Littering is the improper disposal of waste in public or private spaces. This issue significantly contributes to environmental pollution, harming natural surroundings and living organisms.
How Litter Harms Ecosystems
Litter significantly impacts natural environments by contaminating soil and polluting water bodies. As discarded items degrade, they can release harmful chemicals and microparticles into the soil, altering its composition and potentially affecting plant growth. For example, cigarette butts, a common form of litter, can leach arsenic and formaldehyde into the ground.
Water systems, including rivers, lakes, and oceans, also face severe pollution from litter. Plastics, in particular, break down into microplastics that can permeate aquatic environments and enter the food chain. Chemical runoff from various litter types can decrease oxygen levels in water and introduce toxins, making water unsafe for aquatic life and terrestrial animals that rely on these sources. This contamination disrupts natural processes, degrades habitats, and unbalances the overall health of diverse ecosystems.
Threats to Animals and People
Discarded litter poses direct hazards to animals, often leading to injury, illness, or death. Animals may ingest plastic or other harmful materials, mistaking them for food, which can cause internal injuries or blockages. Furthermore, entanglement in items like discarded fishing lines, plastic bags, or six-pack rings can trap animals, leading to suffocation, starvation, or severe wounds. Over one million animals are estimated to die annually from ingesting or becoming entangled in improperly discarded trash.
Litter also presents risks to human health. Direct physical hazards include cuts from broken glass or punctures from discarded needles, which can transmit diseases. Indirect health risks stem from litter attracting pests like rodents and insects, which can then spread bacteria and parasites. Additionally, the contamination of water sources and the presence of microplastics in the food chain through environmental pathways can pose long-term health concerns for humans.
The Long Lifespan of Trash
Many types of litter persist in the environment for extended periods, contributing to widespread accumulation and prolonged harm. Plastics are particularly durable; a plastic bottle, for example, can take approximately 450 years to decompose. Other plastic materials, such as single-use plastic bags, can endure for 10 to 1,000 years, while monofilament fishing lines can last up to 600 years.
Glass, another common litter item, is virtually non-biodegradable and can remain in the environment for an estimated one million years or even longer. Aluminum cans also have a long lifespan, typically taking 200 to 500 years to break down through corrosion. Even seemingly less harmful items like paper can take 2 to 6 weeks to decompose, though this process can be much longer in landfills due to a lack of oxygen. Organic waste, while decomposing faster, still contributes to methane gas emissions when breaking down in oxygen-limited environments like landfills. The extended persistence of these materials means that discarded trash remains a continuous problem, affecting ecosystems and living organisms for generations.