The following essay talks about the issue of littering and how it has evolved from an insignificant issue to the monumental problem it is today. It also talks about the main culprits of littering and what it is they actually litter.
Littering has been an issue in America for about a quarter century and has taking a back seat to other current events. The reality is that the effect of littering is more widespread, as in happening in more places, than it has been in the last 25 years (ConnDOT, 2008). on not just the individuals living in an area, but the living conditions of a community
The research done by Wesley Schultz, a co-director of Keep America Beautiful, helps us to understand what work has been done and how we can fix the problem of littering. The idea is that an aspect of littering that is very peculiar is that 89% of all littering happens within 29 feet of a trash receptacle (Schultz et. al., 2009). So the issue with all of this is, if all these facts are true, why do people litter despite 78% of Americans classifying littering as an important issue? (Schultz et. al., 2009). The three most common types of litter in America in descending order are cigarette butts, fast food wrappers and plastic bottles and their wrappers. They each are among the most common litter for different reasons and they all reveal traits and characteristics about their previous owner .
First off, cigarette butts are by far the most common form of litter, accounting for 38% of the country’s litter (Schultz & Stein, 2009). Their small size and uselessness give individuals the perfect reason to discard of them wherever they want instead. One way we can try to discourage individuals from dropping cigarette butts whenever they like, is by trying to get individuals to not smoke cigarettes in the first place. The amount of cigarette litter directly correlates with the amount of smokers in the area (Register, 2000).
There are many side effect of cigarette litter in a community. First of all, the presence of cigarette litter decreases the value of a home by 7% (Keep America Beautiful, 2008), causing individuals trying to move out of dirty neighborhood to have trouble selling houses. Also, many people believe that the littering of the butts are insignificant because of their size. The actuality is that about 95% of cigarette filters are composed of cellulose acetate, a form of plastic which does not quickly degrade and can persist in the environment (Keep America Beautiful, 2008). But it isn’t fair to blame all of the littering on the citizens in the city, the government funds have not been allowing for proper beautification to happen at enough counties in Connecticut as only 47% of all our parks have a ash receptacle for cigarettes (Schultz et. al., 2009).
The next most common litter is fast food wrappers, accounting for 22% of all of America’s litter (Schultz & Stein, 2009). 83% of Americans eat fast food at least one a month (Register, 2000), so it isn’t hard to see where all the fast food litter is coming from. Also, like the cigarettes, since there is almost no use for fast food wrappers it is very easy to just leave it on the ground around you. The best way to try and get rid of this kind of litter is to try and promote others to not eat fast food.
Another issue with scattering trash on the ground is that it creates the view that, since a community looks run down, more crime will happen. In a study in Chicago, one of the many factors that effects criminal actions is littering (Geers, 2011).. According to the same study, it shows that as the perception of a neighborhood become more negative, the occurrences of crime become more prevalent at a rate that varies inversely (Geers, 2011)
One more kind of litter, plastic bottles, accounts for 19% of our country’s litter (Schultz & Stein, 2009). This kind of litter is especially careless, considering that these bottles are recyclable and can be made into new and improved products. People who throw plastic bottles on the ground should try and avoid doing this by switching to reusable water bottles. This will, in turn, keep these individuals from disrespecting our environment. Any recyclable object that we just put in the normal trash will most likely find its way to a landfill. If it is in a landfill, its ability to be formed into a new object will be wasted, which is what this project is trying to change.
The issue of littering is still there with even some of the smaller culprits, such as beer bottles and chewing gum which count for 3% and 1.6 % respectively (Schultz & Stein, 2009). However, other factors can be brought into play other than what the litter is. Out of 150 people that admitting to littering beforehand in a telephone survey, 62% said that they were just too tired to get to the garbage can. Even more, after the survey, 47% of the 62% turned out to have no higher than a high school diploma (Schultz et. al., 2009). So it is clear that there might be a connection between education and littering.
A quote from Kofi Annan, which reads “Knowledge is power, Information is liberating, Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family”, is, in a nutshell, what this project need to do in order to accomplish its goals. It is important that individuals understand that many sources of excessive litter come from negative activities from an health standpoint, such as smoking cigarettes that contribute to emphysema or eating an unreal amount of fast food. In addition to trying to beautify your community, it is also important to get the word out and make more people that are knowledgeable about the decisions they make. The more positives that an individual knows about beautification, the more likely littering can be mitigated. For example, if someone is seen dropping cigarette butts where they are sitting, it would be beneficial to explain to the individual that they are not only hurting the environment with their litter, they are hurting themselves with the cigarette smoke they are inhaling. If you tell them this, it will make them think before they litter or smoke. It is important that it is not in a accusatory manner
Even more, with the $1.3 billion budget for cleaning only 16% had a recycling bin for recyclable materials (Schultz et. al., 2009). The fact that parks do not have enough resources doesn’t help the fact at hand. The parks and recreation department in Connecticut have to try and fund their parks in order to expect any improvement on the issue of littering in the state. Keeping our communities clean require all individuals to contribute and work together and one of the easiest ways to help is to recycle. As small as I seems, if all people in the US picked up and threw away just one piece of litter, then the amount of litter would decreases a whopping 28% (Gray, 2012). This would be a great way to help not just our communities, but it will help our entire environment in the long run.
All these facts have been explained because they all directly correlate with what this project is trying to accomplish. The project is going to several of the public parks in Connecticut and picking up litter to help restore them to their old beautiful selves. Also, at each site cleaned, we are planning to place a sign describing to the inhabitants of the park the reasons and benefits of our actions. Looking up statistics has helped us to make logistical decisions that will assist us in our clean up. So before cleaning our first park, ask individuals. First, since some of the facts about the litter are quite surprising, we decided to place statistics about litter on the sign to help individuals better visualize the issue at hand. Also, since it is the most common type of litter we were to expect accordion to our research, we decided to separate the cigarette butts from the normal litter. This, in turn, allowed for us to have another statistic to tell individuals. The stat was that for every 5 bags of normal litter we collected, we filled 1 bag to the brim with nothing but cigarette butts.
So, in all, there are many factors that cause people to litter. According to Schultz, the only way to stop littering is to “find a way to make people cut back on things they can litter” (Schultz et. al., 2009). But even with this tidbit of info, sometimes it is just laziness and other times it has to do with their background. Also, the effects should be more than enough for an individual to understand. But, despite any external factors, littering has always been and always will be morally wrong. So it is important that we keep our communities clean and beautiful and hopefully this project will be a catalyst to the community.
The research done by Wesley Schultz, a co-director of Keep America Beautiful, helps us to understand what work has been done and how we can fix the problem of littering. The idea is that an aspect of littering that is very peculiar is that 89% of all littering happens within 29 feet of a trash receptacle (Schultz et. al., 2009). So the issue with all of this is, if all these facts are true, why do people litter despite 78% of Americans classifying littering as an important issue? (Schultz et. al., 2009). The three most common types of litter in America in descending order are cigarette butts, fast food wrappers and plastic bottles and their wrappers. They each are among the most common litter for different reasons and they all reveal traits and characteristics about their previous owner .
First off, cigarette butts are by far the most common form of litter, accounting for 38% of the country’s litter (Schultz & Stein, 2009). Their small size and uselessness give individuals the perfect reason to discard of them wherever they want instead. One way we can try to discourage individuals from dropping cigarette butts whenever they like, is by trying to get individuals to not smoke cigarettes in the first place. The amount of cigarette litter directly correlates with the amount of smokers in the area (Register, 2000).
There are many side effect of cigarette litter in a community. First of all, the presence of cigarette litter decreases the value of a home by 7% (Keep America Beautiful, 2008), causing individuals trying to move out of dirty neighborhood to have trouble selling houses. Also, many people believe that the littering of the butts are insignificant because of their size. The actuality is that about 95% of cigarette filters are composed of cellulose acetate, a form of plastic which does not quickly degrade and can persist in the environment (Keep America Beautiful, 2008). But it isn’t fair to blame all of the littering on the citizens in the city, the government funds have not been allowing for proper beautification to happen at enough counties in Connecticut as only 47% of all our parks have a ash receptacle for cigarettes (Schultz et. al., 2009).
The next most common litter is fast food wrappers, accounting for 22% of all of America’s litter (Schultz & Stein, 2009). 83% of Americans eat fast food at least one a month (Register, 2000), so it isn’t hard to see where all the fast food litter is coming from. Also, like the cigarettes, since there is almost no use for fast food wrappers it is very easy to just leave it on the ground around you. The best way to try and get rid of this kind of litter is to try and promote others to not eat fast food.
Another issue with scattering trash on the ground is that it creates the view that, since a community looks run down, more crime will happen. In a study in Chicago, one of the many factors that effects criminal actions is littering (Geers, 2011).. According to the same study, it shows that as the perception of a neighborhood become more negative, the occurrences of crime become more prevalent at a rate that varies inversely (Geers, 2011)
One more kind of litter, plastic bottles, accounts for 19% of our country’s litter (Schultz & Stein, 2009). This kind of litter is especially careless, considering that these bottles are recyclable and can be made into new and improved products. People who throw plastic bottles on the ground should try and avoid doing this by switching to reusable water bottles. This will, in turn, keep these individuals from disrespecting our environment. Any recyclable object that we just put in the normal trash will most likely find its way to a landfill. If it is in a landfill, its ability to be formed into a new object will be wasted, which is what this project is trying to change.
The issue of littering is still there with even some of the smaller culprits, such as beer bottles and chewing gum which count for 3% and 1.6 % respectively (Schultz & Stein, 2009). However, other factors can be brought into play other than what the litter is. Out of 150 people that admitting to littering beforehand in a telephone survey, 62% said that they were just too tired to get to the garbage can. Even more, after the survey, 47% of the 62% turned out to have no higher than a high school diploma (Schultz et. al., 2009). So it is clear that there might be a connection between education and littering.
A quote from Kofi Annan, which reads “Knowledge is power, Information is liberating, Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family”, is, in a nutshell, what this project need to do in order to accomplish its goals. It is important that individuals understand that many sources of excessive litter come from negative activities from an health standpoint, such as smoking cigarettes that contribute to emphysema or eating an unreal amount of fast food. In addition to trying to beautify your community, it is also important to get the word out and make more people that are knowledgeable about the decisions they make. The more positives that an individual knows about beautification, the more likely littering can be mitigated. For example, if someone is seen dropping cigarette butts where they are sitting, it would be beneficial to explain to the individual that they are not only hurting the environment with their litter, they are hurting themselves with the cigarette smoke they are inhaling. If you tell them this, it will make them think before they litter or smoke. It is important that it is not in a accusatory manner
Even more, with the $1.3 billion budget for cleaning only 16% had a recycling bin for recyclable materials (Schultz et. al., 2009). The fact that parks do not have enough resources doesn’t help the fact at hand. The parks and recreation department in Connecticut have to try and fund their parks in order to expect any improvement on the issue of littering in the state. Keeping our communities clean require all individuals to contribute and work together and one of the easiest ways to help is to recycle. As small as I seems, if all people in the US picked up and threw away just one piece of litter, then the amount of litter would decreases a whopping 28% (Gray, 2012). This would be a great way to help not just our communities, but it will help our entire environment in the long run.
All these facts have been explained because they all directly correlate with what this project is trying to accomplish. The project is going to several of the public parks in Connecticut and picking up litter to help restore them to their old beautiful selves. Also, at each site cleaned, we are planning to place a sign describing to the inhabitants of the park the reasons and benefits of our actions. Looking up statistics has helped us to make logistical decisions that will assist us in our clean up. So before cleaning our first park, ask individuals. First, since some of the facts about the litter are quite surprising, we decided to place statistics about litter on the sign to help individuals better visualize the issue at hand. Also, since it is the most common type of litter we were to expect accordion to our research, we decided to separate the cigarette butts from the normal litter. This, in turn, allowed for us to have another statistic to tell individuals. The stat was that for every 5 bags of normal litter we collected, we filled 1 bag to the brim with nothing but cigarette butts.
So, in all, there are many factors that cause people to litter. According to Schultz, the only way to stop littering is to “find a way to make people cut back on things they can litter” (Schultz et. al., 2009). But even with this tidbit of info, sometimes it is just laziness and other times it has to do with their background. Also, the effects should be more than enough for an individual to understand. But, despite any external factors, littering has always been and always will be morally wrong. So it is important that we keep our communities clean and beautiful and hopefully this project will be a catalyst to the community.