Earth Day: Texas, New Jersey, Michigan Among 'Most Polluted' States in 2018

WASHINGTON, April 18, 2018 (Newswire.com) - Texas, New Jersey, and Michigan are among ten “most polluted” States where littering and dumping is visible, widespread. This information comes as “Americans, about to celebrate Earth Day on Sunday, April 22, stay concerned about unmitigated pollution,” said Steve Spacek, director of the American State Litter Scorecard and a public performance specialist.

The states of Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Nevada, South Carolina, Georgia, Kansas, and Oklahoma make for the remaining “most polluted” selection, Spacek said.

Quite a few states and cities act a bit too lazy, end up doing terrible (litter removal) clean up jobs. They're not encouraging good 'Green' behaviors for citizens to learn, put into practice.

Steve Spacek, Author

The “most polluted” rankings are based on evaluated indicators from government, nonprofit and private sources, including observations by citizens, deaths from collisions with rubbish, “profiled litterer” population percentages, effectiveness of litter abatement spending, public entity corruption rankings and discernible maintenance by employees, contractors and volunteers.

Mr. Spacek said recent Gallup Polls find a majority of Americans — voters and citizens alike — have a “great deal of concern” about toxic pollutants lingering at water and landed areas managed by states and localities. “Since the 1970s, Gallup has noted most in the United States believe the public sector has not worked hard enough to protect the environment,” he said.

Spacek said tobacco, paper, and plastic “make for most litter one sees on public spaces, nationwide, particularly roadways. Littering damages landscapes, breeds diseases, causes injuries and deaths to animals and humans. Over 800 Americans still die every year from vehicle crashes with ordinary litter, tire scraps, tree limbs, even objects from unsecured loads appearing out of nowhere. Accidents that can occur anytime — day or night, under wet or dry conditions,” he said.

Though litter removal and prevention is required by law, “quite a few states and cities act a bit too lazy, end up doing terrible cleanup jobs. They’re not encouraging good ‘Green’ behaviors for citizens to learn, put into practice,“ said Spacek.

Media Contact:
Steve Spacek
[email protected]

WEBSITE: litterscorecard.com
TWITTER: @litterscorecard
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Source: Spacek Public Service Consulting