Have you ever gone for a walk in a beautiful park, expecting to see colourful flowers blooming and bright green grass, while birds sing in the back. When you reach the park you see candy wraps and plastic bags everywhere. This is what littering is, making a place untidy with rubbish. The good news is that we can fix this problem together!
What Is Littering?
Littering is defined as throwing trash and rubbish in the wrong place like the ocean, streets, parks or even your house. Trash needs to be disposed of properly, like into a garbage bin, which takes away the litter to disposing sites. Think about all the litter you see everyday around you and make a list of where and when you saw it (try to pick up trash like plastic bottles and chip bags when you can).
Why Do People Litter?
People litter because of a lot of reasons like:
- Carelessness and bad habits, people litter because they don’t care or think about the consequences of their actions. Holding yourself accountable and not littering is very important because littering ruins the environment and can harm animals as well.
- Not enough trash bins. When there aren’t enough trash bins, someone who wants to properly dispose of their trash cannot do so. When an area does not have enough trash bins it causes litter to become common.
- Thinking that cleaning is someone else’s responsibility, people who think cleaning is someone else’s job litter all the time because they do not respect people and their environment.
Effects of Littering on the Environment
There are many effects of littering like:
- People being harmed: Littering causes pests and rodents to increase in cities, it destroys the view of places and ruins the environment and living conditions.
- Animals being harmed: Littering causes animals to be harmed, cats, dogs, racoons and foxes choke on plastic and get stuck in metal tins, trying to get access to food. Birds and insects die from getting stuck in plastic bags
- Earth becoming polluted: Littering and overall plastic ruins the planet, trash starts to accumulate in the ocean and on the soil. Greenhouse gases get released from plastic and garbage, littering and not disposing off trash in the correct manner is very harmful for the planet
Shocking Littering Facts
- Litter is very costly to countries and governments
- Massive amount of litter causes greenhouse gases to be released
- Did you know that the most littered item in the world are cigarette butts?
- Millions of tons of plastic ends up in the ocean, every single year
- 8 million British people admit that they have littered
Recycling vs. Littering
The difference between recycling and littering is huge! Recycling is defined as giving used items a new life, like plastic bottles being melted and used as toys or plastic tables. Littering is defined as dumping and throwing rubbish without disposing it off properly or using it to its maximum capacity.
What Kids Can Do to Stop Littering
Kids can do a lot of things to stop littering, like:
- Always using the trash bins or the recycling stations
- Carrying reusable bottles instead of buying plastic ones
- Stop littering in parks
- Picking up litter if you see any
- Remind your friends and family to not litter
- Join cleanliness drives where a local area is cleaned
- Learn about recycling and its importance
Interactive Ideas to Inspire Kids
Here are a few interactive ideas to inspire kids:
- Take the No-Littering Pledge: Kids sign their name or color a badge.
- Join a local cleanliness-drive: Kids can join local efforts of cleaning an area with trusted adults.
Frequently Asked Question / Quiz
How many years does plastic take to break down?
Plastic can take 20-500 years to decompose
Why do people litter?
People litter because:
- Not enough trash bins
- Carelessness and bad habits
- Thinking that cleaning is someone else’s responsibility
What’s the most littered item in the world?
The most littered item in the world are cigarette butts
Conclusion
We can bring a positive change to the world and come together to make a difference and clean the Earth! You can begin with small actions like properly throwing away your candy wrapper or picking up a piece of trash a day. Next time you see litter around try to pick it up if possible, you are a very important person in bringing positive change to the world.