What is litter? The Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 defines litter as any solid or liquid domestic or commercial refuse, debris or rubbish and, without limiting the generality of the above, includes any glass, metal, cigarette butts, paper, fabric, wood, food, abandoned vehicle parts, construction and demolition material, garden remnants and clippings, soil, sand or rocks, and any other material, substance or thing deposited in or on a place if its size, shape, nature or volume makes the place where it was deposited disorderly or detrimentally affects the proper use of that place, deposited in or on a place, whether or not it has any value when or after being deposited in or on the place.
Larger hazardous items such as tires, appliances, electronics and large industrial containers are often dumped in isolated locations, such as National Forests and other public land. It is a human impact on the environment and is a serious environmental issue in many countries. Litter can exist in the environment for long periods of time before degrading and be transported large distances into the world's oceans. Litter can affect quality of life. Cigarette butts are the most littered item in the world, with 4.5 trillion discarded annually. The cellulose acetate butts are not biodegradable and, as a result, their chemical decomposition can take many decades. Littering is a critical environmental issue in our surrounding. No one likes living in a dirty environment as litter has many negative effects. Apart from litter being a scenic pollutant it brings about numerous other negative effects such as health problem and injuries to human and animals. Litters are responsible for attracting bacteria and vermin which can result to diseases for people living around. Plastic and broken glasses can cause injuries both to human and animal. Wild animals such as bird may also ingest some of the small bits of plastic resulting to death (Anna, 2009).
Litter can harm humans and the environment in a number of different ways. These tires were discarded on the Middle Branch of Baltimore Harbor in this photo from 1973. Tire dumping is still a concern today and could benefit from tire recycling. Hazardous materials contained within litter and illegally dumped rubbish can leach into water sources, contaminate soil and pollute the air. Tires are the most often dumped hazardous waste. In 2007 the United States generated 262 million scrap tires. Thirty-eight states have laws that ban whole tires being deposited in landfills. Many of these discarded tires end up illegally dumped on public lands. Tires can become a breeding ground for insect vectors which can transmit disease to humans. Mosquitoes, which breed in stagnant water, can transmit West Nile Virus and Malaria. Rodents nest in accumulated tires and can transmit diseases such as Hantavirus
When tires are burned they can smolder for long periods of time emitting hundreds of chemical and compounds that pollute the air causing respiratory illnesses. Additionally the residue left behind can harm the soil and leach into groundwater.
This bolus from a Hawaiian albatross (either a Black-footed Albatross or a Laysan Albatross) has several ingested flotsam items, including monofilament from fishing nets and a discarded toothbrush. Ingestion of plastic flotsam is an increasing hazard for albatrosses, Tern Island, French Frigate Shoals. Visual pollution is a major effect of litter. Open containers such as paper cups or beverage cans can hold rainwater, providing breeding locations for mosquitoes. In addition, a spark has the potential to hit a piece of litter like a paper bag which could start a fire.
Litter can be hazardous. Debris falling from vehicles is an increasing cause of automobile accidents. Over 800 Americans are killed each year in debris/litter-attributed motor vehicle collisions. Discarded dangerous goods, sharps waste and pathogens resulting from litter can cause accidental harm to humans. Litter also carries substantial cost to the economy. Cleaning up litter in the U.S. costs hundreds of dollars per ton, about ten times more than the cost of trash disposal, for a cost totaling about $11 billion per year.
Animals may get trapped or poisoned with litter in their habitats. Cigarette butts and filters are a threat to wildlife and have been found in the stomachs of fish, birds and whales, who have mistaken them for food. Also animals can get trapped in the rubbish and be in serious discomfort. For example, the plastic used to hold beverage cans together can get wrapped around animals' necks and cause them to suffocate as they grow. Organic litter in large amounts can cause water pollution and lead to algal blooms. Cigarettes could also start fires if they are not put out and then discarded in the environment
Public waste containers or street bins are provided by local authorities to be used as a convenient place for the disposal and collection of litter. Increasingly both general waste and recycling options are provided. Local councils pick the waste up and take it to refuse or recycling. However there are issues with this approach. If the bins are not regularly emptied, then overfilling of bins occurs and can increase litter indirectly. Some local authorities will only take responsibility for rubbish that is placed in the bins, which means that litter remains a problem. People may blame a lack of well-placed bins for their littering. Hazardous materials may be incorrectly disposed of in the bins and they can encourage dumpster diving. From our litter experience we concluded that most of the litter that covering our surrounding is made up of recyclable items. Out of the total amount of litter that we collected approximately 70% was made up of plastic, papers and aluminum and glass. About 25% of our collected litter composed of aluminum waste. Our load of litter was made up of numerous used and discarded aluminum beverage cans. This cans are very recyclable through smelting and forming them a new. 30% of the collected waste was composed of plastic bottles and bags. Pet bottles, HDPE bottles used to package juices, water, milk and detergents and plastic bags used in wrapping commodities also formed a huge part of our litter collection. These items are also recyclable. Other items that contributed to a huge proportion of our collected litter were glass bottles. This formed 15 % of our total collection. Glass bottles are also recyclable. This is means that majority of the litter that taint the image of our environment can be put into good use. Only 30 percent of the trash we collected was not recyclable.
Very few people are innocent about littering. Most of the litter we collected seems to have been dropped of by pedestrian, people in moving vehicles or spilled over from uncovered pick up and garbage tracks. The largest percentage seems to be beverage cans and plastic bottle dropped of by moving motorist. Most people understand that litter has negative effects on the environment but they just over look this issue. Most of these people assume that it is just that one beverage can or juice bottle that they are throwing through their car window ignorant of the fact that, if few other people do the same it will lead to a littering hazard. In order to get rid of litter and make our environments clean and safe to live in every individual need to start acting responsibly. Everyone should dispose his or her garbage in the appropriate place and ensure that their environment remain litter free.
It is also important to educate the society on the advantages of prudent management of litter. One these advantages are economic advantage. Clean and litter free environment always attract investments and development (Cathy, 2009). Houses in clean neighborhood fetch good prices than houses in littered areas. Managing litter also present various economic opportunities. The recyclable beer and beverage cans attract a market value of 75¢ per pound. Plastic bottles have a scrap value of approximately 31.2¢ per pound while glass bottles have a scrap value of $ 40 per ton. By not littering using such recyclable items you not only keep your environment clean but you also get economic opportunities. By reducing litter we also reduce our chances of getting ill. By getting ill less often we save money in term of medical expenses and lost work hours.
A government can be considered as the leaders of a country. Without a leader, the country may be driven into mayhem and chaos, politically, economically, socially, environmentally. Here, we will discuss how the government can cause littering in a country and why is the government causing it. Sometimes, a government may be aware about the harmful effects of littering. If the government is unaware about the effects of littering, then they would most probably do nothing about the trend of littering. This would cause the country to accumulate more litter, and thus more harm will be caused over a period of time. However, if the government is aware about the harmful effects of littering, but does nothing because of certain excuses they give, such as “there is no time”, “there are no resources” and “there is no use”. Thus, the first and foremost causal factor of littering due to the government is the lack of action taken by the government.
Secondly, a government may not have the resources to launch campaigns, schemes and policies against littering. Since campaigns, schemes and policies are very useful in encouraging and motivating the whole population to do something, one example of a campaign that encouraged many people to do what the government wanted is “The Great Leap Forward” campaign in the People’s Republic of China in 1958. The campaign drove many Chinese to do what the government wanted them to do. Similarly, a government can launch campaigns against littering, since campaigns are proved to be effective. Without the resources to launch campaigns, schemes or policies, the government might find it futile in trying to reduce litter.
Thirdly, a government may not have the ideas and creativity to implement the message of “Do not litter” into education. Or it did not have the creativity to organize awareness activities about the harmful effects of littering. Without the education, people will never learn how harmful is littering and why they should not litter. Therefore, if the government has not educated the people, littering would still be present in a country.
Fourthly, it is probable that a government have yet to implement a law against the acts of littering. If people still cannot resist the act of littering, they would have to “learn it the hard way”, the “hard way” is punishment. The punishment might be in the form of fines, jail or caning. In Singapore, first time offenders of littering (these offenders are termed as “litter-bugs”), will be made to do community service, where the offenders will repent while they clean up the streets and neighborhoods for a certain period of time. It is embarrassing for these people to do community service, since it reflects on their bad habit of littering to the public, thus these “litter-bugs” will learn and correct their had habits of littering.
Lastly, the government might not have control over companies and organizations in their country. These companies and organizations might be discarding their wastes inappropriately, resulting in litter. However, the act of littering is continued due to the incompetence of the government to enforce these companies and organizations to stop littering. Without the control, the companies and organizations will continue to litter and thus escalates the problems of littering.
Some countries and local authorities have introduced legislation to address the problem. Actions resulting in fines can include on-the-spot fines for individuals administered by authorized officers in public or on public transport or littering from a vehicle, in which the vehicle owner is fined - reported by either responsible officer or third party, sometimes online. Specific legislation exists in the following countries. In United States - punishable with a fine, community service, or both, as set out by state statutes and city ordinances. All 50 states have anti-litter laws.In United Kingdom - Leaving litter is an offence under the Environmental Protection act 1990. This was extended by the Clean Neighborhoods and Environment Act 2005 under section 18. It carries a maximum penalty of £2500 upon conviction. However, many local authorities issue fixed penalty notices under section 88 of the Environmental Protection 1990. Often incorrectly known as "on the spot fines", they do not have to be issued on the spot. Nor are they a fine. If an alleged offender does not want to pay a fixed penalty notice, he can have the case heard in the Magistrates Court. At Australia - no national legislation, although state based environmental protection authorities have laws and fines to discourage littering and lastly in The Netherlands - Dutch police and local supervisors (known as buitengewoon opsporingsambtenaar, or BOA) fine citizens for throwing away cans, bottles or wrappers onto the street.

References 1. ^ 'Report littering and illegal dumping'http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/environmental_management/waste/illegal_dumping_litter.html 2. ^ 'What Is Illegal Dumping And How Can I Report It?' https://www.sandiego.gov/environmental-services/ep/illegal/illegal.shtml. Retrieved 2012-05-15. 3. ^ "Keep America Beautiful". Prevent Cigarette Litter. 2008-11-19. Retrieved 2012-02-21. 4. ^ [http://ecommons.txstate.edu/arp/27 "DO MESS WITH IT!: A m,ki like ,men Nearby States"]. Ecommons.txstate.edu. Retrieved 2012-02-21. 5. ^ http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/inforesources/pubs/orientat/rom2.pdf RCRA Orientation Manual: Managing Nonhazardous Solid Waste Retrieved 2012-05-15. 6. ^ Greve, Frank. "Mcclathydc.com". Mcclatchydc.com. Retrieved 2012-02-21. 7. ^ a b "Erplanning.com" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-02-21. 8. Anna (2009), Littering and Its Effects on Environment, retrieved on February 4, 2011, fromhttp://www.articlealley.com/article_875946_15.html 9. Cathy (2009), Littering Facts and Statistics, retrieved on February 4, 2011, fromhttp://www.greenecoservices.com/littering-facts-and-statistics/