Is Litter Poisoning Your Company's Bottom Line?

Your business - large or small - has a role to play in enhancing the community's environmental quality of life. From recycling the tons of office paper your business generates annually to maintaining clean and tidy storefronts, a proactive response by the business community can help reduce office waste and the operating costs associated with managing that waste, build up your community's economy and impact economic development, boost your image in the community and improve employee morale.

Cigarette Butts Are Litter

Cigarette butts are litter too. In fact, cigarette waste is the No. 1 form of litter in Arkansas. Lack of awareness, lack of outdoor ashtrays and receptacles, and smoking-ban ordinances that move smokers outdoors all increase cigarette litter. Individuals who would never litter beverage cans or paper typically do not consider tossing cigarette butts on the ground as littering. That's why education must be a part of a cigarette butts litter prevention plan.

Cigarette Litter Costs and You Pay

Cigarette litter is not only detrimental to the environment, but it is also costly to your business. Cigarette butts litter requires additional sidewalk and street sweeping. As a business owner, you will bear the expense of cigarette butts litter cleanup around your establishment at entrances, exits, adjacent sidewalks, loading docks and parking lots.

Cigarette Litter Prevention

But your business can be proactive in combating cigarette litter. Install ash receptacles outside your establishment so customers and employees can properly dispose of their cigarette waste. This will help reduce cigarette litter around your business, reducing the costs associated with cleaning it up and also protecting the environment.

Business Waste Management

A typical business office generates almost 2 pounds of waste per employee each day, much of it recyclable, office paper. And in the next five years, more then 250 million computers will become obsolete, including the one you're using to visit this website. All this office waste will need to be disposed of properly in a cost-effective, environmentally sound manner that meets EPA guidelines.

Waste Reduction for Businesses

When you institute a business waste management plan, your business can minimize waste and lower your disposal costs by recycling and buying recycling goods. Recycle your computers and electronics free through Arkansas' Project Green-Fed. Buy remanufactured toner cartridges for all your printers. Close the loop by purchasing other office supplies that are remanufactured from recycled goods. Use your community's services to recycle office paper and aluminum cans.

Additional Resources

• Waste in the Workplace
• Waste Wise
  Clean Business
• White Office Paper Workshop
• Outdoor Ashtrays, Recycling Containers and Litter Receptacles
  • Butt Be Gone
  • Smokers' Outpost
  • eShopHere.com
  • Windsor Barrel Works

Your Business Can Lead the Way

Many Arkansas businesses are already taking steps to prevent litter, recycle and close the loop, and beautify their grounds and storefronts. Want to know more about their success and how they've done it? Keep Arkansas Beautiful can tell you more about other businesses' successes and how they've done it.

The enforcement of Arkansas's litter laws is a key component in changing behavior and curbing the litter habit. A number of Game and Fish Commission and Forestry Commission officers have taken extraordinary leadership in diligently enforcing Arkansas's litter laws.

The Keep Arkansas Beautiful Commission is a division of
the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.

The Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism is in compliance with
the Freedom of Information, Ar Code Ann., § 25-19-101 et seq.

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