Thought Lateral

At what size does stuff become litter?

Litter, junk, waste, refuse, trash, you know, the stuff that is a waste of your cash? That’s right, I’m talking about litter.

What is the size of the litter problem?

I don’t ask that in a “Save the Earth and free the whales”-kind-of-way (though that can be good too) or in way that means lots of furry Christmas presents because someone forgot to get Tabby neutered.

What I mean is, just what size exactly does a refuse item need to be in order to be classified as litter?

Think about it, if the soggy cardboard that was holding the last leg of greasy chicken is tossed to ground in a carefree manner, few* would argue against the item being classified as litter. (*-Well, few people I’ve met anyhow. Obviously you’re mileage may vary)

After all, it is an unwanted item that has been improperly discarded, i.e. not in a bin – so is called litter.

Hang on though! What if we were to shrink the problem? Let’s shrink that cardboard down…

Now if our post-pub-2:00am-haute-cuisine container shrinks to become a cigarette butt is it still litter?

Yes. Wherever you dump that fag stub, if it’s not in a bin it is litter.

Hmm. Maybe we didn’t shrink it enough. OK, let’s shrink it some more…

Now it becomes a spot of dust on your glad-rags as you are on your way out for the evening. Without hesitation you flick the offending dust off your garment and continue on your way. You litterbug! No? You mean it wasn’t litter? Why? It was “too small” you say? Now you see my point.

Smaller than what? What is the comparative size that says “This is litter”, or “This is not litter”?

All I can say is it’s larger than an eyelash, but smaller than a chewing gum. As far as I can tell, that’s about the size of the litter problem.