Littering is devastating the environment and altering how society functions. Litter such as cigarettes, plastics, and cleaners are impacting resources, wildlife, and humanity. If no action is taken, drinkable water will vanish, species will go extinct, and life as we know it will cease to exist. Statistics show the severity of littering, with 9 billion tons entering oceans annually and $11.5 billion spent on cleanups. Marine life is heavily impacted as litter invades their homes. Littering is also harming food sources and natural areas, and toxic water is killing over 3 million people per year. Society must take action against littering before further irreversible damage is done.

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George Jenkins
Dr. Bishnu Ghimire
English 1010
25 June 2015
It’s Just “Trash”: The Devastating Consequences of Littering
Littering is obliterating our environment and is slowly, but persistently, altering the ways
society has to function. Littering waste, including cigarettes, cleaners, and plastics are impacting
resources, wildlife, and most devastatingly, humanity. Action needs to be taken to prevent this
epidemic from causing further destruction. The world is at a crucial point where the time is now
to fight back against littering before it is too late. Without action being taken, drinkable water
will begin to vanish, species will go extinct, and life as we know it will cease to exist. The future
of the environment rests with society today to take a stand against littering and make the world
clean once again.
First and foremost, the causes of littering validate it as a solvable problem. Littering is the
improper disposal of waste into the environment. The causes of littering rest in society as Rehan
Ahmad says, “inconvenience and laziness, absence of ownership or pride for the area” (1) this
shows how people litter because of society’s lack of respect for the environment. In addition to
the alarming habit of littering, Ahmad continued to say that littering is, “motivated by disrespect
to the law and its enforcement” and could be solved by better environmental education and
stricter legislation regarding littering (2). All of the causes are a matter of choice by humans to
litter. With all due respect, the study conducted by Jessica Rath and others shows, “Cigarette
butts were also the most collected items during clean-up efforts” (2190) showing that people
were too lazy to dispose of these and would rather just disperse them into the environment. This
detrimental habit is destroying the environment and needs to be stopped.

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Secondly, the statistics on littering show the severity of the epidemic and the drastic effects
it is having on the world. The amount of litter that goes into the ocean is alarming as Luther
King’s research suggest, “9 billion tons of litter ends up in the ocean every year” (1) which is
more litter than even imaginable. Nine billion tons of litter is enough to impact even the most
powerful beast, how would a helpless fish or turtle even stand a chance? With respect to the
amount of litter, the cost of cleanup is even more alarming, “$11.5 billion is spent every year to
clean up litter” (King 1) which is quite the deficit in the global economy. Even with those
statistics, some opponents may say that littering is an isolated problem, but “75% of people
admitted that they littered in the past 5 years” (King 1) littering is far from isolated. These
alarming and even obnoxious statistics prove the severity of the littering epidemic and how
littering effects the global economy.
Thirdly, the largest impact of littering is on the water and those who depend on it. Marine
life is being heavily impacted as litter invades their homes. To these creatures, littering is only a
growing concern as “The number of species known to have been affected by either entanglement
or ingestion of plastic debris has doubled since 1997” (Kuhn 75) showing the growing problem.
With more and more of the populations of fish and especially turtles being impacted, littering
could be the cause for some species to become endangered or eventually become extinct. With
animals not being the only ones impacted, humans are already facing a growing demand for
drinkable water. Littering along with other causes such as bacteria, run-off, and spills are killing
people, it is estimated that “Water-borne diseases account for the deaths of 3,575,000 people a
year” (Williams 2) showing the detrimental effects littering adds to, even to mass murder.

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Lastly, the environment and its resources are nearing a point of damage which cannot be
reversed. Natural food sources are amongst the most effected due to littering. Because litter like
cleaners and chemicals release toxins, food sources are being damaged as Ahmad says, “Litter
also harms plants, vegetation and natural areas” (1) with food sources being impacted, animals
and humans in turn are impacted. Some of the most beautiful spots on Earth are now being
overwhelmed with litter. It is heartbreaking to see places like New York and natural beauties like
Niagara Falls being altered by the vast littering. The society with lack of respect for the
environment is destroying what should never be destroyed. It is not fair for the natural resources
and sights to be destroyed as the result of pure laziness. As a society, the time is now to take
action while there is still time to revitalize what is slowly fading.
In conclusion, littering is a solvable problem that is destroying the environment. As the
result of pure laziness and the lack of concern for the environment, littering has been manifested
as a cultural norm. As a result of this, littering has continuously cost monetarily the world and is
impacting life forms. Marine life is being devastated as their homes are swamped with society’s
trash. Drinkable water, already becoming a scarce resource, is being harmed by litter, and toxic
water is killing way too many people each year. Litter is causing food sources to fade and is
turning some of the most beautiful sites on earth to be nothing but garbage. The time is now for
society to open its eyes and take a stand against litter before it is too late. Greater environmental
education needs to be pushed, more severe laws should be introduced, and people should actually
start caring a little. The littering epidemic is being overlooked by so many, it’s not just “trash”;
littering is the gateway to permanently devastate life as we know it. Action to stop littering has to
be taken now or the environment of today will not be present tomorrow!

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Works Cited
Ahmad, Rehan. “Detrimental Effects of Littering.” EcoMENA. 14 February 2015. Google Scholar.
Web. 10 June 2015.
King, Luther. “9 interesting facts and statistics about littering.” Litter It Costs You. 18 November
2013. Google Scholar. Web. 9 June 2015.
Kuhn, Susanne et al. “Deleterious Effects of Litter on Marine Life” Marine Anthropogenic Litter.
2 June 2015: 75-116. ProQuest. Web. 11 June 2015.
Rath, Jessica M et al. "Cigarette Litter: Smokers' Attitudes and Behaviors." International
Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 9.6 (2012): 2189-
203. ProQuest. Web. 13 June 2015.
Williams, Lydia. "How Does Water Pollution Affect Humans?" The World Counts. 18 Jan. 2015.
Google Scholar. Web. 11 June 2015.