What is considered litter? Before one can answer that, one must ask whether litter is an actual issue to the environment. According to Jean Scheid, from greenliving.lovetoknow.com, litter affects everything, from storm water drains to wildlife. Globally, litter kills life. In fact, according to Haley Wilhite from The Nature Conservancy, she states that plastics account for the deaths of more than one million seabirds, and 100,000 marine mammals every year. Some mammals rendered completely disabled from birth till death due to the buildup of plastics. One major area in particular that seems to be neglected is oceans. The Pacific Ocean holds the largest landfill in the world; estimating roughly the magnitude of Texas, and approximately 33 feet deep of plastics, buoyant waste, and other non-biodegradable material (Bush, 534).
How does this affect people? Scheid also states in her article that roads and highways can become dangerous when truck beds are not fastened down properly, causing debris to tumble out of the vehicle without the driver consciously knowing, leaving most passengers worried on unsafe roads. Not to mention how much it costs to clean; in North Carolina alone, the North Carolina Department of Transportation used more than fifteen-million dollars in taxes in 2015, and that included 7.5 million pounds of roadside litter (Department of Public Safety.) How does one decipher what is litter and what isn't? Litter is considered, according to Litter Law and Legal Definition, “Litter – any solid or liquid material or product or combination of solid or liquid materials or products, including, but not limited to: 1. any rubbish, refuse, garbage, paper, package, container, bottle, can, manure, or sewage or the whole or part of an animal carcass or 2. the whole or part of any article, raw or processed material, Motor Vehicle or other machinery, that is disposed of; or 3. any other material or product that is designated as litter in the Alberta Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act, as amended and the Regulations thereunder.” If the environment was “litter-free,” how would it be beneficial? Some of the benefits of a cleaner environment apart from less sea animals dying, is safety. According to keepncbeautiful.org, “People feel safer in a clean neighborhood vs. a littered one.” and logically, this holds true. Moreover, in this article it also states: “Heavily littered neighborhoods experience more vandalism and other crimes.” How could this be? Well, litter, like any other uncleanly thing, attracts criminals because litter shows them that residents do not have any incentive to clean it (Department of Public Safety.) Apart from …show more content…
As Stated by the North Carolina Public Safety, “The minimum fine for a first offense of littering is $250 with maximum fines going as high as $1000. Subsequent offenses can bring community service requirements and fines of up to $2000.” As one can see, littering does not go unnoticed and does cost a large sum of money. Even if one does not get caught littering, that does not mean they do not have to pay for it in the long run, because in the end, it is indirectly coming out of people’s taxes to clean it up. Littering is hard to break, however, making the right decisions and taking the right course of actions to prevent people from littering is necessary, and should be enforced appropriately. As John Wooden once said, “Character is who you are when nobody's
How does this affect people? Scheid also states in her article that roads and highways can become dangerous when truck beds are not fastened down properly, causing debris to tumble out of the vehicle without the driver consciously knowing, leaving most passengers worried on unsafe roads. Not to mention how much it costs to clean; in North Carolina alone, the North Carolina Department of Transportation used more than fifteen-million dollars in taxes in 2015, and that included 7.5 million pounds of roadside litter (Department of Public Safety.) How does one decipher what is litter and what isn't? Litter is considered, according to Litter Law and Legal Definition, “Litter – any solid or liquid material or product or combination of solid or liquid materials or products, including, but not limited to: 1. any rubbish, refuse, garbage, paper, package, container, bottle, can, manure, or sewage or the whole or part of an animal carcass or 2. the whole or part of any article, raw or processed material, Motor Vehicle or other machinery, that is disposed of; or 3. any other material or product that is designated as litter in the Alberta Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act, as amended and the Regulations thereunder.” If the environment was “litter-free,” how would it be beneficial? Some of the benefits of a cleaner environment apart from less sea animals dying, is safety. According to keepncbeautiful.org, “People feel safer in a clean neighborhood vs. a littered one.” and logically, this holds true. Moreover, in this article it also states: “Heavily littered neighborhoods experience more vandalism and other crimes.” How could this be? Well, litter, like any other uncleanly thing, attracts criminals because litter shows them that residents do not have any incentive to clean it (Department of Public Safety.) Apart from …show more content…
As Stated by the North Carolina Public Safety, “The minimum fine for a first offense of littering is $250 with maximum fines going as high as $1000. Subsequent offenses can bring community service requirements and fines of up to $2000.” As one can see, littering does not go unnoticed and does cost a large sum of money. Even if one does not get caught littering, that does not mean they do not have to pay for it in the long run, because in the end, it is indirectly coming out of people’s taxes to clean it up. Littering is hard to break, however, making the right decisions and taking the right course of actions to prevent people from littering is necessary, and should be enforced appropriately. As John Wooden once said, “Character is who you are when nobody's