How Does Litter Hurt the Environment - Visual Pollution

Littering is defined: when waste or discarded materials are disposed of in an improper manner, in unwanted locations. It is even classed as a type of pollution. Some of the effects littering has on the environment are:

Litter Creates VISUAL POLLUTION!

The presence of litter makes a place unclean and very unpleasant to the eyes, damaging the beauty of a place or community. It is like looking inside your garbage can – seeing all the items that belong in your garbage can, but are laying on the streets, sidewalks and freeways instead.

Not only does litter look dirty; it may carry germs. Some animals are attracted to areas with lots of litter. They find their food among the trash and can pick up the germs and become carriers for diseases that may make people sick.

Litter is bad for the environment. It wastes our natural resources. 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.

Littering Can cause Soil, Water, And Air POLLUTION

Hazardous chemicals can leak out of the litter and pollute the soil and nearby water. The litter eventually gets into the sewer systems, makes it down the city washes and rivers, then winds up in the ocean; polluting our one and only beautiful ocean. These toxins eventually enter the human body via the food chain. The contaminants also inhibit plant growth and can cause health issues in animals.

Littering can actually lead to air pollution. Frequently, litter is burnt as an easy way to get rid of it. The burning process can emit a substantial amount of toxic particulate matter and gases into the air. The pollutants can then lead to respiratory problems and other health problems in humans and other living beings.

Cleaning Up Litter is Costly to the Economy

Litter clean-ups costs the economy significantly more than cleaning up waste disposed of responsibly in the proper manner. Human littering is making it necessary to use valuable time and money that could be spent on beautifying the community, instead of cleaning up litter that should not be there in the first place.

What can you do?

• When you take a walk, take a bag and pick up some trash from the streets.

• Adopt-1-Street or block and take ownership of the trash, graffiti and bulk items illegally disposed of within it.

• Carry a bag with you and whenever you see some trash, don’t walk over it, pick it up and put it in the bag to dispose of properly.

• Recycle all that can be recycled and put all other garbage in the proper containers.

• If you see a friend throwing something on the ground, ask them nicely to put in the trash receptacle instead of on the ground.

Raising awareness to the general public and the future generation is key to reducing littering. Then getting the general public involved in clean ups and taking responsibility for their own litter by disposing of it properly will help to create an environment that will be clean and beautiful for the next generation.

Come join us for a clean up: https://volunteerscleaningcomm...