Reasons for littering: Social constructions from lower income communities in South Africa
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Date
2022
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Academy of Science of South Africa
Abstract
Littering has been defined as the careless and improper disposal of small amounts of waste that results in
unwanted and unnatural elements remaining in the environment. People tend to blame external factors for
their own littering. A person seldom refers to themselves as being the litterer but will rather place the blame
on insufficient infrastructure, such as lack of bins, or on other persons. When referring to other people,
they identify problematic behaviour and personal traits such as ignorance, naivety, need for convenience,
laziness and inattentiveness as causes of littering. This study addressed the gap in the literature on the
socially constructed perceptions people hold about reasons for littering in the South African context, as
subjectively perceived reasons for littering may correspond with actual causes and could point towards
options for tackling the littering problem. Five lower socio-economic areas in South Africa – particularly
those that experience major infrastructural challenges – were included in the study. Qualitative semistructured interviews were held with 322 residents from the respective areas.
Description
Keywords
Littering, Inequality, Land pollution, Soil contamination, South Africa
Citation
Schenck, C. et al. (2022). Reasons for littering: Social constructions from lower income communities in South Africa. South African Journal of Science ,118, 12445. https:// doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2022/12445