The Litter Letter Project | Rachel Hatley | TEDxSpringHillCollege
Sharing an unformed idea with others is scary, but the speaker suggests that by sharing it broadly—from friends to strangers across the globe—the process itself, like creating roadside art from litter, becomes a catalyst for change. She illustrates this with a project starting from litter on a highway in Louisiana that grew into a network of collaborative public art across over 30 U.S. cities.
## Speakers & Context
- Unnamed speaker, a designer who completed an MFA in graphic design.
- Set the scene in Louisiana, living on 10 acres, near a pond, away from big malls, contrasting this idyllic life with the problem of roadside litter.
- Received the impetus for action after encountering a quote by Lily Tomlin: *"I always wondered why someone didn't do something about that."*
- The project evolved through sharing ideas with local schools and grassroots organizations.
- The initial concept was refined after meeting contacts through recycling initiatives in New Orleans.
- Later brought the project to Vermont and then to national attention via Keep America Beautiful in Connecticut and Tennessee.
## Theses & Positions
- Sharing an idea, even if unformed, is necessary to progress because the process of feedback generates ideas.
- The solution to massive, global issues (like litter) is often achievable by focusing on a small, local area first ("think globally act locally").
- Change is not a single "event," but rather an ongoing "process" that requires collaboration.
- The act of physically working on a project gives people a sense of ownership, leading to genuine commitment.
- The power lies in the connection: "people on places are profoundly interconnected."
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Litter:** Trash found on the side of highways, identified as the initial focus for the art project.
- **Design:** Traditionally viewed as a tool for problem-solving using traditional methods (billboards, flyers).
- **Process:** The continuous cycle of conversation and building that generates solutions and concepts.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Idea incubation:** Sharing the initial idea with progressively wider circles (friends, family, local schools, organizations) for feedback.
- **Artistic transformation:** Taking collected physical trash/litter and using chicken wire to mold it into visible, thematic shapes (e.g., letters, question marks).
- **Community Buy-in:** The project required physical commitment from multiple parties—board members, the mayor, welding professionals—to move from concept to reality.
- **Project scaling:** The initial local art piece evolved into a grant-funded, organized, and eventually widely adopted civic art movement.
## Named Entities
- **Louisiana:** Location where the initial idea was formed, near New Orleans.
- **Mississippi:** Mentioned by the speaker, though contextually minimal.
- **Vermont:** Location where the project was temporarily moved after the initial success in Louisiana.
- **Keep America Beautiful:** Organization that took interest in the project after the speaker took the art to Vermont.
- **Connecticut:** Location where the speaker presented the art to Keep America Beautiful.
- **Tennessee:** State where the project spread after its appearance on the KAB website.
- **Washington Parish:** Specific parish in Louisiana where the letters were first prominently displayed.
- **Franklinton:** Town in Louisiana where the art caused a local stir.
## Numbers & Data
- Year of initial realization: **2012**.
- Size of initial property: **10 acres**.
- Age of speaker's son: **Three or four**.
- Duration of initial art development: **About six months** (for the first prototypes).
- Dimensions of early letters: **Two-foot tall**.
- Dimensions of later letters: **Six-foot-tall framing**.
- Scale of final installations: **Over 30 cities** across **six states** in the U.S.
## Examples & Cases
- **The setting contrast:** Moving to an *idyllic* country life on 10 acres, contrasted sharply by the litter on the roadside.
- **The first prototype:** Using chicken wire and seven bags of litter to create initial art pieces on the back porch.
- **Local outreach:** Presenting the concept at local schools to generate discussion about "care," "respect," and "pride."
- **Legal challenge:** Facing objections from lawyers who claimed the placement of the art was unauthorized ("I cannot believe you've taken the litter...").
- **Successful expansion:** The movement from a personal backyard project to being showcased by Keep America Beautiful, then independently replicated in Tennessee and other states.
## Tools, Tech & Products
- **Chicken wire:** The primary, inexpensive, and easily obtainable material used to construct the art forms.
- **Six-book question mark:** The specific piece of art brought to Vermont that launched national interest.
- **U-haul:** Vehicle used to transport the art during the transition period from Louisiana to Vermont.
## References Cited
- **Lily Tomlin:** Person who said, *"I always wondered why someone didn't do something about that."*
- **Keep America Beautiful:** Organization mentioned as key to the project's national visibility and dissemination.
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- Initial skepticism regarding the project's feasibility ("are you sure this is a good thing to do?").
- The struggle to articulate the *why* behind the project initially.
- Concern about the potential fallout of placing unapproved art in public spaces (the lawyers).
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- If an idea exists, one must share it with a small group (e.g., 15–30 people) who will help make it happen.
- Change is a collaborative, ongoing process driven by interconnected people and places.
## Implications & Consequences
- The project’s outcome demonstrated that local action, rooted in necessity (litter), can achieve massive, widespread positive change across multiple states and jurisdictions.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"what if we put fear aside for a second and did go ahead and share that idea"*
- *"I always wondered why someone didn't do something about that"*
- *"so what if I took the litter that was on the side of my highway and used it to address the litter issue"*
- *"what you're seeing right here is the first prototypes that I started off with"*
- *"think globally act locally"*
- *"the conversations were going while we was making stuff"*
- *"I always believe when you put your hands on a project you own it"*
- *"Change is not an event it's a process collaboration is the key"*
- *"go share it with somebody share it with 20 people share it with 30 people"*