Published:

07/12/2011 03:02pm

America's Dirtiest States

Kentucky tops a list of America's dirtiest states—those deemed “worst” for public spaces cleanliness and environmental perfromances, including litter control,
in the 2011 American State Litter Scorecard. The Scorecard was published by the advocacy group The American Society for Public Administration and cited in Travel+Leisure's (June 2011) "America's Dirtiest Cities" by Katrina Brown-Hunt.

Besides Kentucky, those with the unwelcome distinction as dirtiest are Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, Alabama, Indiana, Georgia, Illinois, Oklahoma, Montana, North Dakota and Texas. Most of these “worst” states are found in the Deep South, with three in the Intermountain West, two in the Midwest.

Illegal littering breeds pests, diseases and harms wildlife. Each year, over 800 Americans die in debris/litter attributed vehicle accidents, said Steve Spacek, a Washington D.C.-based environmental policy research consultant.

States were ranked for criteria that included public performance indicators, such as litter taxation, recycling rules and legislation, and the conduct of citizens, such as licensed drivers’ knowledge of littering and various road laws, and per-person daily waste disposal.

Spacek said his Scorecard “is just an approximation — a picture — of what is happening in a state … a contributing inquiry into a poorly probed matter,” and wants to challenge all states to improve their litter removal policies. He added litter abatement and prevention are mandated functions for each and every one of the fifty state governments.