The connection between littering and the brands being littered is an interesting one. On one hand, litter is not caused by the company but by their customers. Even though the organisation didn’t drop the cup or bottle or wrapper, it is their reputation that is damaged by having their name and logo splashed across our streets and communities, along our coastline, and in our countryside.
Yet on the other hand, there is far more they could do to address littering head on: Use their knowledge of selling a product to encourage the target audience to dispose of it properly. Work towards actual litter prevention rather than simply mitigating the problem with clean up after clean up.
What can we do about it? We can use our hands to pick up rubbish. To write to companies (politely) and ask about their litter strategy. To draw attention to the problem. We can stop the hand-wringing and start taking steps to do something.