‘You’re not a llama, stop spitting’: Jette launches eye-catching campaign

While every municipality in Brussels has its waste issues, from illegal dumping to cigarette ends, Jette is tackling its problems with a unique poster campaign. ‘You’re not a llama, so don’t spit on public streets’ read posters hanging in and around Place Reine Astrid.

It seems that globs of spit on pavements and squares were the number one complaints among residents living near the square. Spitting in public is in fact illegal across the capital-region. Anyone caught doing it can be slapped with a fine of €350 – which the posters clearly state.

“On the basis of the number of complaints and the number of offences we noted, we decided to hang different posters in neighbourhoods in our municipality,” Mounir Laarissi (cdH), the city councillor in charge of waste-management, told VRT.

The posters match the biggest complaints in each neighbourhood. So while you are reminded not to spit in Place Reine Astrid, in another neighbourhood you are reminded when to put out your trash or not to litter.

“Around Place Reine Astrid, residents complained most about spitting,” said Laarissi. “So that’s why we launched the llama campaign.”

He knows that the problem will not be solved by a few posters, “but it’s about raising awareness,” he said. “We also don’t plan to hand out €350 fines right away. We will probably issue warnings at first, or a smaller fine of €52. For bigger offences, like fly-tipping, by the way, fines can run much higher than €350. But the poster campaign is primarily to encourage people to keep Jette clean and liveable.”

Photo courtesy VRT