Litter Marketing

I was unpleasantly surprised this morning to find another "litter marketing" campaign on my lawn and noted my neighbors also had this litter.

"Litter marketing" is the practice of putting rocks in a plastic bag with marketing literature and throwing it in driveways and yards.

While this may appear trivial, it is a serious problem, since this litter ends up in our drainage system and waterways and lakes and ponds. The city has had to spend thousands of dollars on repairs to the drainage system due to such thoughtless actions and concerned citizens have found hundreds of such bags in our lakes and drainage systems. The litter is also a danger to wildlife and pets.

The City is mandated by our storm water permit to control such violations and Code Enforcement officials will notify the company that this is a serious violation of our Storm Water Permit and issue a citation if possible.

In the meantime, I urge all residents to avoid purchasing from companies who use such practices and advise the City of Lakeland (867-2717) of such violations. Help protect the environment by stopping "litter marketing".

UPDATE: The company was contacted by Lakeland Code Enforcement and agreed to stop "litter marketing" in Lakeland.