What Is Littering
Litter is any kind of trash thrown in small amounts, especially in places where it doesn’t belong. With time, it heaps up. The practice is unlawful because it costs municipalities millions of dollars annually in cleanup costs. It also portrays a bad picture of an area. The most frequently littered stuff includes fast food packaging, cigarette butts, used drink bottles, chewing gum wrappers, broken electrical equipment parts, toys, broken glass, food scraps, or green wastes. Even practices such as leaving items overflowing beside a dust bin, deliberate throwing of items from vehicles, and abandoning items or wrappers by the roadside qualifies as littering. Littering is a dangerous activity and should not be taken lightly because it impacts the environment in multiple ways.
Causes and Effects of Littering
Causes:
- Construction: Some percentage of litter comes from construction projects. The worker’s lunchtime waste, together with the uncontrolled generation of building waste, is the culprit of litter produced from construction projects. Pieces of wood, metals, plastics, concrete debris, cardboard, and paper are some of the common waste materials generated.
- Low Fines: In many countries, the fines for littering are quite low. There may even be no fines at all. For example, it is quite common in Europe that many people just throw their cigarettes on the ground when they are finished. Nobody seems to care about this behavior and they are almost never fined at all. Since people do not have to expect to get fined, they are more willing to stick to their littering behavior.
- Not Enough Trash Cans: Many passengers, pedestrians and people living in urban areas have blamed rampant littering on the lack of public trash cans. Some places have them, but they are not enough, while some of the existing ones are sometimes poorly managed, which leads to overloading of the containers. Besides, animal scavengers and blowing wind can dislodge the items and scatter them around.
- Belief That There Is No Consequence For Littering: Since people perceive there is no consequence for their action when they throw items anyhow and anywhere, it has created the “I don’t care attitude.” The act of pedestrians getting rid of chewing gum wrappers and other wastes on the roads and streets or motorists throwing garbage from their cars clearly reveal this kind of attitude. The majority of people believe others will pick or clean it up.
Effects:
- Injuries: People are especially at risk when the litter is composed of metals, blades, or needles. For example, if children are playing outside, they are likely to pick up the things on the ground since they want to play with them. If the litter contains harmful bacteria, children can be affected since the litter containing class could cut through their skin and transmit serious diseases.
- Pollution: There are many types of pollution. Soil pollution is an important adverse effect of littering. Litter can be composed of several materials like glass, metal, organic stuff, and so on. It can also contain hazardous materials. Pollution is mainly due to littered batteries. Batteries contain many harmful substances. If these batteries are disposed of improperly and result in litter, they may severely pollute the soil. The soil is likely to store harmful substances. This in turn may also contaminate our groundwater since, through heavy rainfalls, the harmful substances are washed through the soil. Humans, animals, and plants all need unpolluted water to survive. Litter can also clog storm-water drains and cause flooding. Food scraps and other organic items that are disposed of improperly can increase algal blooms in water, which reduces the amount of available oxygen for other aquatic life, such as fish. In some cases, to get rid of the litter, it is just burned. However, in the combustion process, many harmful substances can enter our air and thus lead to air pollution. This problem is especially severe when it comes to the burning of plastic since this leads to the emission of many toxic gases and particulate matter which in turn can harm the human respiratory system.
- Effects on Life Quality: Littering also affects the quality of life of people living in the affected areas. People like to have a clean environment where they can relax after work. If there is trash on every corner and every square foot is polluted by cigarettes, the life quality of many people drops significantly. Apart from the many adverse effects on humans from littering, there are also several serious adverse effects on animals. Animals will try to eat some of the litter. However, they may not be aware that a big fraction of the litter may impose significant health issues on them. For example, if animals try to eat cigarettes, chances are that they simply will die. Animals may also consume organic food contaminated with certain bacteria. This can lead to a spread of epidemics in the animal world. Thus, littering can have severe effects also on animals. Plants can also be affected by littering. Through the pollution of the soil through littering, plants are also contaminated since they get their nutrients from the soil. If the soil is covered by litter, harmful substances will be washed in the soil and therefore also end up in plants. This could in turn eventually even lead to poor health conditions in humans with these harmful substances through the food they eat. Aquatic life can also be adversely affected by littering. Our lakes, rivers, and especially oceans suffer from a vast plastic pollution problem. Much of this problem is caused by littering since people just dispose of their trash into rivers and lakes which finally ends up in our oceans. Many water animals and plants may die off since plastic contains harmful elements that contaminate the water and kill animals due to ingesting harmful substances. Moreover, some fishes die from ingesting or getting tangled in the plastic litter and also die from this since they are not able to digest plastic. Sharp shards of glass or plastic can injure birds that swallow them, cutting into the throat or intestines and causing hemorrhages. Fishing line or kite string can become wrapped around birds and cause cuts or amputations to the wings, legs, feet, or neck. These injuries can prove fatal. If these materials are used in nesting, hatchlings can be strangled or injured.
Ways To Help
There are many ways to stop or reduce littering. The first way is making a resolution to not litter by making sure that your trash is disposed of safely and securely. Newspapers, cans, and other light-weight recyclable waste materials must be recycled safely and should not be allowed to be picked up by the wind and scattered far away from the correct waste and recycling receptacles. Keeping a litter bag in your car is a good habit to avoid the temptation of disposing trash improperly when trash cans are not easily available. Trash bags in your vehicle make it easy to dispose of trash properly later. The most effective way to reduce trash is by avoiding the use of disposable in favor of reusable items. Not only will this action keep the streets clean, but it will also keep your car clean and organized as well. The next step you can take to help is educating others. Education is a vital tool to help reduce littering. Encourage others to refrain from overflowing garbage bins. Wind can easily blow an overfilled bin’s lid open and disperse the trash throughout the neighborhood. Post reminders on community bulletin boards on the effects of littering and how to reduce littering. Educate children on the proper disposal of trash and the detrimental effects caused by littering. According to a KAB (Keep American Beautiful, Inc) study, “Most littering behavior — 81% — occurred with notable intent. This included dropping (54%), flick/fling of the item (20%), and other littering with notable intent (7%).” Education is the key to preventing these carless habits. Lastly, you can take part in community clean-ups. The proper disposal of garbage can promote not only a cleaner community but can also promote a healthy lifestyle.
In summary, littering can not only cause problems within the human population but can also disturb nature. Littering is a major issue worldwide. 75% of the population has admitted to littering. The total amount of litter that is dumped into the ocean every year is 9 billion tons. The average number of steps a person will hold a piece of trash before they litter is 12 paces. Around 11.5 billion dollars are spent every year on cleaning up litter. Each of us plays an important role to keep this world healthy and safe for now and future generations.
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