Lesson #4

Littering is against the law. If a police officer witnesses you littering, you can be arrested for littering. You can be fined.
You can be placed in jail.

When you are walking or cycling, always use the public trash receptacles. You will find public receptacles at parks, at the entrances to public buildings, downtown by the benches, at the lakes, etc. If you can’t find a trash receptacle, take your trash home to throw it away. Never throw your trash on the ground.

When driving in your vehicle, never throw trash from your car window. If a motorist or passenger in a vehicle litters from a car, they can be arrested for littering. Littering is a Class 3 Misdemeanor punishable by up to three months in prison, $500 fine, or both.

STOP ROAD SIDE LITTER! If you see someone throw a piece of trash out of a car window or if you see a piece of trash blow out from the back of a truck, write down the important information and call the litter hotline.

REPORT LITTER - CALL THE LITTER HOTLINE
1-877 NO LITTR
(1-877-665-4887)

When reporting litter, include the following:

License Plate Number
Type & Color of Car
Date & Time of Littering
Location & Type of Litter

What happens after you call the LITTER HOTLINE?

The report is sent to the Sheriff, of the County, where the littering
took place.
The Sheriff then checks the County Records to determine the owner
of the vehicle.
If the type and color of the vehicle match the description in the report,
a letter is written to the owner.
The letter contains the information submitted to the Litter Hotline. The Sheriff provides information regarding the littering laws, as well as, fines and punishment for violation of the law. The Sheriff encourages the owner of the vehicle to put a litter bag in their vehicle and instruct all drivers of that vehicle not to litter.

Hopefully, receiving and reading the letter from the County Sheriff, will help them understand that it is against the law to litter and they should stop littering immediately!

STOP LITTER
You can help reduce litter by putting a litterbag in your car.

Empty the litterbag when it gets full and put it back in your vehicle to use again!

Free Litterbags are available at the Keep Fremont Beautiful Office in downtown Fremont - 529 N Main, Suite #4

Dangerous litter

Most litter is harmless but you should always take precautions when cleaning up litter. Litter is ugly and it doesn’t belong in your yard, in the playground, at your school, up against the fence, in the gutter, at the baseball field – you name it… litter doesn’t belong there!

BE A GOOD CITIZEN AND CLEAN UP LITTER – BUT BE AWARE!
SOME LITTER CAN BE DANGEROUS.

The drug, Methamphetamine (Meth), can be made using legal over-the-counter products such as the ones listed below. If you find these types of materials or similar items, do not touch, smell, or examine them! Meth dumps may contain or be surrounded by potentially hazardous chemicals. If you suspect you have found materials used to make meth, leave it alone and contact the Police Department at 402-727-COPS.

First On Scene & You Suspect A Lab:

DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING
Secure the scene & stay up wind
Call the police

Hazards:

Flash Fire
Explosions
Toxic Gases
Chemical Contamination

If you are cleaning up litter and see anything that looks dangerous, please tell your parents.
Never open an abandoned cooler or touch any suspicious materials.
Call the Police and have them check it out. Better to be safe than sorry!

tips for a safe litter clean up

Keep Fremont Beautiful encourages everyone to pick up litter to keep our community clean and beautiful! KFB also encourages everyone to be careful when cleaning up litter.

Reuse a plastic grocery bag (or two) to collect litter.
Wear a plastic glove to protect your hand.
Only pick up litter in your yard or in the immediate neighborhood. If you pick up litter some place other than your yard, make sure your Mom or Dad go with you!
If you find broken glass or something sharp, don’t pick it up. Ask an adult to help clean up that litter.
Remember that if you see any litter that looks like Meth Lab Litter, DON’T TOUCH! Report the litter to the Police – call 402-727-COPS

If we all work together and do our part, we can make Fremont a cleaner, healthier and more beautiful place in which to live!

CLEAN UP LITTER
When litter is allowed to stay in place, it just encourages others to add to the pile.

If litter is picked up, people will appreciate the clean and tidy appearance and will not litter there.

You can help keep Fremont litter-free by picking up litter in your yard everyday.

You can set a good example for others by using the trash cans at public event. Never litter at the Football Stadium or in the park.

Household Hazardous Waste

Does Your House Hold Hazardous Waste?

If you walk around your garage, kitchen, bathroom or workshop you will probably find hazardous materials in products you and your family use every day.  Hazardous materials that can no longer be used become household hazardous waste (HHW).

HHW includes hazardous materials such as household cleaners, paints, paint thinners, motor oils, gasoline, and pesticides.  HHW should not be put in the regular trash.  HHW may pose a threat to human health or the environment if it is not disposed of properly. HHW poses a threat because it exhibits one of more of the following characteristics.
(Source – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)

TOXIC:
Poisonous materials like pesticides and expired medicines can harm various organs when swallowed, inhaled or absorbed through the skin.

CORROSIVE:
Materials like battery acid and bleach can dissolve other materials, including metals.  Corrosive materials can cause severe burns to skin, eyes and other tissues.

IGNITABLE:
Flammable materials like gasoline or paint thinner catch fire very easily, sometimes with just a little extra heat or a small spark.  Ignited materials can cause severe burns.

REACTIVE:
Unstable materials can explode or give off gasses when mixed with water or other materials.  (For instances, a dangerous gas is emitted when bleach is mixed with ammonia)

REDUCE HHW by buying and using safer household products. Buy only what you need.

HHW Collection Event

Each year Keep Fremont Beautiful hosts a HHW Collection Event at Christensen Field. Citizens from Fremont, Dodge County and the surrounding area are encouraged to bring their household hazardous wastes to the collection.

KFB is awarded a yearly grant through the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy. The grant pays for the safe collection and disposal of the HHW.

KFB contracts with a licensed Environmental Service Company to assure the HHW is packaged, handled, transported and disposed of properly.

ACCEPTABLE WASTE MATERIALS:

Oil-Based Paints
Paint Related Materials
(stains, varnishes, etc.)
Poisons
Fertilizers
Pesticides
Insecticides & Other
Lawn Materials
Herbicides
CFL's & Fluorescent Tubes
Lead Acid Batteries
Outdated or Unwanted Pharmaceuticals

UNACCEPTABLE WASTE MATERIALS:

NO Latex-Based Paints
NO Sharps or Needles
NO PCB's
NO Radioactive Wastes
NO Tires
NO Appliances
NO Household Trash
NO Motor Oil
(used motor oil may be recycled at the Fremont Transfer Station)

HOUSEHOLD
HAZARDOUS WASTE
Typically about 1% of all waste generated the average American household is hazardous.

The average household generates about 30 pounds of household hazardous waste per year.

This amounts to 1,600,000 TONS of HHW in the U.S. each year!

If CORROSIVE materials are placed in the landfill, those materials could dissolve the liner and allow contaminants to get into the groundwater.

If TOXIC, IGNITABLE or REACTIVE materials are placed in the landfill, those materials could mix with the rainwater and snow that runs through the landfill.

REMEMBER: New landfills are constructed with a LEACHATE collection system to gather these potentially hazardous liquids to keep them from making their way to be groundwater.

To help protect the groundwater from contamination, HHW should not be placed in the regular trash.

Keep Fremont Beautiful in cooperation with the City of Fremont, Dodge County and the NDEE conduct a once a year HHW Collection Event. Bring your HHW to the collection for proper disposal.

PAINT DISPOSAL
If you have a large quantity of good usable paint, please donate the paint to the Habitat Store!

Improper paint disposal may contaminate ground and surface water supplies.

Do NOT pour liquid paint down the drain, on the ground or put it in the trash.

DRY PAINT IS NOT CONSIDERED HAZARDOUS!

If your paint is dry, you may place it in the regular trash.

TIPS FOR DRYING PAINT:

Crack open the lid & allow any moisture to evaporate & excess paint to harden. The hardened material can be discarded with your regular trash. Remove lids so refuse haulers can see the paint is hardened.

Use up excess by painting on newspaper, cardboard, wood or carpet. When material is dry, place it in the trash.

Pour clay kitty litter into the paint can. Stir the paint & kitty litter. Let the mixture dry, remove lids & place the can in the trash.

Pour 1" layers of paint into a plastic-lined box. Then add 1" of clay kitty litter & stir the mixture. Repeat as necessary. Place dry material in the trash.

Do beautiful things

Keeping your community beautiful and litter-free is a big job, but if everyone does their part, the task is a lot easier! Picking up Litter is truly important but there is more you can do to make your community beautiful. Here are a few ideas: