It's Just Trash: The Devastating Consequences of Littering
- 1. Jenkins 1 George Jenkins Dr. Bishnu Ghimire English 1010 25 June 2015 It’s Just “Trash”: The Devastating Consequences of Littering Littering is obliterating our environment and is slowly, but persistently, altering the ways society has to function. Littering waste, including cigarettes, cleaners, and plastics are impacting resources, wildlife, and most devastatingly, humanity. Action needs to be taken to prevent this epidemic from causing further destruction. The world is at a crucial point where the time is now to fight back against littering before it is too late. Without action being taken, drinkable water will begin to vanish, species will go extinct, and life as we know it will cease to exist. The future of the environment rests with society today to take a stand against littering and make the world clean once again. First and foremost, the causes of littering validate it as a solvable problem. Littering is the improper disposal of waste into the environment. The causes of littering rest in society as Rehan Ahmad says, “inconvenience and laziness, absence of ownership or pride for the area” (1) this shows how people litter because of society’s lack of respect for the environment. In addition to the alarming habit of littering, Ahmad continued to say that littering is, “motivated by disrespect to the law and its enforcement” and could be solved by better environmental education and stricter legislation regarding littering (2). All of the causes are a matter of choice by humans to litter. With all due respect, the study conducted by Jessica Rath and others shows, “Cigarette butts were also the most collected items during clean-up efforts” (2190) showing that people were too lazy to dispose of these and would rather just disperse them into the environment. This detrimental habit is destroying the environment and needs to be stopped.
- 2. Jenkins 2 Secondly, the statistics on littering show the severity of the epidemic and the drastic effects it is having on the world. The amount of litter that goes into the ocean is alarming as Luther King’s research suggest, “9 billion tons of litter ends up in the ocean every year” (1) which is more litter than even imaginable. Nine billion tons of litter is enough to impact even the most powerful beast, how would a helpless fish or turtle even stand a chance? With respect to the amount of litter, the cost of cleanup is even more alarming, “$11.5 billion is spent every year to clean up litter” (King 1) which is quite the deficit in the global economy. Even with those statistics, some opponents may say that littering is an isolated problem, but “75% of people admitted that they littered in the past 5 years” (King 1) littering is far from isolated. These alarming and even obnoxious statistics prove the severity of the littering epidemic and how littering effects the global economy. Thirdly, the largest impact of littering is on the water and those who depend on it. Marine life is being heavily impacted as litter invades their homes. To these creatures, littering is only a growing concern as “The number of species known to have been affected by either entanglement or ingestion of plastic debris has doubled since 1997” (Kuhn 75) showing the growing problem. With more and more of the populations of fish and especially turtles being impacted, littering could be the cause for some species to become endangered or eventually become extinct. With animals not being the only ones impacted, humans are already facing a growing demand for drinkable water. Littering along with other causes such as bacteria, run-off, and spills are killing people, it is estimated that “Water-borne diseases account for the deaths of 3,575,000 people a year” (Williams 2) showing the detrimental effects littering adds to, even to mass murder.
- 3. Jenkins 3 Lastly, the environment and its resources are nearing a point of damage which cannot be reversed. Natural food sources are amongst the most effected due to littering. Because litter like cleaners and chemicals release toxins, food sources are being damaged as Ahmad says, “Litter also harms plants, vegetation and natural areas” (1) with food sources being impacted, animals and humans in turn are impacted. Some of the most beautiful spots on Earth are now being overwhelmed with litter. It is heartbreaking to see places like New York and natural beauties like Niagara Falls being altered by the vast littering. The society with lack of respect for the environment is destroying what should never be destroyed. It is not fair for the natural resources and sights to be destroyed as the result of pure laziness. As a society, the time is now to take action while there is still time to revitalize what is slowly fading. In conclusion, littering is a solvable problem that is destroying the environment. As the result of pure laziness and the lack of concern for the environment, littering has been manifested as a cultural norm. As a result of this, littering has continuously cost monetarily the world and is impacting life forms. Marine life is being devastated as their homes are swamped with society’s trash. Drinkable water, already becoming a scarce resource, is being harmed by litter, and toxic water is killing way too many people each year. Litter is causing food sources to fade and is turning some of the most beautiful sites on earth to be nothing but garbage. The time is now for society to open its eyes and take a stand against litter before it is too late. Greater environmental education needs to be pushed, more severe laws should be introduced, and people should actually start caring a little. The littering epidemic is being overlooked by so many, it’s not just “trash”; littering is the gateway to permanently devastate life as we know it. Action to stop littering has to be taken now or the environment of today will not be present tomorrow!
- 4. Jenkins 4 Works Cited Ahmad, Rehan. “Detrimental Effects of Littering.” EcoMENA. 14 February 2015. Google Scholar. Web. 10 June 2015. King, Luther. “9 interesting facts and statistics about littering.” Litter It Costs You. 18 November 2013. Google Scholar. Web. 9 June 2015. Kuhn, Susanne et al. “Deleterious Effects of Litter on Marine Life” Marine Anthropogenic Litter. 2 June 2015: 75-116. ProQuest. Web. 11 June 2015. Rath, Jessica M et al. "Cigarette Litter: Smokers' Attitudes and Behaviors." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 9.6 (2012): 2189- 203. ProQuest. Web. 13 June 2015. Williams, Lydia. "How Does Water Pollution Affect Humans?" The World Counts. 18 Jan. 2015. Google Scholar. Web. 11 June 2015.