A Look at Littering

Can We Change the World Just by Changing Our Own Actions?

A Look at Littering

     Pollution is one of the biggest global killers, affecting over 100 million people. That’s comparable to global diseases like malaria and HIV.

     In 1975, the National Academy of Sciences estimated that ocean-based sources, such as cargo ships and cruise liners had dumped 14 billion pounds of garbage into the ocean. Over 1 million seabirds and 100,000 sea mammals are killed by pollution every year.

     Recycling and composting prevented 85 million tons of material away from being disposed of in 2010, up from 18 million tons in 1980.

     Human activities contaminate ecosystems around the world, from pole to pole, from the highest mountains to the ocean deep. 

     Toxic chemicals can be found in pristine forests and the blood of Arctic animals. Litter floats beneath the surface of oceans miles away from land. Even excess noise and light are interrupting natural patterns and disrupting the lives of animals and people.

     When toxic chemicals and metals enter the environment, organisms may absorb them through their skin or ingest them in their food or water. Animals higher in the food chain accumulate these toxins in higher and higher concentrations, a process called biomagnification.

     Top predators—including fish, birds, and mammals—can have much higher levels of these toxins in their bodies, making them more likely to experience the diseases, birth defects, genetic mutations, and other deleterious effects of these poisons.

      Increasingly, there is particular concern lately about three types of chemicals: chemicals that persist in the environment and accumulate in the bodies of wildlife and people, endocrine disruptors that can interfere with hormones, and chemicals that cause cancer or damage DNA.

     Changing a societal norm like littering begins with each of us. Each person must accept responsibility for their actions and influence the actions of others around them at home, at school, in your place of business, and in the community at large. 

     Littering is an individual behavioral problem or a business problem that can become a problem for your community. By modeling proper trash and waste disposal, you will cause others to consider changing their behaviors and embodying appropriate actions, too.