Solid Waste > Litter Home > Litter Campaign > Hotline

Litter Hotline: 866-LITTER-1
(866-548-8371) or 711 (TTY Relay)

To open a frequently asked questions document about the litter hotline, please click here.

Citizens who witness littering acts can call the hotline and report basic information such as date, time, location, objects thrown, and the license plate of the vehicle. Department of Ecology staff will cross-reference the reported license plate with Department of Licensing to get the name and address of the vehicle's registered owner. Tickets cannot be issued based on a citizen report, but the vehicle owner will be sent a letter informing them about litter laws and fines. The Department of Ecology operated a litter hotline in the past, but in the mid-1990s it was discontinued for budgetary reasons.

A new online reporting system is now available. Click here to make an online litter report. If sending an email is more convenient than phoning the hotline, you may do so by clicking on the Litter1 link at the bottom of this page. We will forward the information you provide to the hotline staff and do our best to contact the registered owner. Just make sure your email has all the required information:

• License plate number, state, and type (Disabled, University, etc.)
• Vehicle description (make, model, type, color)
• Who littered (driver, passenger, unsecured load, etc.)
• Description of what was littered
• Date and time of incident
• Location (Hwy, Road, intersection)
• Direction of travel
• Nearest town

Numbers of calls to the litter hotline will not be used as an indicator of "success" or "failure" of the campaign. The primary purpose of the hotline is to send a message to litterers that other people care and may be watching. Secondly, it is to give concerned citizens an opportunity to report littering. Finally, for those who do get letters in response to a hotline report, communication by mail provides a personal and powerful mechanism for ensuring litterers know laws and fines associated with litter.

A general public survey (400 residents in King County, Washington) indicated that 85% of adults would be interested in using a toll-free number to report littering. Reporting was seen as a positive way citizens could "do something" about the litter problem. Several other states including Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, North Carolina, Michigan, and Louisiana successfully operate similar hotlines.

New Cell Phone Law

Many people have heard that Washington has a new law that prohibits people from talking on cell phones while driving. The law, Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5037 was passed in the 2007 Legislative Session, but does not take effect until July 2008.

The law specifically states, "a person operating a moving motor vehicle while holding a wireless communications device to his or her ear is guilty of a traffic infraction." The infraction is a "secondary" stop, meaning that a law enforcement officer cannot pull you over just for talking on the phone. If you are stopped for something else and are caught talking on a hand-held cell phone while driving, it will result in a $101 traffic infraction fine.

The law allows people to use hands-free wireless devices.

Many people have asked us, "how will this impact the litter hotline? Will people stop calling the hotline for fear of getting a ticket?"

We don't have statistics on how many people call the litter hotline from cell phones versus home phones, but we encourage people to be safe.

But, please don't let the new law deter you from reporting litterers, especially when you see unsecured loads. The law has an exemption that allows people to use cell phones to report illegal activities. Littering and driving with unsecured loads are illegal activities, so calls to the hotline are allowed. A copy of the law can be found at http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5037&year=2007

Litter Hotline Statistics

Calls to the litter hotline have steadily increased since it’s debut in April of 2002. The charts below show the number of calls the hotline has received each month over the last three years.