Talk trash by calling Louisiana's new litter hotline
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Law enforcement says that if you see something, you should say something. And now in Louisiana, if you see someone tossing trash outside a bin, officials want you to call it in.
Why it matters: Bad puns aside, Louisiana officials are looking to crack down on litter with a new hotline that serves as a clearinghouse for trashy complaints.
How it works: The hotline, 855-LA-Litter, is managed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
- The department asks for license plate and vehicle information, if the caller has it.
- Then, the State Litter Abatement Department will run the plates, according to Keep Louisiana Beautiful, the nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the state's litter problem.
- They'll then send a letter to the vehicle owner, noting that someone in it has been spotted littering, according to KLB. It also includes some educational info on littering.
Between the lines: A stern letter may not have all that much power, and there's no enforcement capability behind it yet.
- "Citations are not currently being issued," a KLB spokesperson said, but they are exploring how they might one day be able to do so.
Yes, but: People who face a litter citation from law enforcement can face between $175 and $1,000 in fines and up to eight hours in a litter abatement work program, the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says.
State of play: Between June 17 and Aug. 6, KLB says, the hotline received 99 calls, with expectations that it'll grow.
By the numbers: Louisiana spends more than $90 million a year cleaning up after itself, KLB says.
- In a survey released last year, the organization found that the state was strewn with 143.8 million pieces of litter, most of which was plastic.
- Then, before he left office, Gov. John Bel Edwards formed the LSU Litter Institute to help tackle the problem.
Zoom in: Louisiana State Police are also "tackling commercial litter by holding trucks accountable for lost loads," according to a press release from KLB.