Community Appearance Index
Why do we audit litter?
From Keep America Beautiful: Litter is more than just a mark on our landscape. Litter is costly to clean up, impacts our quality of life and economic development, and eventually ends up in our waterways and oceans. […] Litter cleanup costs more than $11.5 billion each year. The indirect costs of litter are also considerable. For example, litter in a community decreases property values by 7 percent.
The Community Appearance Index (formerly Litter Index) is a great tool for tracking litter prevention and education. The scores change over time and between locations, allowing KLCB to map out the problem areas and deploy Adopt-A-Road and other groups to specific spots.
The audit keeps “litter” scores of Lee County communities. The information collected is compiled into a report and sent to Keep America Beautiful to be added to the national database.
Community Appearance Scores
Keep Lee County Beautiful volunteers assess the roads using a 1 to 4 scale, where:
1 – “Minimal or No Litter”
Virtually no litter. 1 or 2 small items visible in a city block or equivalent. Any trash could be collected quickly by one individual. Generally tidy appearance. Virtually no litter can be observed in the Site. The scorer may see one or two small items in a city block or equivalent. Any litter seen could be collected quickly by one individual. The entire Site has a generally tidy appearance.
2 – “Slightly Littered”
A small amount of litter. Littered items do not continually grab the eye. The site could be cleaned in a short time. Litter is obvious, but the eye is not continually grabbed by littered items. The Site could be cleaned in a short period of time.
3 – “Littered”
Visible litter catches your eye frequently Organized effort for removal Considerable effort to clean Visible litter catches your eye frequently throughout the Site. An organized effort for removal is required with considerable effort to clean up the Site.
4 – “Extremely Littered”
Continuous amount of litter Litter first thing noticed Might include an illegal dump Equipment may be required for removal Strong impression of a lack of concern about litter A continuous amount of litter is one of the first things noticed about the Site. Illegal dumpsites might be observed. Equipment may be required to clean up. There is a strong impression of a lack of concern about litter in the Site.