Cleaner Uppsala
In August, uppsala municipality conducted a litter measurement both in the park and on the street. The poll shows that there is less debris this year than in 2016. In the park, the number of litter per ten square meters decreased from 3.26 to 1.03 (68.4%) and on the street from 7.53 to 4.93 (34.5%). Cigarette butts are still the most common litter and the municipality is planning a campaign to reduce the number of cigarette butts thrown on the ground.
The Junk Choir
Uppsala residents are getting better at throwing their rubbish into the city's many garbage cans. The municipality has invested in both campaigns to reduce littering and to make sure that there are garbage cans so that it will be easy to do the right thing.
"We are very happy and proud that so many people take responsibility for reducing littering. The public environment is everyone's living room and it is important that we together continue to keep clean, for our own sake and for the sake of others, says Johan Lundqvist (MP), chairman of the Street and Community Environment Committee.
Uppsala residents are good at throwing paper, plastic and food scraps in the garbage cans. On the other hand, cigarette butts and snus all too often end up on the slopes.
"Even cigarette butts contain plastic and toxic substances that do not degrade but affect the environment, risk ending up in the storm water and in the worst case animals or children can pick up their butts and get sick," says Sofia Hellström, project manager.
In the city garden, the rubbish, alongside cigarette butts and snuff, consisted to a large extent of site confetti, which is regularly ejected from traders in the area. Even in this case, there is a risk that the plastic, in addition to giving the park a dirty impression, ends up in Fyrisån and affects the environment for plants and fish.
This spring, the municipality will focus on a special campaign to reduce littering with cigarette butts and snus, while continuing to work to further reduce littering in general.
Press release from Uppsala Municipality:
Sanitation Uppsala
