Litter Article

BAG OF LITTER PHOTO

Litter consists of waste products that have been disposed improperly, without consent, at an inappropriate location. The most common litter products are cigarettes, aluminum cans, cardboard boxes or plastic bottles. Litter devastatingly is a result of the human impact on the environment and all over the world, this is a serious environmental issue. The litter exists for huge amounts of time and in this time, it will make its way to oceans. Litter is disgusting and repulsive and need to be taken more seriously before it is too late.

Litter is a crime that is disregarded daily. It looks abominable and can carry diseases that can be passed around by innocent animals if they eat it. Litter is often found in water and in the oceans, is has become so bad that there is litter coving the size of two Texas's put together this is proof on how destructive litter can be. When the water evaporates it carries these diseases in the water which now means they are in the air which is everywhere. People are unaware of the dangers of littering and do need to be made aware of it.

Cigarette butts are the biggest cause of littering. These small things are very toxic and contain deadly chemicals. We see in adverts all the time about why cigarettes are bad for your health but dropping the butts on the floor may have longer more damaging effects on the world. Some of the chemicals in the cigarette butts include arsenic, which can contaminate water and soil which will then travel down to rivers and into the sea causing further contamination. There are many cleans ups around local communities that are helping and it is the start on changing the crisis but it won't be enough without huge publicity and big changes.

Did you know that 62% of people in England drop litter, however only 28% of people would ever admit to it? This is highly alarming to here and proves that people do know that littering is unacceptable and will not confess to the crime. This may also suggest that people are unaware of the effects of litter and the death and destruction it can cause. Another impact of dropping litter is on residential areas, litter being dropped in residential it will reduce or destroy the pride of people living there which will result in more litter being dropped.

How can you help stop littering? Here are some top tips for preventing and overcoming the worlds litter epidemic. Firstly, you can keep a bag for your litter in your car, you can hang it on the back of a seat until you find a suitable place to recycle your litter. So much litter is carelessly tossed out of car windows and out of parked cars without thinking of the implications that it is causing. Did you know you can report litterbugs? Reporting the people that you see dropping litter to the appropriate authority can give them a big fine, this will then also prevent them from doing it again in the future. On windy days which we have many of living in Cornwall you always see rubbish bin lids rolling around in the road. Having tight fitting lids on your rubbish bins will keep the rubbish in and will also prevent litter. A bigger way to make a difference to help littering is to encourage your neighbours, co-workers, family and friends to have an area cleanup. Adopting an area can significantly reduce future litter on the streets in your area. Finally, you can find ways to make your community to look beautiful. Having a pretty looking environment and community. When a neighborhood is maintained and looks attractive less litter is dropped as people have a lot more respect for it.

At home is where you can make the biggest difference to recycling. Here are some top tips for recycling at home. Firstly reduce, reuse and recycle, pretty much everyone has heard of this saying but many don't understand the meaning of it. Reducing the amount you use and consume. Reuse, find constructive ways to reuse waste. If it is broken try to fix it and don't just replace it. The last resort if you can't do this is to put your waste in a blue bin and recycle! Using this method will quickly reduce the amount of rubbish in landfill sites. Here are some other ways to improve you recycling technique. I bet you have many cardboard boxes from your parcel delivery’s, cereal boxes and toys, flattening these boxes when you put them in our recycling can mean you can recycle even more! All of your plastic bottles that you use from water bottles and mouth wash to ketchup bottles you can recycle them all. By knowing what you can and can't recycle and following you area's recycling rules can make recycling much more efficient.   

Overall litter is disgusting and so are those responsible. It ruins appearances, can destroy human health and safety as well as the wildlife and can cost lives. Stop littering