Litterbugs take note: Your dirty work is reaching prodigious proportions

I-5, other highways littered with far more trash than cleanup crews can handle

The litterbugs among us have been working overtime lately — while road cleanup crews are on a midwinter break.

Have you driven along Interstate 5 recently?

On a round-trip drive to Portland about a week ago, I was appalled at the amount of trash scattered in the median and along both sides of the freeway. The stretch of median just north of the bridge over the East Fork of the Lewis River was particularly trash-strewn, with layer cakes of discarded cardboard and paper covering small stretches of dirt and turf.

About half of the 38 million pounds of trash, junk and other debris dumped on Washington highways, roads and parks annually is discarded intentionally, as opposed to escaping accidentally or from unsecured loads, said Amber Smith, state litter prevention coordinator for the state Department of Ecology.

Debris that sheds from unsecured loads accounts for about 30% to 40 % of the waste.

Ecology and the state Department of Transportation spend about $9 million annually on litter pickup crews and other cleanup efforts. Ecology also occasionally pays for litter enforcement patrols. However, there’s only enough money to clean up about 20% of the litter, Smith said.

A 2022 state study found that the amount of litter found along highways and streets amounts to about 5 pounds per Washington resident annually, or 1,600 pounds per mile of road. The estimated 7 billion pieces of waste equals 900 pieces per resident per year.

Glass beer bottles, plastic food packaging, construction and demolition debris, tire shreds and auto parts are major contributors to the litter stream, depending on the location.

The 2022 study found that interstate highways in urban areas of the state were the most littered, with more than 24,000 pieces of litter per mile.

The national average is 5,714 pieces of litter per mile, according to a 2020 nationwide study. Washington’s average is worse — 8,112 pieces of litter per mile, according to the state 2022 study.

Washington Department of Ecology 2022 litter study

Discarded cigarette butts account for the highest number of pieces of litter in this state, and theh make up a surprising amount of the pounds of roadway debris. Smokers should have second thoughts about tossing a butt out the window. They are considered dangerous litter and can lead to $1,025 fines.

Smith said extra litter accumulates at this time of year because cleanup crews are off for two months each winter. And there are some places along freeways that are unsafe for crews to work, she added.

What’s lamentable here is that this problem is largely preventable. Ecology’s research shows that 75% of Washingtonians don't litter. This means that one in four of us is a litterbug. Are you kidding me? So many among us are that slobberish?

Litterbugs risk $231 for throwing litter on a highway, and the fines escalate up to $5,000 for more than a cubic yard of litter.

And there’s no reason for allowing waste to escape from unsecured loads. Drivers who do so are putting themselves at more risk than they likely realize.

Failing to secure a load is a $231 ticket. The law requires motorists to cover and secure their loads with tarps, netting, or other tie-downs to prevent cargo from breaking free. Items falling out of trucks and off of cars cause serious accidents every year in Washington, according to Ecology.

If debris that falls out causes property damage or injures someone, the fine can hit $5,000 and lead to gross misdemeanor charges and a year in jail.

The Washington State Patrol documented 371 littering violations in 2024 — 136 for debris escape, 129 throwing debris on the highway and 106 for throwing lighted material (mostly cigarette butts) on the highway.

Troopers issued 125 tickets last year for an enforcement rate of 34%. It issued 235 verbal warnings and four written warnings, according to WSP spokesman Sgt. Jermaine Walker.

He said the emphasis in litter enforcement is on education. However, it’s a trooper’s discretion when to issue a citation or a warning and depends on the circumstances. A pickup driver who loses a mattress, for example, may not get a ticket if he/she makes a good-faith effort to retrieve it, Walker said.

“Otherwise the next time they’ll just leave it there.”

On the other hand, someone carelessly discarding a cigarette in the brush is endangering the public. In the years he was on patrol he would cite such violators every time, said Walker, an 18-year WSP vet who worked road patrol 15 years.

Any traffic or other violation that threatens public safety is the agency’s top priority, but otherwise littering gets as much attention as any other violation, Walker said.

He stressed that troopers cannot take action against litterbugs unless they witness offenses first-hand. And troopers will not undertake a dangerous pursuit to apprehend littering offenders., he said.

But this is a matter over which citizens should police themselves.

Our corner of the state is a gateway to visitors from Oregon and other points. We should at least welcome them with clean highways. This is, after all, the Evergreen State, not the garbage state.