OUR ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
LITTER & OUR ENVIRONMENT
Litter is defined as discarded materials that are disposed of in an improper manner.
Litter is classified as a form of pollution
Litter by-products can enter Earth’s ecosystems and cause them harm.
Damage caused by littering can be physical (litter getting tangled around marine life) and chemical (fertilizers causing Red Tide)
WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMONLY-LITTERED ITEMS?
According to Keep America Beautiful, the most littered items include:
- Cigarette butts
- Food wrappers
- Plastic bottles
- Disposable cups
- Grocery bags
- Straws
- Beverage cans
- Tire and vehicle debris
WHY DO PEOPLE LITTER?
19.9% of litter on land comes unintentionally from unsecured items on the back of garbage trucks.
76% of litter on roadways comes from pedestrians and motorists.
People litter because of laziness or carelessness, lack of access to trash receptacles, lenient law enforcement, and a presence of litter already in the area
LITTER CREATES VISUAL POLLUTION
Litter damages the aesthetics of a place by making it look unclean and unpleasant to the eyes.
Litter may also carry germs.
PLASTIC & OUR ENVIRONMENT
The conveniences plastics offer have led to a throw-away culture that reveals the material’s dark side.
Many of these products, such as plastic bags and food wrappers, have a lifespan of mere minutes to hours, yet they may persist in the environment for hundreds of years.
Single-use plastics account for 40 percent of the plastic produced every year.
When cans and bottles are discarded on the roadside instead of being recycled, more resources must be used to create cans and bottles from new materials.
Litter harms physical habitats, transports chemical pollutants, threatens aquatic life, and interferes with human uses of river, marine, and coastal environments.
Dumping plastics, including grocery bags, quickly fills up landfills and regularly clog drains.
Plastic waste has the greatest potential to harm the environment, wildlife, and humans.
Plastic microfibers have been found in municipal drinking water systems and drifting through the air.
Microplastics damage microalgae, a key component of a healthy aquatic ecosystem.
Plastics have been found floating at the surface, suspended in the water column and on the bottom of almost all water bodies.
Plastic trash is transported by rivers to the ocean, where it moves with the currents, and is often eaten by birds and fish, concentrating toxic chemicals in their tissues, and filling their stomachs, causing them to starv
LITTER CAUSES DAMAGE TO ANIMALS, MARINE LIFE, SEAS, AND RIVERS
Dumping litter on our streets often causes it to get washed down into storm drains during heavy rain. Eventually, this water leads to the nearest ocean or river.
Litter can travel throughout the world’s rivers and oceans, accumulating on beaches.
Every year, about 8 million tons of plastic waste escapes into the oceans from coastal nations. That’s the equivalent of setting five garbage bags full of trash on every foot of coastline around the world.
Litter in the water supply from consumer and commercial use creates a toxic environment. If the water becomes polluted from litter we can no longer use it for drinking or recreation.
When there is plastic litter in the sea, marine life may ingest the plastic mistaking the litter for food. Ingesting litter can cause marine animals to choke. Marine life may also get tangled in plastic litter.
Some animals are attracted to areas with lots of litter.
Plastics create horrendous health problems for animals including depletion of nutrients and obstruction of their digestive tracks leading to a painful death. Plastic parts can also get tangled around animals’ bodies or heads causing injury or death.
When toxic water is ingested by deer, fish, and a variety of other animals, serious medical issues occur that can kill them.
Toxic water may also kill off surrounding plant life on riverbanks and the bottom of a pond’s ecosystem.
LITTERING IS ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE DEATH OF MILLIONS OF ANIMALS
Countless animals die every year thanks to littering.
Animals can get entangled in littered objects and die a slow and painful death.
Items like broken glass, pins, and other sharp objects present in the litter can injure animals who tread on them unknowingly.
Some substances present in the litter can be ingested by animals and produce toxic effects inside their bodies, irreversibly harming them.
LITTER CAN CAUSE FIRES
Litter may contain flammable materials.
Litter, when combined with a small spark or even lightning, can immediately start a fire.
Such fires can become uncontrollable and lead to large losses of lives and property.
Accidental lighting of litter can cause wildfires, as seen often when lit discarded cigarettes are thrown into a pile of trash.
CLEANING UP LITTER IS COSTLY TO THE ECONOMY
When garbage is disposed of properly by the public at the correct places, cleaning the waste becomes fairly simple for the personnel involved.
However, when there is litter that needs to be cleared up, extra funds are needed to pay people to properly clean up the littered locations.
Consequently, litter clean-up costs the economy significantly more than cleaning up waste disposed of responsibly in the proper manner.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Always make sure you properly dispose of your garbage.
Recycle all that can be recycled, and put all other garbage in the proper containers.
If you see someone throwing something on the ground, politely request that they place the item into a trash receptacle.
If you see a piece of litter, pick it up and throw it away.
Place a litter bag in your car.
Secure outdoor trash containers to prevent wind or animals from spreading litter.
When visiting parks and recreation areas, make sure to leave the area clean for the next person.
If picking up litter, make sure you wear gloves, as it could be sharp or be a hazardous or contaminated material.
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