Anti-littering campaign uses humor, empathy

ROSWELL - Keep Roswell Beautiful has unveiled a new anti-littering program inspired by nature itself. It asks people to consider how trees might react if they saw a person littering near them.

Through the use of signs as well as a billboard pointing north on the 700 block of North Main Street, next to the UFO-themed McDonald's restaurant, these signs exclaim this warning: "Nature is watching you!"

There are 42 trees in several city parks with unique faces that exhibit a range of expressions, including anger and disbelief. There are also some happier tree faces among the numerous displays.

Keep in mind that if you don't look high enough at the trees you might not see the human faces.

And, "we've placed them high enough in the trees so people can't reach them," said Kathy Lay, the city's Volunteer and Outreach coordinator. "We don't want to lose them."

She is also the city's staff liaison to Keep Roswell Beautiful, which is affiliated with the national nonprofit organization Keep America Beautiful.

The local operation, led by a board, focuses on inspiring Roswell residents to keep the city clean and, of course, beautiful. It also encourages volunteer efforts to carry out its events as well as provides residents with tools and resources they might not have who want to take on their own beautification projects.

The New Mexico Tourism Department's Clean and Beautiful Program paid for part of the cost to purchase the signs, billboard and even the faces affixed to the many trees for this latest campaign.

Leaf No Litter is partially based on the watching-eyes effect, said Lay.

"Eye images are thought to trigger feelings of observation, which in turn motivate people to behave more cooperatively to earn a good reputation," according to the National Institutes of Health.

The theory is that people behave more "cooperatively and generously when observed or in the presence of images of eyes."

There are other studies that dispute the watching-eyes effect. But this campaign provides its message in a variety of ways. Research also indicates even more strongly that humor, as well as empathy, are effective tools for educating others.

Lay also said that humor and empathy - both of which are highly evident in this campaign - also go a long way when attempting to deliver messages people might not be seeking.

By using the hashtag #LEAFNOLITTER, people can experience how a tree might explain why littering is harmful to them in a video.

"Any puns are intended," Lay emphasized.

"I don't want to bark at you. Just wanna ask a favor," a tree said in one of the videos. "I'm a good friend to you with all the oxygen and shade I give. You wouldn't go to a friend's house and leaf trash or cigarette butts on the floor wood you?"

This video also displays the tree's words to better ensure that the puns are noticed.

There are two videos - the other is less punny and more straightforward - that can be seen now. Three more videos are expected to be available for viewing in the near future, Lay said.

She stressed that she hopes this anti-littering effort gets as much attention as the campaign the group presented last year. #NoButts4Me highlighted the dangers that cigarette butts cause to area wildlife. It urged smokers not to toss their cigarette butts around the community but to place them in a proper receptacle when they've been snuffed out to avoid harming the environment.

Using three receptacles that also served as ballot boxes, smokers could place their used butts into one side or the other of see-through containers to let the world know how they feel about such ideas as: whether aliens crashed in Roswell; if there is life on other planets; or, whether red or green chiles are the best.

This local educational concept garnered wide attention across the country and was also picked up as far away as Uganda.