Category: Littering

Have we ever contemplated of how our society would be like without litter? We tend to throw any piece of trash at our disposal on the ground not thinking that, that small piece of trash finds other trash which later on builds up into piles of junk. Littering has become common in many cities around the world and if not stopped, our environment will be negatively affected by our own actions. I choose to write an argument on littering in public places, especially in our school because, it has become an environmental hazard and it is affecting our environment. In addition, my reason for doing research on this topic is because; I have witnessed many students throwing litter all over in public places from the ground, in the hallways, and classrooms, without even thinking twice. Therefore, I want to identify the littering problem, its effects and as well as presenting possible solutions or course of action. Littering is a habit of careless throwing or leaving rubbish in the open instead of throwing them into a dustbins or waste paper baskets (Sibley and Liu 418). Littering is an unacceptable act because it pollutes the environment, the waterways, and even harms human, animal and marine life. In addition, it costs a lot of finances to clean it up and it can lead to global warming due to carbon emissions from the litter. Littering is a problem that affects all of us, and it is our duty to fix this problem.

There are many people in our community and students in our school who are used to throwing trash on the ground aimlessly. Littering is an unacceptable behavior that should be stopped in order to save our environment. It is obvious that, many people who litter do not really understand the effects of their actions, but before we decide to throw any dirt around, let us first think of the innocent people and animals we are affecting. First, it is important to note that, littering affects our environment in many ways; it pollutes the environment, the waterways, and even harms human, animal and marine life (Perry, Juhlin, and Normark 80). Littering is harmful to our environment because it pollutes the environment and once the environment is polluted, everything inside it is negatively affected. Therefore, as students, we should put this in mind before littering because, we live in the environment where there is litter and so, we will be negatively affected.

Littering can affect our health especially our lungs when we breathe in. Litter on the ground smells after staying unpicked for a longer period of time and this can be harmful to the human and animal health. Many students will end up being hospitalized because of health issues related to litter yet this can be avoided. Therefore, in order to remain healthy and avoid getting sick because of contaminated water and air in our school compound due to littering, it is important to avoid littering aimlessly. If littering is avoided in our school compound, we will live a healthy life. In our school setting, it is important to keep it clean because it is like our second home. Therefore, all students should be stopped from littering on the ground, in the hallway, and classroom in order to protect the school from litter related health problems. When there is litter everywhere, the environment plus the water will be pollutes and this is not good for our health as students, as a result, it is important to avoid littering everywhere in the school compound.

Another reason why littering should be stopped is to save the marine life. Littering affects marine life because; most of the extinct animals could end up consuming the litter which may later on lead to their death. According to Sibley and Liu, many sea turtles have died in the past three years due to litter in the ocean. Many sea turtles are said to mistake plastic bags for jellyfish which in the end sticks in their system leading to their death (Sibley and Liu 420). Since our school is located near the sea, it is vital for us to preserve the marine life by avoiding littering in the compound because the trash can get its way to the ocean and affect the marine life. As students, we should take the mandate to keep our environment clean by avoiding littering at all costs, because it will benefit our health. As students, we should be the firs people o pioneer the preservation of marine life because we know their importance. Therefore, let us make it our priority to stop littering in order to preserve the animals living near our school.

Moreover, littering can lead to a heap of trash in the hallways and can catch fire which can lead to loss of property or even death. Most of the students stay in the school dormitories and this calls for utmost cleanliness because, if there are big piles of trash in the hall ways, it can lead to fire in the school which can burn our classes and dormitories and this will severely affect our learning. As students, we can avoid fires caused by big piles of trash by avoiding dumping trash around our classes and dormitories. It is important to learn dumping the right way, which is in trash cans and burning all the lying trash around our school compound.

There is only one simple way to solve the litter problem, let us prevent this problem from happening, stop littering. Schultz et al note that, in order to put an end to the littering habit, people should learn to play correct roles in the society (39). Students should start obeying the simple rules written in school that they should not litter on the ground, but throw their trash in dustbins available in school walkways. Additionally, as the students’ fraternity, it is vital to encourage each other to stop littering in our school compound, since this is the only way o stop this environmental menace.

In addition, in order to stop littering, the punishment for littering has to be strict and severe in order to ban students from littering in the classrooms and on the ground. Littering punishments should be severe because it will be a better warning for those who like littering and this would make the world a better and clean place. In addition, the school should ensure that, every walkway has trash cans or boxes where litter should be tossed. Furthermore, let us all learn to pick up any litter we find on our way in order to avoid it from piling.

Many students argue that, the main reason they litter on the ground is for the reason that, there is no proper place to put trash while walking down the hallways. Their argument might be true for places where there are no trash cans on the subways, but this does not give any one the right to litter on the ground. It will cost nothing for one to carry the trash with him/her until he/she finds place where there is a trash can or dust bin. In addition, there are a number of trash cans around the school, let us all learn to walk until we get one other than littering on the ground. Nonetheless, the school should make sure that, there are trash cans or recycling boxes on every pavement for students to toss their trash while walking around the school. With the trash cans on the streets, littering will be curtailed and make the school look clean and beautiful. Therefore, in order to reduce litter or to stop students from littering in classrooms, hallways and on the ground, the school should make sure that, there are sufficient trash cans are available in the school compound.

The action plan for stopping littering in the school compound will be to monitor all students on where they throw their trash and report trash bugs. Moreover, the school should organize a clean up exercise once in a while in the school in order to create awareness on the dangers of littering. In addition, it is vital for the school management to make an arrangement of teaching all students on the effects of littering and why it should be stopped. The school should set waste reduction goals and how these goals can be met in order to make the school a litter free environment. Moreover, the students can focus on reducing litter in the school and if that fails to work, they can find ways to recycle the litter available in the school other than living it to lie around. Let us all know that, as students we can do something good to prevent litter in our school compound and make it safer, cleaner and sustainable. The school should continue to heighten the awareness of students’ responsibilities littering through education and other awareness programs like competitions.

In essence, littering is an environmental issue in many schools around then world. It should be stopped at all costs because our society is at risk. Littering is a problem caused by all of us and we are the people who can help eliminate this problem in our school by our everyday’s actions. Even though it might take a while, it is possible to live in a litter free environment whereby people take care of the environment by making it clean and litter free. The school should make an effort of teaching their students on the effects of littering and the best ways to avoid littering in school. Furthermore, the school should make sure that there are adequate trash cans around the school and in convenient places in order to make it easy for the students to throw their trash. Littering is an environmental menace in our schools, and it can be avoided by our simple actions as students, for instance by just not littering. Likewise, the school can create litter awareness programs to enable students understand the effects of littering and why it is vital to end it in addition to promoting the Green Schools program with the neighboring schools. I believe that, in future, there will be no littering in our school and we shall have a clean and beautiful environment.

Etymologically, litter means rubbish carelessly dropped or left about anywhere, especially in public places. Sadly, people are found littering the road or any other public place with impunity. Quite often, we see even educated persons travelling in an expensive car roll down their car’s window to dump trash on the road. They do not think twice about throwing half-eaten sandwiches or throwing empty soda can which hit the car coming from behind us with its driver trying to avoid it in a dangerous way. A truck loaded on the highway goes spreading trash due to its broken container. Who cares?

Many people have an unfortunate habit of just dumping waste products at an inappropriate location. We callously drop objects such as aluminium cans, cardboard boxes or plastic bottles at a public place and leave them there indefinitely. Household waste and even hazardous items of rubbish such as tyres, electrical appliances, electronics, batteries and large industrial containers are dumped on public land. This way, we expect others to dispose them of as opposed to ourselves disposing of them properly.

Spitting anywhere and throwing garbage anywhere is an unfortunate tendency. People often spit on the stairs of an office building, on the over bridge and platform of the railway station. Pan, gutkha and tobacco eaters generally find it hard to resist the tendency of spitting.

THE PROBLEMS AND CAUSES OF LITTERING

India is the most sluggish in terms of cleanliness among most countries of the world. There are many reasons for the sad mentality of people towards hygiene in India.

• A widespread social phenomena

Often poor sections are considered to be responsible for creating a pile of garbage, filth or garbage in public places. But what about the dirt spread by the pee and poo of dogs of rich classes in parks, streets and roads? There is a charge against the slum dwellers that they spread pollution, but the truth is that there is a woeful dearth of proper waste management in multi-storey buildings, chemical industries and other factories which are responsible for spreading more garbage in the residential areas. So, the filth in the cities is not limited to poor people’s actions, but every section of the society is guilty of spreading the mess at its own level.

• Inability to share responsibility

Many people tend to believe that they have to maintain the standards of sanitation within the four walls of their houses. The filthy water, garbage, or the dirt of the dog, is removed from the house and thrown into the street, road or park. People believe that garbage-disposal is the responsibility of the government and the administration. It is neither their responsibility to keep the environment, road, park or the street clean nor they are accountable for the garbage or filth, which is thrown out of the house.

• Lack of spirit for maintaining cleanliness

In this densely populated country, most of us still spread dirt on the streets despite dustbins being kept along the roads. We just mean to clean up the place where we live and worship.

We do not do this because we like to spread dirt on the road, but we do this because we are a slave to our habit of littering.

Despite the much-talked about Swachh Bharat campaign, our country is quite dirty compared to other countries. There is no cleanliness campaign in other countries of the world. Despite this, they are cleaner than most Indian villages and towns. Unlike Indian roads, no one is seen sweeping a broom in other countries, similarly, important celebrities there do not flaunt themselves spreading campaign for hygiene with a broom in hand. Still, what is the hidden secret behind their cleanliness?

The answer lies in the spirit of maintaining cleanliness that lies in the character of citizens of those countries from a very young age. In many public places in India, the board of ‘Do not litter’ can be seen. Even then, that place is filled with dirt. People consider it their rights to defile public places, and cleaning is considered to be the job of sanitation workers.

• Increase in types of waste

In olden times, garbage was generally organic waste which would assimilate into the ground, but with modern development, the proportion of chemicals in the waste is increasing. It is extremely harmful to health. Earlier, in countries like India, materials used as bags were not harmful. Pottery was used for curd, and jute bag was used to carry other stuffs. The use of plastic has changed the situation and a problem has also arisen with it because the plastic never melts. There is no proper system to deposit or dump it. Now efforts are being made to deal with the problem by banning the use of plastic.

WHAT LITTERING CAN DO TO THE ENVIRONMENT?

Littering has a negative impact on the environment. In fact, it has become a serious environmental issue how to counter the ill-effects of littering. We all like to keep our houses clean, but after cleaning it many of us throw the garbage around due to which there is contamination of the entire environment. We never bother to understand that it’s our responsibility for not polluting the atmosphere, and spreading diseases by littering.

Before throwing the garbage out of houses and shops in the drains made in the roadside, nobody thinks that if the same garbage gets stuck, then due to excessive flooding in the rainy season, dirty water will be seen flowing out of their own houses.

IS LITTERING A CRIME? WHAT ARE THE PENALTIES FOR LITTERING?

In most public places of the country, garbage bins are not kept, and where they are kept, they are not cleared for several days. In such a situation, the whole place is filled with dirt. People too do not have any shame or regret to make it dirty by spitting or spreading garbage anywhere. The absence of strict law against those who litter has stood in the way of cleanliness in the country.

Littering in foreign countries falls under the category of crime and penalties are also levied on this. Citizens have the responsibility to maintain cleanliness in certain areas around their homes. At one time, there was a tendency to spit everywhere in China. But today it has been curtailed.

In Singapore, anybody is fined $200 for throwing garbage. No arguments are heard. There is a ban on chewing gum. Stray dogs are not found here. Similarly, police can impose fines for throwing garbage in the streets in America, Australia and the Netherlands. North America runs a program to adopt highways. Under this, companies and organizations show a commitment to keeping a portion of the road clean. Germany, New York, the Netherlands and Belgium have enforced container deposit laws under which people are encouraged to collect garbage.

In Kenya, waste is turned into works of art and sold. A fine of up to 2500 pounds can be imposed if anyone is convicted of spreading dirt in the UK.

Unfortunately, no central law has been made in this regard in India till date. In many cities, municipalities warn people of fines, but these are not implemented in practice.

WHY LITTER IS DANGEROUS?

In the form of garbage, the most disfigured item in the world is the cigarette butt. 4.5 trillion tons of butts are thrown annually. The time for the degradation of these remaining pieces of cigarettes is different. Some of them decay in five years and some take up to 400 years.

Often, plenty of food is served in any public program and wedding ceremony, but left-over food articles are thrown out of the premises. Due to lack of cleanliness, the garbage gets deposited on the side of the road, due to which many serious illnesses are born, for which we are responsible ourselves.

As the world is developing and the living standards are increasing, there is a corresponding increase in garbage generation. There is nothing wrong with it as long as we find ways and means of proper waste disposal. Everyone is aware of Mohenjodaro, the ancient civilization which is still known for the best arrangement of irrigation and drainage. So, let’s get started today and from now on, start the unique civilization of proper garbage management.

Learn to use waste-bins

• The number of garbage bins should be increased and they should be cleaned by Municipal Corporation as a rule. If we can make some strict rules regarding cleanliness and not spreading dirt along the lines of foreign countries, no one can stop the Swachh Bharat campaign from being successful. The full attention of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan should be on ‘no littering’. It is true that more the people will develop the habit of throwing garbage into the dustbin, the faster our country will move forward on the path of cleanliness.
• Children imbibe good or bad habits only from the elders. So, if we grow accustomed to using the garbage-can, only then our children will also adopt this good habit, and instead of throwing garbage anywhere, they would use the waste-bin only.
• Waste or trash-bin is not just required for sanitation but it is also the basic need of a civilized lifestyle. If all of us will adopt this lifestyle, then we will throw banana peel, peanut peel or even trash such as small pieces of paper in the dustbin.
• If there is a lack of dustbin, then we will keep such tiny litter in our purse, handbag or any carry bag and when we are able to access a dustbin, then put the same into it.
• All of us will have to contribute to ensure that there is a presence of trash-can everywhere from the street, road to intersection. These places should have such a system of waste-disposal which is easily within the reach of everyone. However, Panchayat, municipality or municipal authorities can make a positive contribution to this work.
• We will all have to make a valuable contribution in developing the model of clean spaces; it will be possible only when everyone will adopt the habit of using the waste-bin to throw waste. For this, it is necessary to arrange a trash-bin at about 25 meters on every road and intersection so that more and more people can use it.
• Even today, it is commonly seen that the litter from the big shops is thrown on the road, whereas the garbage-can is not very far away from their reach. Enough is enough, we all have to change this habit and use the waste-bin.
• So, let’s all of us take a pledge that we will not spread the dirt on the road and always use the waste-bin. By doing so, we will present the example of a mature, civilized lifestyle in front of the world.

Launching Awareness Mission

Everyone’s participations is important to fulfil any work at the nation level, so if we all want to make our homes, villages and the country clean and beautiful then first of all people must be aware of it. Without the participation of all people, we cannot achieve this goal. So, if we want to clean our country then we all must be aware of cleanliness.

Cleanliness at Public Places

It is often seen that if we go to some public places such as railway stations, bus stations, and buy something to eat there, then we think it our freedom to throw plastic packets or other trash here and there. We do not even realize that we have done something wrong, that we have become irresponsible citizens. So, every citizen has a contribution towards making our country clean.

Recycling of waste

It is possible to reuse many things thrown in the garbage. The waste of resources can be prevented by recycling and the environment can be conserved.

Involvement of children and youth

Children have a crucial role to play in the image of a nation. If children of a country are aware, then they can definitely make their country clean and beautiful, as the strength of any country lies in the youth of that country. So, all children should be made aware of the need of hygiene from the beginning.

Conclusion

They should:

• Whenever we have to clean our house, we should throw the garbage in a fixed place.
• We should never throw the garbage out of the roof or veranda, because it can spread dirt in the streets.
• The drains attached to our house should be covered. These drains also breed worms and many types of mosquitoes, which give birth to several diseases.
• In the public places, the waste-bin should be used to throw any trash.
• The household trash should either be disposed or thrown in such a place where there is no human habitation.

An environment is the green place that surrounds us as living beings. We must for ever keep it clean pollution free in order to live healthy and peaceful life. However, the environmental issues have become a threat to the environment and those living in it. Surely the planet is our home, but people aren’t the only inhabitants, unfortunately they quite often forget about this point. In most cases the environmental issues are caused by harmful human activities on the biophysical environment. The illegal dumping and littering of human can affect our future one day. Humans suffer from their own faults. Pollution endangers the environment and destroys it at the same time. The future will either be green or not at all.

Litter is an important environmental problem in my community Kagiso EXT13 Krugersdorp, South Africa. The Litter consists of waste products that have been disposed of improperly, without consent which is the Rubbish such as paper, chewed gum, cans, and bottles left lying in an open or public place, Cigarette butts are the most littered item in my community and other townships. The Litter comes from different sources, and different people. For instance, it may be intentional litter by motorists discarding litter out of windows, pedestrians dropping litter on the street or footpaths, or people on picnics and at other public space events. The litter in our communities is too much and everywhere, in our home yards, streets, roadways, schools, parks and every open field. The litter has been so extent that it has now blocked our drain systems. When it rains the streets become flooded due to blocked drains blocked by litter causing a big problem in our communities.

Litter can come in many different ways and mainly because people can sometimes be rather careless and negligent. Illegal dumping, Pedestrians dropping garbage in streets and roadways, a lot of times we see someone driving ahead of us, toss an empty bottle out their window. Or it could also be someone crumbling up a receipt and missing the garbage can outside. It could even be a young child that may not know any better, carelessly dropping candy wrappers on the playground. Some do it by mistake without realizing it, and unfortunately, some simply are too careless and purposely throw trash out of their car window, or just toss an empty can across an open field. Whenever you go to an event and there are going to be thousands and thousands of people there, it is going to be hard to control the amount of trash left around. As some people will throw their trash away in the proper bins, sadly, some will leave their trash careless on the ground. Smokers are the big problem, after smoking they just throw their cigarette butts everywhere am connected to the environmental problems because its humans that are causing this problems by illegal dumping and littering.

These contaminants can have dire effects on entire ecosystems, making life more difficult for humans, plants and animals. Humans are particularly susceptible to the health effects from these toxins. We live in an ecosystem where the action of one has the potential to affect the many. Litter can cause a whole range of problems for everyone in our communities. Litter discarded in streets and parks can travel through the storm water system to our rivers and creeks, where it can cause harm to wildlife. Not only is littering affecting us on the streets and our backyards .Litter costs money. Removing litter from the environment costs everyone money. Litter is a threat to public health. Litter attracts vermin and is a breeding ground for bacteria. Items such as broken glass and syringes can be a health hazard in public places. Litter can be a fire hazard. Accumulated litter and careless discarded cigarette butts are potential fire hazards. Litter looks bad. Litter negatively affects the image of places, especially the appearance of communities. Litter attracts litter. Litter sends out a message that people do not care about their area and that it is acceptable to litter.

I took the step to try and solve the problem of illegal dumping and littering in my community. Kagiso Extension 13 is not a very big township everyone know each other. Lucky for me my grandparent have a church in the community and are well known Pastors. Asked permission from my grandfather to use the church to hold my meetings and educate the community especially the youth about the illegal dumping and littering the effects it has on the environment. This can be a good or a bad thing, depending on what the action is. Our mistakes has polluted the environment that we live in and we are waking up and owning to the fact. The community promised to try and reverse the damage. The good news is that every positive action counts. The small effort they make towards a greener environment can start a healing ripple effect. We may still save what is left of our natural resources and make the world a better place to live in for our future generation.

Due to the unhealthy illegal dumping sites in the community, I started a project a Clean-up Campaign, called the community to come together to clean up the sites that have been used as illegal dumping site by the community. The community came in numbers to assist. The date set was on the 27th of April 2019. I choose this date because it’s also Freedom Day a public holiday everyone is at home. Also choose this day of Freedom day because we also have the right to live in a clean community. The theme for the campaign was “YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE” The day came and the community came in numbers and all the resources we will need for the clean-up. Signs and posters containing catchy theme were placed around to encourage cleanliness, rewards and incentives would be given to those who report or warn those who litter. Also a punishment as a fine or an increased service hours will be given to those caught dumping illegally. Environmental cleanliness can be enhanced by cleaning the litter created around us all the time. Try avoiding plastic bag usage, not littering the roads by throwing the garbage, effective disposal of used materials. Also the community must adopt the reusing and recycling techniques and always monitoring the pollution levels.

After the clean-up campaign thought it was wise to have another session (01 May 2019) to educate the community about littering, we had a talk about the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, And Recycle. The importance of recycling and how it can be done.

During the discussion we found out that a lot of people are not working and they can use recycling to get an income. So the community will keep plastic and glass for the unemployed to recycle and send it to the Drop-Off site that’s close to us. Now we are using the waste for good use. The community said they will put the plastics and bottles next to the bin they won’t mix it with the other waste on Thursdays when the rubbish track comes for collections of waste. No recycling is creating work for the unemployed. They can now take the plastics and glass bottles to the drop off sites and get paid. People complained that they don’t have enough space to do they own recycling. The yards are small and they can’t store the waste at their place for recycling so it was better to give it to the needy to take and recycle. Space is a problem to most people, it was also the cause of dumping because they didn’t have a place to store the waste. Recycling is important in today’s world if we want to leave this planet for our future generations.

Cleanliness is next to holiness. Going by this saying, one wonders how godly we perceive ourselves when visiting this campus. Walking down the streets and alleys of the university grounds, one notices half-filled drink bottles and candy wrappers strewn everywhere. White spots distort the plush green scenery of fields, these unpleasant blotches are predominantly pieces of paper. Throwing rubbish in a slapdash fashion creates an eyesore.

If one tries to present an impromptu award for the cleanest lecture hall on campus, it will be surprising that no single hall will win the award. The littering situation in the institution is pathetic because lecture halls too, are victims of trash tossing. When taking a glimpse at the lecture hall, one sees spoiled assignment pages, used ballpoint pens, sweet wrappers, and tissue paper left everywhere, and yet the litter bin at the hall corner is rarely full. We have spared neither the library nor the eatery. Careless students have the audacity to leave used food trays and empty cans on the tables instead of returning them to the designated points. However, the situation in the library is fair because of the hard work of the hawk-eyed librarians.

All observations leave one foremost-unanswered question on the mind, why we do not put the provided trash cans to their rightful purpose. While pondering over this question, I decided to ask my course mates to help me understand this phenomenon. One of the responses received had to do with the trash cans themselves. Size is tremendously beneficial, as some bins are excessively small. A bin with a small circumference requires that one takes extreme care to ensure that intended rubbish lands inside it. Small bins tend to fill up faster than large ones, causing an overflow of trash. The structure of the bins is also crucial. For optimum use of bins, they should not have lids on them. Mysophobia or the fear of germs is what most students suffer from. Many opt to throw litter on the ground rather than opening the bins and putting trash inside them. This is due to the fear that they may contract some germs by touching the dustbin lids. Location of the bins also undermines their use. Location of trash cans at regular intervals is tantamount to proper utilization. This increases the likelihood of many people having easy access. Few students would be considerate enough to walk hundreds of meters just to throw a candy wrapping.

The other response obtained concerned attitude. With numerous assignments and lectures to attend, students tend to rush doing things. Lack of patience is evident especially during the examination period. They view taking the time to ensure proper rubbish disposal as a trivial thing, after all they have more serious things to do. Some students possess a carefree attitude towards cleanliness. Others see that care in disposing trash will leave the cleaners with nothing to do.

SOLID WASTE

The littering of debris on the landscape is the most common concern in tourist destinations. This is owing to the enormous amount of individuals who use the picnic area. Hotel restaurants and resorts improperly dispose of solid waste, resulting in the trash and environmental health issues such as vermin, disease, and pollution. It may also result in the deterioration of tourist attractions. Waste disposal is a big concern in locations with significant concentrations of tourist activities and appealing natural assets, and inappropriate disposal can be a huge detriment to the natural environment, waterways, beautiful regions, and roadways. For example, cruise ships in the Caribbean are projected to generate more than 70,000 tons of rubbish per year. Solid trash and litter can harm the environment by degrading the appearance of the ocean and coastline, as well as causing the mortality of marine species (UNEP, 1997)

ALTERATION AND FRAGMENTATION OF ECOSYSTEM

An ecosystem is a geographical area that includes all living organisms, their physical environments such as soil, water, and air, as well as the natural cycles that keep them alive. Sand beaches of Goa, Maharashtra, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, as well as lakes, riversides, and mountaintops and slops, are often transitional Zones with diverse ecosystems. Because such sites are so appealing to both tourists and developers, the dangers to and pressures on these ecosystems are frequently severe. Tourist infrastructure, tourist activities, recreational boating, and the cruise industry can all harm ecosystems and natural habitats. When recreational boats and cruise ships run aground, they can damage aquatic vegetation by cutting it with their propellers or otherwise destroying it. For example, since the 1960s, nearly 700 acres of wetlands in Jamaica have been destroyed for tourism development (Bacon, 1987). Tourists can harm ecosystems by littering and trampling coral and vegetation while swimming and trekking. This type of harm builds up over time. One or two tourists may not inflict obvious harm, but hundreds can create significant damage over time.

IMPACTS ON WILDLIFE

We all know that one of the negative impacts of tourism in the environment is the wildlife because they can Construction and upkeep of tourist infrastructure, as well as tourist activities, might have a negative impact. The effects of tourist infrastructure can be direct, such as when construction in lower elevations of mountain resorts affects the migratory range of some fauna, or indirect, such as when automobile headlights and resort illumination cause marine turtles to get disoriented (Gartner, 1996). Tourist activities disrupt wildlife in two ways: by changing their food habits and feeding patterns, and by changing their habitat. Tourists feeding animals alter eating habits directly, while littering encourages wildlife to scavenge for food indirectly (Mathieson & Wall, 1982). Wildlife habitat is affected by tourist trampling and the usage of off-road vehicles.

WILDLIFE DISTURBANCE EFFECTS

Tourists can disturb wildlife in a variety of ways, ranging from their physical presence to their movement, noise, and conduct. Different species will react to the resulting disruption in various ways and for various causes. Various species, situations, and times will have different levels of wildlife tolerance and response, as well as any adverse consequences. Different eating patterns, territoriality, breeding seasons and behaviors, lifecycle maturity, alarm behaviors, and ecological niche competition can all contribute to these variances. Some visitor effects, such as passing trampers, may be incidental to wildlife, whilst others, such as ecotourism visits or photography, may be targeted particularly at wildlife. Additional visitor-related consequences can result from how wildlife reacts to the presence of workers; any accompanying construction, maintenance, or research operations; and the impact of the presence of buildings and structures.

The measure of city solid waste has expanded by 68 % since 1980, which conveys it to the present total of 254 million tons per year. 9 billion tons winds up in the sea consistency. Which is significantly in excess of 254 million that is disposed of properly. The site littercostsyou.org states that $11.5 billion is spent in litter cleanup every year. And one of the most common objects found in these cleanups is fast food waste. These wrappers and bottles and other non-disintegrating merchandise, simply get left in the streets and waters and wind up getting eaten by the animals or the animals get stuck in them. More often than not, prompting their death.

A great deal of the merchandise we utilize each day contains plastic and in those plastics are synthetic conceptions, for example, the chemical BPA, BPA is extremely dangerous to any living being. At the point when these plastics are forgotten in the earth, the synthetics spill into the dirt and slaughter the plants. At the point when these creatures, these animals, eat these plastics, the synthetic concoctions go directly into their bodies.

Now you’re probably wondering how exactly this affects us in our own lives. The answer comes from basic biology. As humans we depend on other organisms for food. Therefore, if an excessive number of plants are dying from the chemicals compounds getting into the ground, than the animals that eat those plants will die and then the animals that eat those animals. It will work its way up to the food chain and eventually get back to us.

The way we treat our current environment, influences how we live later on. That is whether we have a future. So what can we do to help? Other than placing rubbish in the trash can there are different approaches to diminish littering. At the point when your trash cans are emptied, the garbage is discarded of in landfills. Landfills are monster openings in the ground that have boundaries on every one of the sides to ensure the synthetic compounds don’t spill into nature. Anyway landfills are ending up less regular now due to the absence of room for them and the gas made from them is polluting the air.

Recycling is one straightforward way that we can lessen the measure of waste in landfills. All it takes is separating recyclable goods, such as paper and plastic from the rest of the trash. The point of recycling according to conserve energy future is quote to “reduce energy usage, reduce the volume of landfills, and preserved natural resources for future use.” Composting is another way we can diminish littering. It includes taking natural waste, and changing over it into a supplement rich sustenance for plants. Composting works great for maintaining a garden or flower bed at home and it also saves money so you don’t have to buy fertilizer from the store. Composting can also be done at a community level. Get some compost piles going, gather as many community members as you can, and start building gardens and flower beds all around the community. It not only brings together the people of the community but provides fresh fruits and vegetables for everyone who needs them.

The moral of the story is littering slaughters, it kills. I know it appears like a basic idea however the measure of litter found in the condition each year demonstrates something else. Trash rakes havoc on all ecosystems and way too many plants and animals die from the litter that is found. Chemicals leak, trash gets eaten, animals get stuck, and it is all our own faults! In any case, we can settle this staggering issue. Everything necessary is a brief period to get that burger wrapper off the walkway, remove that plastic container from the junk and make manure with all the apple centers you toss out. Make the choice today to treat this planet like it really is your home. After all, is it really too much to ask, to make use of one of the billions of trash cans you have access to. I think not!

Global warming, animal extinction, and the depletion of natural resources are among the many indications that the Earth’s natural ecosystem is at risk. The consequences of such environmental issues range from health problems to the planet’s viability. The drive to ‘go green’ is evident in our daily lives, from the food bought to the products used at home. The present concerns are exacerbated by human behavior. Oceanic plastic pollution is a global crisis affecting both humans and marine species alike. As a consequence of modern industrialization, an increasing amount of plastic waste is continuously finding its way into the oceans. It is reported that approximately 40% of plastic is found on the oceanic surface (Centers for Biodiversity, 2018). This has been instigated and maintained by the rising demand for plastics due to their flexibility, versatility, and relatively inexpensive cost.

Over the past few years, several technical solutions have been formulated to curb the issue of plastic pollution. However, they have proven to be ineffective, and this has emphasized the need to highlight the impact of human behavior (Heidbreder, Bablok, Drews, & Menzel, 2019). Literature suggests that there is a gap between plastic-related behavior and high problem awareness (Heidbreder et al., 2019). There are several factors that may explain people’s lack of change. For instance, most environmental crises occur gradually, in that, they take centuries to develop; hence, this inhibits their ability to see the direct consequences of human behavior. Several psychological intervention strategies can be used to combat such kinds of acts, with one channel being the media. Posters, a type of print media, play a significant role in spreading information about reducing plastic usage and raising awareness. Posters placed and distributed in public spaces and prepared with strong visualization served as efficient tools in influencing and changing public behavior and opinion on an issue.

Research has shown that the media is significantly impactful in educating the public and influencing their opinion and conduct. The intensity of their impact is heightened when their visualization and message embrace emotion and rationality, which are regarded as foundational components of human life. Although similar in terms of their basis, there is an unclear disparity between these two elements with regard to advertising (Oñate, Teixidó, & Cagiao, 2018). Regardless, when distinguishing the communication models in the rational discourse, the two typologies can be differentiated. The rational model is divided into an informative and persuasive one (Oñate et al., 2018). The former is the classic version in which preference is given to a specific product, but there are also rational approaches seeking consumer simplicity. Conversely, the latter utilizes emotional arguments to connect with the target audience and make a product more attractive. On the other hand, the emotion model is also subdivided into different communication models (Oñate et al., 2018). The classic emotional model retorts to the description of emotional communication, in which other archetypes, such as the social creativity model, should be incorporated. Conversely, in the Fame model, the advertising principle is based on instigating and fostering popularity.

Methods

Experimental Design and Procedure

The study embraced a quasi-experimental field design that comprised of three conditions. It primarily emphasized the comparison of the effects of rational and emotional posters. The participants subjected to the three conditions constituted 96 college students; with 48 respondents (50%) having a psychology background for the control condition, and the other half, 50%, having no psychology background. Participants were recruited, and questionnaires were administered on the same day. Two types of questionnaires were administered. First, the baseline (survey with no treatment, which acted as the control), followed by questionnaires embedded with rational and emotional posters that constituted the experimental condition.

Questionnaire

Questionnaires were used to evaluate the perception of posters and their psychological impacts. One only contained questions, the other contained questions regarding a poster with an emotional theme, and the third, questions regarding a poster (Poster A) with a rational theme (Poster B). The contents of the questionnaires fell under two topics; the environmental concern measure and the green scale. The 96 respondents were randomly approached and handed out the questionnaires immediately after obtaining consent. Almost everyone can produce posters; hence, they are a relatively cheap method of spreading information. The first items of the survey focused on the gender and age of the participants. After that, the participants reviewed the two posters, and the questions on these two images were asked. These items revolved around their perception of plastic pollution, their littering behavior, and possible mitigation strategies. The answers were graded on point rating scales from 1, suggesting ‘not at all’ or ‘strongly disagree.’

Statistical Analysis and Manipulation Check

SPSS statistics version 20 was used to analyze the data collected. The three data collection tools were contrasted based on their total environmental concern measure (ECM) and total green scale (GS). The inferential statistical methods used comprised the Shapiro-Wilk’s, the Freidman’s, and Post Hoc tests. The criterion for the main hypotheses on the difference between the emotional and rational posters was that they hold specific characteristics. Consequentially, the below manipulation check hypotheses were formulated:

In terms of gender, 68 (70.8%) of the participants were female and 28 (29.2%) male.

In determining, the relationship between and within groups, the Shapiro-Wilk’s test was first used to test for normality since the sample size was relatively small. In table 1, for all conditions except GS1, the p-value was less than 0.05, therefore, indicating a significant result. In simpler terms, this meant that the data was not normally distributed, and only the GS1 was an exception.

Subsequently, due to the lack of normality, Friedman’s test was used to test for the difference between groups. The results demonstrated that there was a statistically significant difference between the baseline questionnaires and those embedded with rational and emotional posters, χ2 (5) = 395.739, p = 0.000.

Comparison between the Baseline and Experimental Conditions

A Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed that the questionnaire with the rational poster did not elicit a statistically significant change in the environmental concern measure (ECM) as compared to the baseline questionnaire (Z= -1.531, p

Have you ever wondered how consequential oceanic pollution and excessive use of plastic is?How would you like it if you were given rubbish for dinner? Good morning, the administration of Brisbane state high school, I am Rachel. Today, I will be presenting the most effective advertisement of all, “what goes in the ocean, goes in you”. ‘What goes in the ocean, goes in you’, is a powerful and vivid ad from the Surfrider foundation. The purpose of this is to make the administration of the BSHS and it’s students be more conscious of the oceanic pollution around them and to make us question how severe the oceanic pollution around us is and how we can prevent this from happening, which is by recycling or minimising plastic around us as much as possible. This advertisement is strongly compelling , through the use of visual metaphor, Hyperbole, and statistics/facts. It allows the administration of BSHS and it’s students to understand the detrimental effect of excessive use of plastic and littering at the sea-shore.

From afar , we can see a delicious sushi that looks trendy and appetising , waiting to be devoured. However, when examined more carefully, it can be noted that the sushi is actually made out of plastic and litter. How would it make you feel if you were to go into a sushi shop ,and instead of delicious ingredients waiting to be purchased and devoured , it is wrapped with straws and plastic? This may cause us to feel repulsed, disgusted, or bewildered. The foundation strategically manipulate our feelings, by stimulating the emotional trigger that influence how we judge or make a decision in order for us to question ourselves of our actions and morals towards oceanic littering and our use of plastic. The Surfrider foundation uses the sushi to emphasise that littering in the ocean will automatically end up in our food if we continue to neglect this situation. The foundation indicate this in an indirect way through the food we eat, to make us aware of the how much destruction we have caused through our use of litter and littering in the oceans, and what are the potential consequence if it continues.

‘What goes in the ocean, goes in you’ is written in bold blue letters. The use of hyperbole is being expressed in this confronting text. It exaggerates that everything in the ocean goes in you, although that is not true in reality. The foundation wants to makes us feel aware of how the situation of oceanic pollution and our imprudent use of plastic is much more critical than we had imagined, and it will effect our current lives if we don’t take-action immediately. It makes a personal connection with us, suggesting that the cause of the oceanic pollution is from us, therefore, we will take -action, by recycling and minimising the use of plastic around us and be aware of littering in oceans , or face the consequence if we let the situation continues.

This confronting statement is immediately validated by a statement of facts and statistics. This increases the trustworthiness from us, as many people will start to believe in something that the advertisement is trying to persuade once statistics and facts are mentioned, as it increases the credibility and reliability from the audience, since facts are rational and true.

This advertisement successfully achieved their purpose, making us question our own morals and actions towards oceanic littering, while also informing us the serious threat of our environment , posed by oceanic littering and excessive use of plastic. All this elements are all carefully arranged to meet the main purpose of the ad, which is to make us recycle and minimise our use of plastic so it doesn’t end up on our dinner-plates in the future. In conclusion , this advertisement would be most impactful to our whole school environment, as it motivates students to address the severe environmental situation we are currently facing and take-action for it.

Littering is a growing issue in the United States (U.S.) that is not discussed very often, it is a topic that is frequently ignored but at the rate that it is increasing it can no longer be ignored and desperately needs to be discussed. Littering is a long-term problem with unfavorable consequences that will not only affect us in the coming years, but will affect our future children and grandchildren. Littering has always been a major issue around the world, especially in impoverished countries due to lack of trash receptacles and lack of littering laws. The trash will continue to rise and the high cleanup costs will continue to increase as the years progress. According to Conserve Energy Future, a blog that discusses littering as well as global warming, pollution, and other issue they claim that “The most frequent littered stuff include fast food packaging, cigarette butts, used drink bottles, chewing gum wrappers, broken electrical equipment parts, toys, broken glass, food scraps or green wastes.” The perspective people have on littering needs to change because if we keep the same attitude we once had more ecosystems will continue to fail, it will pollute the air more than it already is, and it will hurt the economy more when all is said and done.

Certain states in the U.S. are more likely to litter than others, the reasons may be certain festivals or concerts in the city, how much construction is constantly being done in a particular area, and even how high the rate of homelessness is in particular locations. Laziness makes it very easy for a citizen to litter. It has always been a growing trend, and most citizens would rather throw their trash on the floor or out the window of their car rather than going out of their way for a trash can and disposing of it properly. Age is also a big factor when it comes down to this. Litter, it costs you states that, “According to a national study, those between the ages of 18-34 deliberately litter. And the most common object found during a clean-up is fast food litter.”

Many citizens lack the education when it comes to littering in the U.S. and many have the mindset that there will be little to no consequences when they only “litter a little bit”, or “I don’t litter as much as others”. If a majority of people in the U.S. had this mindset every day for a couple of years, the amount of litter that would pile up would be unfathomable. According to Ashley May from USA Today she says “Even though smoking rates are down nationally, tobacco trash is among the most frequently littered items in America.” Often times heavy littering is traced back to highly populated cities in the U.S. with constant construction projects or cities with concerts, raves, and festivals. Laura Parker from National Geographic states that “Building and construction produces over 72 million tones of plastic.” Raves and festivals are usually aimed at the teen demographic and Katie Bain from LA Weekly claims that “Music festivals are environmental disasters. And that festivals such as Coachella, EDC, and Lollapalooza don’t make big efforts to be green, and that recycling and trash bins are confusingly labeled which results in piled high garbage.”

Littering in the long-run is slowly going to increase the destruction of the Earth, it’s ecosystem, wild life, oceans, and humans in the end. Litter also facilitates disease, trash can collect multiple diseases and can become contaminated and once it reaches the ocean or other ways of it affecting us that’s when we can begin getting sick, animals may also begin to die off or get very sick if they eat this. Conserve Energy Future says, “Toxic chemicals and disease causing microorganisms in the trash may also contaminate water systems and spread water-borne diseases if animals or humans consume the water.”

Air pollution and water pollution is also problem caused due to littering, Cigarette Butts are one of the highest source of litter, along with Aluminum Cans and Plastic Bags. Clean Water Future states that “It causes a variety of problems to the ecosystem as it enters our streams, rivers and bays, and that most of the litter found is single-plastic food and cardboard trash. And that this litter almost to never biodegrades and are very harmful to animals living there (Litter Pollution)”. Most of the litter just sits there and collects and will continue to pill up as the years progress.

Most of the litter just sits there and collects and will continue to pill up as the years progress. As everything continues to happen, we still continue to clean up the mess with high costing annual clean ups. This is a lot of money going down the drain for no reason, we make a mess and clean it and continue the cycle with not getting better at trying to reduce littering. Adopt-A-Highway states that “Litter clean-up costs the U.S. more than $11.5 billion annually”. That is an outrageous amount of money to clean up litter and there is no reason why it should be that high. The U.S. could use that money to pay for school education or other things that need to be fixed and instead it’s being used to clean up fast food containers and cigarette butts.

Hopefully sometime in the near future we can unite to do something about this problem that faces our country. The problem will continue to rise and will not stop until we’re suffering from air pollution or we see heaps of garbage everywhere we turn. This is not a problem we should be facing as a country of the 21st century with the amount of intellect and resources we have.

If you take a quick look around you, plastic is everywhere. Plastic could be in your room, bathroom, kitchen, outside, etc. Some of the plastic items people make are supposed to be used over and over again but unfortunately, the plastic we use is only used for a short amount of time before we throw it out. In fact, experts say that 50% of the plastic we use is only used once before we throw it away. These plastic items can end up being the ocean, which is very concerning. For instance, imagine being a whale, watching your friends choking in front of you as a result of them eating a piece of a single-use plastic fragment floating in the water. Imagine you, being the one that is choking and dying from plastic, and you can’t do anything about it. All of this happens because we are the ones littering and throwing plastic into the ocean and landscapes which threatens wildlife and marine life. There are an estimated 46,000-1,000,000 plastic fragments floating in the water and over 100,000 marine animals have died from plastic every year. But, these are the only ones that were found and recorded. Millions of animals will potentially die from plastic bags and water bottles. Animals could be dying right now but yet, we keep throwing plastic waste into the ocean and littering. Plastic greatly affects animal and human lives and can change how we live and our daily lifestyle. Plastic also causes global issues and pollutes our environment. Plastic is very life threatening, and if we do not stop or reduce this now, it will hugely affect our future and daily lives and of course, our one and only, planet earth.

Almost all objects made from non-biodegradable plastic contribute to global warming. This means that plastic can take up to hundreds, if not thousands, of years to break down and be absorbed into the soil and be recycled naturally. The plastic that are thrown out in the landfills are most likely still there and can stay there for many, many generations before it breaks down. Global warming is a serious threat as it causes extreme weather, melts glaciers, rises sea levels, and more. It also increases the chances of natural disasters to occur like floods around the world and can gratefully impact human life. Plastic straws cannot be broken down naturally by decomposers and releasing good bacteria that will benefit the environment, but instead, plastic straws break into smaller pieces and releases harmful chemicals into the soil, air, and water. We need water, soil, and air to survive so this is a extremely dangerous threat. These concerns can affect our daily lives and make our lives harder to live. Some solutions of reducing plastic is burning the plastic but that leads to pollution into the air. Breathing polluted air can affect our health and cause respiratory problems. Through, the production of making plastic bags and other kinds of plastic creates greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases are the gases that cause global warming. Since plastic bags are so lightweight, they can travel around landscapes really easy which can put more and more animals to danger. It also takes a lot of energy to make a plastic bag. To produce 9 bags, it takes the same amount of energy to drive a car 1 kilometer. Creating bottled water takes 2,000 times the the energy required to produce tap water! We could be using this energy for other important use but instead, we are using energy to make plastic items. Plastic doesn’t just affect earth and contribute global warming, it massively affects animals and humans lifestyles.

Tens of thousands of whales, birds, seals, turtles, and more are killed every year from plastic bag litter in the marine and wildlife environment. Once the plastic bag is ingested by the animal, it cannot be digested and so it stays in the stomach. If the animal potentially keeps consuming plastic, it can fill up their stomach until it is completely full with harmful chemicals and toxins and kill them. Humans buy about 1 million plastic water bottles per minute and only 23% of plastic water bottles are recycled within the U.S. This means 365,000,000 plastic water bottles are bought every year! Plastic bottles contain a chemical called Bisphenol A (BPA) which is used to make the plastic hard and clear. “BPA is an endocrine disruptor which has been proven to be hazardous to human health” states onegreenplanet.org. BPA can cause a lot of health problems including types of cancer, neurological difficulties, early puberty in girls, and even defects newborn babies. A study found that 96% of women in the U.S. have BPA in their bodies. Recently, a sperm whale had died from consuming plastic. This sperm whale is about estimating to being 7 years old and sperm whales can live up to 70 years! This is unbelievable because animals that can live for decades are dying because of plastic and litter in the ocean. The plastic items that we are making are supposed to be used over and over again for a long time. People are not noticing these concerns that are happening to our world and it is slowly tearing our world apart everyday. We need our earth to last as long as possible, but in order to do that, we need to stop and reduce the use of plastic.

We only have one earth, with limited resources and limited space. Instead of throwing plastic in the trash, try reusing it. There are plenty of ways of reusing or reducing the use of plastic. You can sometimes recycle plastic bags that aren’t too dirty with your local recycling center. Check with your local recycling center if they can take the type of plastic bag you are throwing out. But if they can not take the plastic, you can reuse them in bathrooms, in the kitchen, in the garden, whilst shopping, and even in your car! Instead of using a plastic bag while you shop, keep a reusable bag with you at all times. Countries are starting to ban plastic bags or even put a small price for the use of plastic bags. In the bathroom, you can put your electronic devices in a plastic bag in case you want to read while you are in the tub, or you can fill a plastic bag with distilled white vinegar and tie it around your showerhead to remove soap scum and mildew. In the kitchen, you can store halves of peppers, onions, tomatoes, in a small bag. You can also put store bought treats like cookies, buns, bread, etc. in a zipper plastic bag to keep them fresh for longer periods of time and reuse the same bag over and over again. Or, if you like baking cakes, you can make your own DIY plastic piping bag!