get hosed down every day or two, and there isn't litter blowing around the sidewalk and streets, maybe pieces of a newspaper someone dropped, but otherwise there isn't really any litter. Again the main problem is just that the streets are grimy and smelly from so many people passing over them, and certain sewer grates STINK, not all of them but some of them definitely do. Also SF is an aging city in terms of the streets and sidewalks and transit stations, so it looks more worn out.

[rah]

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

honestly there's hardly any litter at all.

I agree that straight up grime/dirt from age and so many people and cars (and dogs) being in such a small space is more of a factor when it comes to SF's "dirtyness" than litter is, but let's not exaggerate.

It's not that bad overall, but it's there. There's not that much in most of the city due to constant cleaning by DPW as well as scavengers who pick things up to recycle or sell for scrap (both of which generally seem to be busier than in the past). I'd say this is especially true in wealthier areas, very busy areas, tourist areas, and areas that are trendy and undergoing redevelopment/gentrification. Many SF residents and business owners also care enough to clean in front of their business or homes, so that helps...but even then litter isn't picked up immediately--this is a busy city, that's impossible. So it's possible to encounter "too much" litter, or a random couch/TV/dumped junk basically anywhere, SF is not at all some litter-free utopia....it's just not a big or constant problem for most of the city. Of course we do have our high crime and industrial areas though, where people straight up dump piles of junk/garbage, where people may be more likely to litter in general, and where street cleaning isn't as frequent.

[mayorhaggar]

Believe me, I think SF is a really filthy city, but I just don't think litter is really an issue. It's smelly and grungy and everything is run down, and people poop and pee everywhere. Oakland is kind of run down, even in Rockridge, but it just doesn't have the funk that SF has, and again it's mainly because soooo many people pass through SF every single day of the year compared with anywhere else around here. But litter is just not what people should focus on because generally it's not that bad. If the city would repave its streets and sidewalks and refurbish its subway stations it would look a lot cleaner, but 5 minutes later some bum would poop on the new marble sidewalk. And in this crappy economy and in a state with cheapskate taxpayers and unreliable government employees, nobody's going to be willing or able to pay for a facelift for SF.