Space sponsorships work against littering

Despite a well-functioning waste management and a successful recycling system, a lot of waste is carelessly thrown away or left lying around in public spaces in Switzerland, too. A study conducted by the IGSU and the ETH Zurich on behalf of the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) now shows: space sponsorships effectively contribute to reducing and preventing littering. By taking responsibility for the cleanliness of a certain public or semi-public space and cleaning it up regularly, these places are demonstrably cleaner, according to the study.

Mix of proven and new measures
"In the fight against littering, we rely on proven measures on the one hand, but are also always looking for new ways," explains Nora Steimer, IGSU Managing Director. "Following the encouraging results of the study, we have now also included space sponsorships in our catalog of measures."

Now others should be able to benefit from the findings of the analyses carried out and expert interviews with existing sponsorship projects: In order to promote the effective method, the IGSU has now written a guide that supports municipalities, schools, associations and companies with important tips when implementing a space sponsorship project.

Cheap and effective
Space sponsorships are not only an extremely cost-effective measure against littering, they also have an effect: through regular maintenance, the places are tidy and clean, which increases the inhibition threshold to leave litter lying around. The positive effect of space sponsorships is additionally strengthened by the erection of information boards or the dissemination of further information on space sponsorship, as the field experiment within the framework of the IGSU study proves. Notices ensure that passers-by are made aware of the project and sensitized to the correct handling of waste and thus take more care of the area in question.

Successful space sponsorship projects
Many successful space sponsorship projects already exist in Switzerland and abroad. In collaboration with the Zürcher Oberland Waste Disposal Association (KEZO), for example, the town of Illnau-Effretikon has been running a successful space sponsorship project since 2006. It has been able to motivate numerous private individuals, associations, schools and companies from trade and retail to act as sponsors for a section of space.
In Basel-Stadt, the Office for Environment and Energy (AUE) enables committed school classes to become a so-called "Green Team". A "Green Team" does something for the environment and receives something in return from the AUE. For example, for cleaning the school grounds every week, a team receives a new basketball hoop on the playground.

The study and guidance on space sponsorship projects can be found at:
www.igsu.ch/de/aktuelles/leitfaden-raumpatenschaften

Source: IGSU