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Gauging the Material Magnitude, Public Perception, and Governance of Roadside Litter in a Rural Mexican Municipio

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Abstract

Roadside litter is an ever-present human-environmental issue in Mexico, yet material estimates do not exist for rural places. This study estimates roadside litter, by abundance, weight, and class, and examines public perceptions of litter in the rural municipio of Coxcatlán, Puebla, Mexico. During fieldwork, ten study sites were selected, cleaned, and sampled periodically to estimate the generation rate of garbage. A household survey was conducted using participatory risk mapping in 433 households across the study area to gauge concern over litter. Litter and dumping are substantial concerns for households while generation rates along Coxcatlán’s roadsides are lower than most estimates for U.S. roadsides, highlighting the importance of perception of an environmental issue amid its empirically-derived reality. Results are contextualized within the broader framework of current and potential governance and management in the study area.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Texas A&M International University, Laredo, TX, USA

    Andrew Hilburn

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  1. Andrew Hilburn
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Correspondence to Andrew Hilburn.

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This project was funded by a US Department of Education Fulbright-Hays Dissertation Fellowship (P022A100040).

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The author declares that he has no conflict of interest.

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Hilburn, A. Gauging the Material Magnitude, Public Perception, and Governance of Roadside Litter in a Rural Mexican Municipio. Hum Ecol 44, 479–491 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-016-9842-9

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