PPT Slide
New York Anti-Littering Campaign
In attempt to combat littering, the state of New York in 1983 enacted a “bottle bill” which required a 5 cent deposit on every bottle and can of beer and soda sold in the state. The goal was to provide an incentive for people to return rather than discard cans and bottles, as well as to encourage people to pick up cans and bottles that had already been discarded. Levitt and Leventhal (1986) carried out a quasi-experiment to evaluate the effectiveness of this anti-littering program. Specifically, they obtained measures of littering both before and after the legislation was introduced, both in the state of New York and in neighboring New Jersey, which did not have such a law. The frequency of visible bottles and cans was counted at 2-week intervals for 14 weeks prior to and for 14 weeks after the introduction of the bottle bill. Litter was counted at 10 predefined urban (subway stations) and rural (highway rest areas) sites in both states. Results showed a significant decrease in the amount of visible litter at both rural and urban sites following the introduction of the bottle bill in New York, but no change in litter at either type of site in New Jersey. The authors concluded that the anti-littering program was effective.