Effectiveness and Cost of Litter (Trash) Removal in an Amusement Park as a Function of Incentive Procedures and Age of the Children

Abstract

The problem. An incentive procedure designed to facilitate litter removal in an amusement park was evaluated in this study. Procedure. A constantly changing population of vacationing children of varying ages were offered complimentary tickets for amusement park rides contingent upon bags of litter picked up in the park. The per cent of litter removed, the number of size of sacks filled, the number and reported ages of children participating, the number of tickets issued, the number of tickets redeemed, and the cost of rides for which they were redeemed were all recorded. Findings. A cost and effect analysis showed that this particular incentive program for litter removal was approximately two and one half times as effective at about the same cost as traditional salaried maintenance. Overall, eight to fourteen year olds were the most efficient. Large litter was consistenly picked up more thoroughly than small litter, especially by the children. Conclusions. Incentive procedures for litter removal appear to be prefereable to traditional maintenance procedures in an amusement park in terms of both cost and effectiveness. Recommendations. Similar projects could be effectively maintained in other settings with minimal supervision.