Items such as syringes or hazardous materials pose a threat to
public health.
Litter can cause injury to wildlife and birds that mistake it for food.
Litter in an urban setting can attract vermin. Old fishing line, rope, nets or wire can trap land or marine life. Wind and rain can carry cigarette butts into the waterways where the toxic chemicals that the cigarette filter was designed to trap leak out into aquatic ecosystems, threatening water quality and aquatic life. Cigarette butts can also be the cause of fires. Litter is wasteful. Many littered items could be recycled or reused.
Unless someone cleans up litter, its effects may be seen for years.
It takes two to five months for paper to biodegrade; five years for a
plastic-coated paper cartons; up to 12 years for cigarette butts;
50 to 100 years for tin cans; 200-500 years for aluminum cans; and
one million years for a styrofoam container or plastic jug. Furthermore,
cleaning up litter has a cost.
What is litter?
Whenever waste is not properly disposed of, it is considered litter.
Litter comes in all shapes and all sizes and it can be found anywhere.
It includes everything from a wrapper tossed out a car window or a piece
of paper dropped on a walking trail, to a bag of trash dumped on the
roadside or construction debris flying off the back of a truck, or a cigarette
butt flicked on the sidewalk. In fact, surveys frequently find that cigarette
butts make up half the litter in most areas. Other common items include
fast food packaging, snack wrappers, beverage containers and paper.
Why do people litter?
Research points to several factors that may impact on littering behavior:
Lack of knowledge of the environmental effects of littering.
Litter has already accumulated. The more litter present the more people are inclined to litter.
Lack of social pressure to do the right thing.
Absence of penalties or consistent enforcement.
Number, placement and appearance of disposal containers at or near the site.
People who litter often feel no sense of pride in the areas they are littering.
They don’t view the item as litter. That’s often the case with cigarette butts.