Littering causes a threat to our health and can cause harmful germs and bacteria. Littering can cause fires and also sends a message that people really don’t care about the Earth. Above all, littering has a negative effect on everything. Animals get injured and swallow toxic things like oil and pesticides.

In addition to water and soil pollution, litter can also pollute the air. Researchers estimate that more than 40% of the world’s litter is burned in the open air, which can release toxic emissions. These emissions can cause respiratory issues, other health problems, and even be a starting base for acid rain.

What Are The Harmful Effects Of Littering?

• Litter Creates Visual Pollution.
• Cleaning Litter Is Costly To The Economy.
• Littering Leads To Tension In Society.
• Littering Can Lead To Soil, Water, And Air Pollution.
• Litter Can Serve As Breeding Grounds For Mosquitos.
• There Is A Possibility Of A Fire.
• Litter Can Cause Accidental Harm To Vehicles And Human Health.

Litter has the potential to cause harm to human health, safety, welfare, as well as the environment. The harmful impact of litter includes trapping or poisoning animals, killing aquatic life directly through choking and indirectly through its impact on water quality.

Well, it’s no coincidence that litter was first seen as a national problem in the mid-1950s just as our domestic manufacturing industry began to bounce back after the Second World War. Unfortunately, the mass production of disposable goods also produced a growing mountain of waste.

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Recreational Areas – Parks, beaches, courts, and open areas where people congregate for leisure activities create lots of opportunities for littering. Construction sites – Active residential or commercial construction are a trap for cigarette butts, paper, and plastic.

KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL MONTH

1. Reduce waste by repurposing and reusing old items. Recycling is another meaningful way we can all reduce waste in our communities.
2. Teach children the importance of preventing litter.
3. Beautifying your community can be a fun and creative project.

The tobacco industry has funded Keep America Beautiful and similar organizations internationally.

Here are 10 ways you can take action in April – and throughout the year – and help create beautiful spaces in your community:

1. Volunteer.
2. Celebrate the Earth.
3. Plog.
4. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
5. Explore Zero Waste.
6. Discover and Share Beautiful Moments.
7. Get Planting.
8. Start a Keep America Beautiful Affiliate.

Corporate Funders of KAB Philip Morris was a founding member of KAB in 1956. KAB distributed Vantage (cigarette brand) pocket ashtrays on behalf of R.J. Reynolds during 1996 in exchange for $25,000.

Tips from Keep America Beautiful

1. Ask local businesses to adopt – a – spot to maintain.
2. Ask your local government officials to establish regular community improvement activities, and to support and promote volunteer efforts.
3. Compost yard and food waste.
4. Conduct a recycling drive in your neighborhood or your business.

No littering! Take your food wrappings, drink containers, newspapers and other potential litter home with you and dispose of it in your own trash or recycling carts, or use one of the 96-gallon bins provided in the city’s streets and parks. Do not throw trash out of your window!

Join a volunteer organization to clean up litter in your neighborhood. Conduct a Google search to find volunteer litter pickups in your area. Some cities conduct annual neighborhood cleanups in designated areas. You can also volunteer for roadway trash pickup programs such as Adopt-A-Highway or Sponsor-A-Highway.

Here are 20 great tips for improving community environments year-round:

1. Work with the local civic groups to identify and eliminate eyesores, and beautify the local environment.
2. Pick up a piece of litter every day.
3. Keep a litter bag in your car or your recreational vehicle so you dispose of litter properly.

Litter adversely affects the environment. Littering along the road, on the streets or by the litter bins, toxic materials or chemicals in litter can be blown or washed into rivers, forests, lakes and oceans, and, eventually can pollute waterways, soil or aquatic environments.

And, of course, litter-picking is a great way to educate young (and not so young) people as to why they should put their rubbish in the bin. Yes – it has been shown that litter attracts crime to a neighbourhood, so that’s a pretty good reason for keeping one’s area free of litter and so feeling a bit safer.

Studies show that litter can negatively impact your sense of community and safety. When others pass you as you pick up litter, smile and say hello. It shows pride in community and encourages others to do their part, too.

Litter can also be used as a verb; to litter means to drop and leave objects, often man-made, such as aluminum cans, paper cups, fast food wrappers, cardboard boxes or plastic bottles on the ground, and leave them there indefinitely or for other people to dispose of as opposed to disposing of them correctly.

Most Deliberate Litterers are Aged Between 18 and 34 People within this age bracket are the most likely to litter, with older folks and children generally being more responsible.

How many marine animals die each year from pollution and plastic? 100 million marine animals die each year from plastic waste alone. 100,000 marine animals die from getting entangled in plastic yearly – this is just the creatures we find!

100,000 turtles and marine mammals, such as dolphins, whales and seals, are killed by plastic marine litter every year around the world.

More than 200 million animals are killed for food around the world every day – just on land. Including wild-caught and farmed fishes, we get a total closer to 3 billion animals killed daily. That comes out to 72 billion land animals and over 1.2 trillion aquatic animals killed for food around the world every year.

Plastic contains toxic chemicals, which can increase the chance of disease and affect reproduction. After ingesting microplastics, seals, and other animals can suffer for months or even years before they die. Nets and other man-made equipment can entangle and kill whales, dolphins, turtles, seals and other sea animals.