Litterbugs

It's been two weeks since Mayor Gavin Newsom announced that litter in San Francisco had decreased 19% since last year, and about ten days since the last of the newspapers reporting the announcement blew away.

According to the 97-page litter audit, litter that falls in the category of "printed fiber" (such as newspapers) is UP, from 26.7% to 31.3% of large litter. In the newspaper reports, though, this fact went unmentioned, with articles in the City Star (shown here on the floor of the 14 Mission bus -- does that count as litter?) and the Chronicle focusing on the three M's of San Francisco litter: Marlboro, McDonald's, and Muni.

Doesn't the headline, "Exterminating Litterbugs," have the hollow yet bellicose ring of "Mission Accomplished"?

Our own unscientific survey of the sidewalk in our neighborhood shows no change in the amount of litter since 2007. In fact, while conducting this survey (and stopping by Tartine for a tasty morning bun), we witnessed an egregious act of litter: a passenger in a Jeep SUV opened the door and fastidiously placed a beverage cup on the street by the curb.

Our initial plan of chucking the cup back in through the window as the car pulled into the glacial traffic of 18th Street was foiled by that nefarious invention known as air conditioning: the passenger window was raised. Plus we don't know how fast we can run holding a cup of coffee. So instead we took this photo of the evidence.