Roadside Litter Research Articles

Support Vector Regression Models of Stormwater Quality for a Mixed Urban Land Use

The present study is an attempt to model the stormwater quality of a stream located in Pune, India. The city is split up into twenty-three basins (named A to W) by the Pune Municipal Corporation. The selected stream lies in the haphazardly expanded peri-urban G basin. The G basin has constructed stormwater drains which open up in this selected open stream. The runoff over the regions picks up the non-point source pollutants which are also added to the selected stream. The study becomes more complex as the stream is misused to dump trash materials, garbage and roadside litter, which adds to the stormwater pollution. Experimental investigations include eleven distinct locations on a naturally occurring stream in the G basin. Stormwater samples were collected for twenty-two storm events, for the monsoon season over four years from 2018–2021, during and after rainfall. The physicochemical characteristics were analyzed for twelve water quality parameters, including pH, Conductivity, Turbidity, Total solids (TS), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Phosphate, Ammonia and Nitrate. The Water Quality Index (WQI) ranged from 46.9 to 153.9 and from 41.20 to 87.70 for samples collected during and immediately after the rainfall, respectively. Principal Component Analysis was used to extract the most significant stormwater quality parameters. To understand the non-linear complex relationship of rainfall characteristics with significant stormwater pollutant parameters, a Support Vector Regression (SVR) model with Radial Basis Kernel Function (RBF) was developed. The Support Vector Machine is a powerful supervised algorithm that works best on smaller datasets but on complex ones with the help of kernel tricks. The accuracy of the model was evaluated based on normalized root-mean-square error (NRMSE), coefficient of determination (R2) and the ratio of performance to the interquartile range (RPIQ). The SVR model depicted the best performance for parameter TS with NRMSE (0.17), R2 (0.82) and RPIQ (2.91). The unit increase or decrease in the coefficients of rainfall characteristics displays the weighted deviation in the values of pollutant parameters. Non-linear Support Vector Regression models confirmed that both antecedent dry days and rainfall are correlated with significant stormwater quality parameters. The conclusions drawn can provide effective information to decision-makers to employ an appropriate treatment train approach of varied source control measures (SCM) to be proposed to treat and mitigate runoff in an open stream. This holistic approach serves the stakeholder’s objectives to manage stormwater efficiently. The research can be further extended by selecting a multi-criteria decision-making tool to adopt the best SCM and its multiple potential combinations.

Toasting Friendships, Laying Down Memories in Wexford, Ireland

Toasting Friendships, Laying Down Memories in Wexford, Ireland J. R. Patterson (bio) Click for larger view View full resolution IN 1972 THE Irish poet Seamus Heaney drew a line under Northern Ireland, moved south to the Republic, and settled in a cottage in County Wicklow. From his experiences in those first years living on the southeast coast came his book Field Work, an elegiac rumination on loss, friendship, reunion, and country life. During an extended stay with friends in the south-coast Irish town of Wexford, the first poem of that collection, "Oysters," continuously rapped on the doorway of my mind: "And there we were, toasting friendship, / Laying down a perfect memory / In the cool of thatch and crockery." Inclined though I was to stay home, sharing in the local seafood, my friends pushed me outside and onto a bicycle. And so, to North Slob to swim with harbor seals on the strand at Curracloe; to Forth Mountain, our fingers magenta-hued and probing the brambles for just one last blackberry; to a hurling match, the game a maker of champions and heartbreak; to restaurants and opera halls, pubs and castles and fields; always on my lips the sparkling tang of fun and freedom and laughter. The landscape of County Wexford is rolling and bookish. The coast is a recurring setting/nonsetting for the art-writing of John Banville, including his Man Booker–winning The Sea. Colm Tóibín, from nearby Enniscorthy, set his The Heather Blazing and The Blackwater Lightship in the inland countryside. Less prestigious but more notable, the original Guinness Book of Records was conceived here, after an argument about the speeds of different game birds couldn't be settled. Banville, speaking of his childhood in Wexford, considered the town "no more than a staging post on my way elsewhere." Like Chekhov's Irina in Three Sisters, he was "immured in the provinces and yearning for the magic of Moscow." Undoubtedly, the provincial is cast in stone here, and cosmopolitan Dublin feels worlds away. Tractors growl through the streets. Pastures grazed by bony Holsteins retain their toehold on the edge of town. Narrow sidewalks and private roads are a problem. And roadside litter implies some delinquent reaction against Wexford's nickname, "the Model County." But there is information in everything, and litter at least tells a little about what people do while out for a stroll. Wexicans seemed to take their air while putting in eye drops, eating pint pots of yogurt, and drinking cans of Dutch Gold lager. In the large, glass-walled library, I found books stuck with beer coasters and unsent letters. More often, when I needed a book, I strolled down to Reader's Paradise or Red Books, where the shelves heaved and the air was tinged with the old-paper scent of vanilla and hay past its due date. Red's proprietor, Wally, had a recommendation for any mood and a good memory for his quarter million books; I came away with Kundera, Sartre, Munro, Rushdie, and Anaïs Nin. Each morning, I woke up glowing. I knew I could count on the certitude of my morning coffee, on the rising pink sky, the warmth around me . . . and all the other necessities of deep leisure; I was immured in a "glut of privilege" and longed for nowhere else. Through it all, "Oysters" whispered in my ear. What to Read along the River Slaney John Banville The Sea Picador Álanna Hammel Cruel & Vicious Red Books Press Nicolas Furlong Young Farmer Seeks Wife Mercier Press Billy Roche The Wexford Trilogy Nick Hern Books Wexford Women Writing Undercover Ed. Deirdre McGarry-Barker Red Books Press [End Page 80] J. R. Patterson J. R. Patterson was born on a cattle and grain farm in rural Manitoba, Canada. He has worked as a farm laborer, factory worker, and writer. He has written for a variety of international publications, including National Geographic, Literary Review of Canada , and LARB. Copyright © 2023 World Literature Today and the Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma

Autonomous detection and sorting of litter using deep learning and soft robotic grippers.

Road infrastructure is one of the most vital assets of any country. Keeping the road infrastructure clean and unpolluted is important for ensuring road safety and reducing environmental risk. However, roadside litter picking is an extremely laborious, expensive, monotonous and hazardous task. Automating the process would save taxpayers money and reduce the risk for road users and the maintenance crew. This work presents LitterBot, an autonomous robotic system capable of detecting, localizing and classifying common roadside litter. We use a learning-based object detection and segmentation algorithm trained on the TACO dataset for identifying and classifying garbage. We develop a robust modular manipulation framework by using soft robotic grippers and a real-time visual-servoing strategy. This enables the manipulator to pick up objects of variable sizes and shapes even in dynamic environments. The robot achieves greater than 80% classified picking and binning success rates for all experiments; which was validated on a wide variety of test litter objects in static single and cluttered configurations and with dynamically moving test objects. Our results showcase how a deep model trained on an online dataset can be deployed in real-world applications with high accuracy by the appropriate design of a control framework around it.

Study of Litter on Delaware Roadways

Roadside litter has been a persistent issue in Delaware. In addition to all the efforts from volunteer programs, the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) spends nearly $2 million annually for removing and disposing of roadside litter and illegal dumping. The increase in the number of people, vehicles, and products has led to an increase in certain types of litter on the roads. Additionally, the emergence of the global pandemic due to COVID-19 has drastically aggravated the problem, particularly, due to the enormous increase in the demand and use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and plastic products used for packaging and take-out foods. The existing publications that address the issue of roadside litter in Delaware are few in number and scattered. The goal of this study is to present concise yet comprehensive information about the extent of these issues and the current litter abatement efforts in Delaware and to introduce suggestions for mitigating this problem. For this purpose, a collection of relevant documents, including academic and non-academic literature, have been reviewed and summarized. The issue of roadside litter is a complex problem with numerous environmental, social, and economic impacts. Further, litter and other types of debris on the roads can pose serious safety hazards for road users. Although multiple positive steps have been taken recently to tackle this issue in Delaware, more comprehensive and effective strategies need to be established for boosting the current measures. Some major areas for improvement include, but are not limited to, enhancing education and public awareness programs, encouraging volunteer campaigns, establishing more effective law enforcement methods, and improving the disposal facilities.

Litter origins, accumulation rates, and hierarchical composition on urban roadsides of the Inland Empire, California

Urban areas are the primary source of human-made litter globally, and roadsides are a primary accumulation location. This study aimed to investigate how litter arrives at roadsides and determine the accumulation rate and composition of roadside litter. We monitored select roadsides in the Inland Empire, California, for litter abundance (count) and composition (material, item, and brand type). Receipt litter with sale time and location information was used to investigate whether wind, runoff, or human travel were dominant transport agents. Only 9% of the receipts could have experienced runoff, and wind direction was not correlated with receipt transport direction. However, human travel and receipt transport distances were similar in magnitude and distribution, suggesting that the displacement of litter from the place of purchase was predominantly affected by human travel. The median distance receipts traveled from the sale location to the litter observation location was 1.6 km, suggesting that most sources were nearby to where the litter was found. Litter accumulation rates were surprisingly stable (mean 40 349 (33 255–47 865) # km−1 yr−1 or 1170 (917–1447) kg km−1 yr−1) despite repeated cleanups and the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. A new approach was employed to hierarchically bootstrap litter composition proportions and estimate uncertainties. The most abundant materials were plastic and paper. Food-related items and tobacco products were the most common item types. The identified branded objects were from the primary manufacturers (Philip Morris (4, 2%–7%), Mars Incorporated (2, 1%–3%), RJ Reynolds (2, 1%–3%), and Jack in The Box (1, 1%–3%)), but unbranded objects were prevalent. Therefore, identifiable persistent labeling on all products would benefit future litter-related corporate social responsibility efforts. High-resolution monitoring on roadsides can inform urban litter prevention strategies by elucidating litter source, transport, and accumulation dynamics.

First landscape-scale survey of the background level of COVID-19 face mask litter: Exploring the potential for citizen science data collection during a ‘pollution pilgrimage’ of walking a 250-km roadside transect

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated a global problem through the cavalier or deliberate disposal of personal protective equipment (PPE) by the general public. This has raised concerns that the billions of discarded face masks pose a threat to wildlife through entanglement or, when broken down, through ingestion of derived microplastics. Previous quantitative surveys of the magnitude of such litter have focused on areas where people congregate, such as tourist beaches and large cities. The present survey is the first to provide data on the background level of face mask litter through a landscape of variable land-use. A 250-km transect along an historic road between Montreal and Quebec City (Canada) was surveyed during a walking pilgrimage, revealing an overall density of 0.0001 ± 0.00006 face masks m−2. Average densities were significantly higher in areas of human occupation compared to agricultural and forested rural land. However, there was no significant correlation between population size of communities and the number of face masks encountered, nor in litter extent and proximity to municipalities. This may be due to the confounding influence of inter-community differences in scheduled street cleaning operations. Seventy-six percent of face masks were of the disposable surgical variety, with the remaining 24% being reusable cloth masks. This, and the fact that only 10% of the former and none of the latter exhibited broken ear straps, insinuates that the litter could be due to accidental loss rather than inappropriate discarding by individuals en route. Scaling-up these findings in relation to the global road network generates a preliminary background estimate for roadside litter of >17 million face masks. The present study endorses the call made by others to engage citizen scientists in surveying PPE litter, in particular, the thousands who each year walk the medieval pilgrimage routes through the landscape of Europe.

The Issues of Roadside Litter: A Review Paper

The Issues of Roadside Litter: A Review Paper

Ovariohysterectomy: A Salvage Method in Welfare of Stray Cattle: A Clinical Case Report of Five Animals

With the hike of the human population in metro cities, problems of stray orphan cattle have also increased simultaneously. Such animals when feeding on roadside litter and plastic garbage, don’t gain optimum nutrition and because of that suffer from many diseases. In such animals when a reproductive problem arises, it remains untreated for a longer duration and as time elapsed certain reproductive conditions such as cervicovaginal prolapse could not be treated by ordinary methods due to fibrosis (Tyagi and Singh, 2002). Present communication documents successful management of long-standing cases of reproductive organ’s prolapse via per vaginum ovariohysterectomy in stray cattle.

Socio-Economic Impact Assessment of Proposed Road Project Kimerdingay-atekna-Meketwuha Road Project, Amhara Region, Ethiopia

The Kimerdingay-Atekna-Meketwuha proposed road project is administratively located in Amhara National Regional State, South Gondar Administrative Zone between Guna Bigimeder and Meketwuha woredas .The overall positive socioeconomic impacts of the proposed road project include availability of all-weather reliable roads, reduced transportation costs, increased access to market places for local produces, access to new employment centers, better access to social service centers like health institutions, and strengthening of local economy are felt during the operation phases of the project road. However, the direct and adverse impacts are increased traffic accidents, pollution due to increased vehicle exhaust gases and transportation of hazardous material in transit, noise and road side litter, displacement of people, damages to properties and crops, reduction of size of farmland, interruption of social services like water supply, electricity and telecommunication services, expansion of HIV/AIDS and other STDs, drug abuse, commercial sex work, child labor, theft, exhaustion of natural resources, price escalation at local level etc.Mixed methods of data collection both primary and secondary data source were used. Field observation, photo, Goagle earth, transect walk , published and unpublished woredas sectoral report, discussion with the respective project woredas cabinet ,and formal and informal public discussion along the project kebles.The road project directly connect Guna Bigmider with Meketwuha woredas and connect Kimirdngay_Wukiro_Amijaya_Atikna_Giday_Aiyada_Aija_Zikilmoka_Aidiya_Aighisa kebles. The total project population along the project kebles are male= 42,779 female=40,039Along the proposed road project kebles there are three primary, twenty three primary full cycle, one secondary and one secondary and preparatory schools. And also there are ten heath post, four health center and nine animal health post. Keywords: proposed road, project, socioeconomic impact, adverse, positive, mitigation measure DOI : 10.7176/CER/11-3-04 Publication date : April 30 th 2019

Educational Applications of Small-Mammal Skeletal Remains Found in Discarded Bottles

Abstract Environmental literacy is becoming an increasingly important part of national and state curriculum standards. Scientists can assist teachers by providing citizen-science research opportunities and other educational outreach programs for local students. Middle school students from Summit Charter School in Cashiers, Jackson County, NC, in conjunction with a roadside litter cleanup community-service project, assisted researchers from the Highlands Biological Station who were examining discarded bottles as a source of smallmammal mortality. Students sorted and weighed recyclable materials and inspected open bottles for small-mammal remains. They collected approximately 141 kg of trash along 2 roads near their school, 59.4% of which was recyclable material consisting primarily of glass and plastic bottles. Students removed 8 specimens from 5 bottles, including 6 Blarina brevicauda (Northern Short-tailed Shrew), 1 Sorex cinereus (Masked Shrew), and 1 S. fumeus (Smoky Shrew). Students learned to disting...

Gauging the Material Magnitude, Public Perception, and Governance of Roadside Litter in a Rural Mexican Municipio

Roadside litter is an ever-present human-environmental issue in Mexico, yet material estimates do not exist for rural places. This study estimates roadside litter, by abundance, weight, and class, and examines public perceptions of litter in the rural municipio of Coxcatlan, Puebla, Mexico. During fieldwork, ten study sites were selected, cleaned, and sampled periodically to estimate the generation rate of garbage. A household survey was conducted using participatory risk mapping in 433 households across the study area to gauge concern over litter. Litter and dumping are substantial concerns for households while generation rates along Coxcatlan’s roadsides are lower than most estimates for U.S. roadsides, highlighting the importance of perception of an environmental issue amid its empirically-derived reality. Results are contextualized within the broader framework of current and potential governance and management in the study area.

Some Things Are Just Made to Be Littered

Previous research has identified a number of situational factors that can contribute to littering in various settings. One key factor that has been largely overlooked is the products that people litter. A descriptive survey of roadside litter was conducted with the goals of identifying the most-littered products and their industry sources. A sample of litter was collected from roads in rural, suburban, and urban areas in Pennsylvania. Of 2,611 littered objects, most (84.6%) litter was waste from one-use smoking, beverage, food, and packaging products. The findings support the view that some products are differentially associated with littering behavior and are thus highly “litterable,” leading to recommendations for reducing litter by targeting those products for change.

Roadside Alligators and the UMTRI Tire Debris Survey

Roadside alligators (also known as tire debris) are those unsightly shreds or fragments of rubber occasionally found on the nation's highways. The typical road user misunderstands the nature, extent, and contributing factors precipitating their formation. During the summer of 2007, the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute conducted a national tire debris survey that involved the collection of 85,000 pounds of rubber and that provided 300 casings and 1,196 debris items for subsequent failure analysis. This paper discusses tire debris within the context of roadside litter, presents the tire debris survey methodology, and discusses the survey results. Overall, where the original equipment tread or retread status could be determined, original equipment accounted for 60%, and retreads accounted for 40% of the tire casings tested. For tire fragments, the status was 21% (original equipment) and 79% (retread). There was also a strong similarity for these same tire items in the ranking of probable causes of damage or failure. Road hazard or maintenance and operational factors were two of the top three probable causes of damage or failure. This result suggests that the majority of tire debris items found on the nation's highways is not a result of manufacturing or process deficiencies. However, two primary challenges remain: first, increasing public awareness about the origins, characteristics, and impacts of tire debris and, second, ensuring adherence to the highest standards in commercial driver truck operations and associated tire maintenance. Resolving these challenges can significantly reduce roadside tire debris and correct the understanding of highway users about the origins of the roadside alligator.

Philosophical justifications for the extirpation of non-indigenous species: the case of the grasshopper Schistocerca nitens (Orthoptera) on the Island of Nihoa, Hawaii

The case of Schistocerca nitens’ establishment on the island of Nihoa presents a challenging case for conservation biologists with respect to the justification for human efforts to extirpate the insect. In justifying our actions we seek reasons that are ecologically plausible (i.e., consistent with empirical and theoretical understandings of science), ethically compelling (i.e., based on sound reasoning from well-established moral principles), and logically consistent (i.e., avoiding fallacies and contradictions). Our analysis shows that the conventional arguments for conservation programs do not meet these criteria in the case of S. nitens. The following reasons fail on the basis of ecological, ethical, or logical standards: the protection of biodiversity, avoidance of ecological harm, biological qualities of the invasive species (herbivory, fecundity, mobility, recency, and functional integration), anthropogenic basis of arrival, harmfulness or unnaturalness of human agency, the interference with ecological processes, or disturbance of equilibria. Rather, we suggest that an aesthetic argument provides an ecologically, ethically, and logically sound basis for conservation biologists to justify taking action against the grasshopper. The aesthetic concept of a “thick sense” of beauty gives rise to a compelling moral case for extirpation based on virtue ethics in a manner similar to the argument against tolerating roadside litter.

The use of multivariate statistical techniques to establish beach debris pollution sources

ABSTRACT Beach litter found along the Bristol Channel and the coastline of mid-Wales, UK, together with litter obtained from Turkey, Malta, Spain, Tunisia and U.S.A. tourist beaches, and litter gathered from rural roads in Gloucestershire, England, UK, was analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA). PCA distinguished between riverine, sewage-related debris and shipping/fishing source items, but sourcing beach user litter was more problematic. This was attributed to a difference in litter transport mechanisms. PCA for the Bristol Channel distinguished between riverine and marine sources (inner vs. outer channel) and also a sewage sourced group. PCA indicated a land-based source for marine debris found on Mediterranean and USA beaches together with roadside litter from England. Three ‘litter markers’ introduced into the analyses, were comprised of different source groupings: ‘vessels’ (both fishing and other sea going vessels), ‘beach users’, and sewage-related debris (SRD). The former stood out from th...

The Impact of the Suffolk County, New York, Plastics Ban on Beach and Roadside Litter

The Impact of the Suffolk County, New York, Plastics Ban on Beach and Roadside Litter

Lead Residues in Eastern Tent Caterpillars ( Malacosoma americanum ) and Their Host Plant ( Prunus serotina ) Close to a Major Highway

Eastern tent caterpillars, Malacosoma americanum (F.) (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae), and leaves of their host plant, black cherry, Prunus serotina Ehrh., were collected in May, 1978, at various distances from the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, Prince George's Co., MD, and were analyzed for lead by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Caterpillars collected within 10 m of the parkway contained 7.1 to 7.4 ppM lead (dry weight). Caterpillars collected at greater distances from the parkway and from a control area had lead concentrations ca. half as high (2.6 to 5.3 ppM). Lead concentrations in caterpillars averaged 76% as high as those in leaves and were much lower than concentrations that have been reported in some roadside soil and litter invertebrates.

Oregon Marijuana Decriminalization the Moral Question

Not so long ago, while still Oregon's Governor, Tom McCall spent time travelling across the United States telling folks the “Oregon Story.” Featured in his many messages was Oregon's enlightened approach to the problem of roadside litter, the now-famous “Oregon bottle bill.” Following close on his heels, Lane County prosecutor, district attorney J. Pat Horton, has broadcast another bit of modern Oregana, the equally famous “Oregon marijuana bill.” Although some natives have expressed misgivings about any national advertisement of Oregon virtue, most have welcomed these contributions. And whatever position one takes on these matters, no Oregonian will deny that Oregon's place in America is made unique by its bottle and marijuana laws. Where, but in Oregon, is it possible to threaten a supermarket store manager with a $1,000 fine and a year in jail if he dares sell even one bottle of beer without that bottle having a refund value of at least two cents but, at the same time, to threaten a hippie hitchhiker with only a $100 fine if he carries his “pot” in small amounts. In this article I sketch the origin of both of these laws in past Oregon legislatures and then I note the present impact that each law has had in the state. In a final section, I present the moral questions linking the future of the Oregon bottle and marijuana laws.

Environmental Effects of Highways

The polluting effects of highways on the environment are generally discussed. Erosion of soil exposed during construction results in substantial sedimentation damage downstream from the construction area. Sediment loads and damages are described for localized conditions in Maryland and Virginia. Provisions for controlling the pollution effects of highway construction are being required by Federal and local governments. The use of chemicals in highway maintenance and spillage in the transportation of chemicals also have damaging effects on the environment. A center for reporting of highway accidents involving spillage of hazardous commodities should be established. Roadside litter requires stronger action than presently enforced penalties.