I am happy to see people talking about litter, but talk will not solve the problem (“There’s too much trash in Pittsburgh. Time to redd it up,” Apr. 11). Litter does not fall from the sky.
Irresponsible people are the problem, and until they suffer negative consequences, they will not change their behavior. If they are cited for their actions with a fine, they will eventually learn to stop that behavior.
That incentivizes them to not litter, but how do we incentivize people to cite litter-bugs? By giving them a percentage of the fine. The city should create a brigade of litter-citation-officers who are paid by a portion of the fines they issue.
They would spread out over the city to those areas that are filthiest and wait for people to litter, like white blood cells going to the areas of the body under attack by foreign micro-organisms. That is how to change people’s behavior and achieve a clean city as a result.
Nick Kyriazi
North Side
First Published: April 13, 2025, 8:00 a.m.
