Why is litter a problem?

by Seema on 24/01/2018 95 comments

Litter is what we call trash when it ends up outside a bin or landfill.
Litter is bad for animals and people. Plastic waste suffocates, disables and kills thousands of animals each year. Litter is dirty and spoils our environment.


TOXIC FOOD

Turtles, seals, birds and dolphins often mistake plastic waste for food. Plastic bags floating in the water can look like jellyfish, for example. After animals eat plastic, their intestines get blocked and their normal food can’t be digested properly. If they eat too much plastic, their stomachs always feel full, so they don’t eat anything else. Eventually they can starve to death. Plastic also contains lots of nasty chemicals that can posion animals and cause internal injuries. In India, 20 cows die every day because they have eaten plastic bags; and most sea birds on the planet already have some plastic pieces in their stomachs. The chemicals in the plastic eaten by fish and other animals are passed up the food chain to other creatures, and even to humans.


ALL TANGLED UP

Animals often get entangled in plastic bags. This means they can suffocate, starve or drown. It also makes it easier for predators to catch them. Plastic bags constrict an animal’s movement which means they can get exhausted, or sometimes develop an infection from wounds caused by material wrapped around them. Plastic packaging can sink to the ocean floor, get wrapped around and smother coral reefs. Inland, plastic blocks drains, allowing mosquitoes to breed and spread dengue fever.


BAD FOR US

Litter makes the beach look dirty. Sharp objects like broken glass can cut your feet. Because of this, there may be fewer visitors and local people will have less income from tourism.


WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP?

1. ALWAYS put your trash in the bin. If there is no bin, hold on to it until you find one.
2. Say NO to plastic bags, bottles, straws and spoons in shops. Carry a cloth bag and reusable bottle with you to use instead.
3. Become a TRASH HERO and pick up any litter you see lying around


SeemaWhy is litter a problem?

95 comments

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  • Waste Management: Engaging Youth Through Modern Solutions – Hummingbag - 24/04/2018 reply

    […] to help an Octopus prevent plastic pollution from harming sea life; to tackling questions such as ‘Why is litter important?’ or ‘What can I do to help?’; to out-of-the-box educational project collaborations with local schools and hands-on clean-up […]

    Justin Hone - 21/05/2020 reply

    this is great it help me with my asiment

    Queen d - 03/03/2021 reply

    This is also helping me with my school assignment.

    Lisa - 30/03/2021 reply

    Yeah same

    pickle green juice - 08/02/2022

    yea it is helping me a lot with my assignment

    Kason - 15/11/2022

    This helps me for school

    roy the boy0908 - 16/01/2024

    love this thank you so much pls put more of this content thanks this really helped with my assignment

    roy the boy0908 - 16/01/2024

    yea ik right?!!!

    elina - 15/04/2021 reply

    me to

    Wolfie - 16/04/2021 reply

    Omg same tho

    roman reighns - 06/04/2022

    same because im doing trash

    brianna - 03/05/2021 reply

    stop litter

    Wolfie - 16/04/2021 reply

    Omg same tho

    madison callahan - 27/04/2021 reply

    yes it is

    Harrison Welsch - 03/05/2021 reply

    Yeah, I think this is great for school assignments!

    damo - 15/09/2021 reply

    this also helped me with my assignment

    roman reighns - 06/04/2022 reply

    same because im doing trash on schoolgy

    aaaaaaaaaaaa - 31/01/2022 reply

    same (continue the chain guys)

    Nathan Johnson - 22/04/2022 reply

    assignment*

    Eddie - 18/10/2022 reply

    Thank u so much too

    Ryen scott-willardson - 03/02/2021 reply

    this helped me so much on my assignment

    Prtomos - 02/11/2021 reply

    This helped me with my Persuasive Essay

    i LOVE SEALS - 19/04/2023 reply

    seals are funkin amazing

    Sara VG - 21/04/2023 reply

    Litter is so bad 🙁

  • Gerson - 18/01/2019 reply

    Can I join your group?

  • Lia - 07/02/2019 reply

    I want to be part of this.

    Shafana - 23/05/2019 reply

    Believe in yourself

  • Luis - 17/04/2019 reply

    I enjoyed reading the artical.

  • Mimi - 29/05/2019 reply

    Thanks! This really helped with one of my assessments. 🙂

  • gerardo - 29/05/2019 reply

    It has lots of information.

  • Aston SHABU - 23/10/2019 reply

    This is a great information

  • jasmine - 27/10/2019 reply

    I like this article it was amazing!!!

  • Jasmine - 27/10/2019 reply

    I loved this article it was amazing!!!

  • Jasmine - 27/10/2019 reply

    sorry if I typed it two times…

    olivia - 24/03/2022 reply

    It’s ok

  • kaleena - 27/01/2020 reply

    xoxo loved this

  • Amani - 05/02/2020 reply

    Thanks, this helped with my Pd.8 Communications project!

  • Jin - 28/02/2020 reply

    I loved this article because it really can help the people who litter turn into picking up plastic

    Yasmine Mccarthy - 03/08/2020 reply

    Yeah, true, but this only gives a few reasons, but it is still great.

  • Jayden - 07/04/2020 reply

    That was the best lesson about littering ever. And how to be a Hero and pick it up.

  • hafsa - 20/04/2020 reply

    cool

  • Mia - 12/05/2020 reply

    Poor animals, I didn’t know plastic could be so fatal!

  • Bobby - 28/05/2020 reply

    this is good for speech research

  • sabin - 01/08/2020 reply

    I like your artical poor animals can I join your group

  • Emilia - 21/09/2020 reply

    Amazing stuff, these animals can be happy if this article gets around. I will share it with people so they can see your amazing article (Hopefully they will also be able to donate)

  • Davi - 21/09/2020 reply

    Amazing stuff, these animals can be happy if this article gets around. I will share it with people so they can see your amazing article (Hopefully they will also be able to donate)

    Rahel Schaub - 22/09/2020 reply

    Thank you for your support!

  • Dabi - 21/09/2020 reply

    Wow I find this amazing thank you so much, I will spread the word

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  • Jo - 01/02/2021 reply

    I WILL SPREAD THIS AND I WILL EVEN WRITE ABOUT IT

    Luna - 26/02/2021 reply

    SAME!!!

    Elizabeth - 16/03/2021 reply

    SAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Shannon Tattersfield - 23/02/2021 reply

    This really helped me with my essay! I can’t donate, but I’ll share this with friends!

  • Luna - 26/02/2021 reply

    This was a big help with my Opinion paper in school! I am including this in my paper, as in, the website, with link, in it.

  • Xana - 08/03/2021 reply

    This is going to help me A LOT with my paper!!

  • Xana - 08/03/2021 reply

    This is going to help me A LOT with my paper!!!!!

  • Elizabeth - 16/03/2021 reply

    SAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Josh - 19/04/2021 reply

    This is a wholesome and great chat, very helpful for educating people about littering.

  • dawson lee hunt - 27/04/2021 reply

    this helps me

  • Bristol - 28/04/2021 reply

    I love this website and I will spread this to all my friends

  • Harrison Welsch - 03/05/2021 reply

    I think this is a great website for helping kids with school assignments!

    jaxon - 07/12/2021 reply

    Same! It can definitely help us!

  • dreamspeedrun - 03/05/2021 reply

    school project lol

    im a trash goblin

  • faizan - 11/06/2021 reply

    this is awesome but can you add more please

  • damo - 22/09/2021 reply

    this help me with my school project

  • Rebekah Wang - 14/11/2021 reply

    I save animals from trash:HERO

  • pickle green juice - 08/02/2022 reply

    yea it is helping me a lot with my assignment

  • Izz - 15/03/2022 reply

    This is a really great extract and helped me with my school assignment! I am sharing this with all my friends Good luck everyone!

  • Riley Thomas Weber - 16/03/2022 reply

    This article is really helpful.

  • Rosie - 28/03/2022 reply

    YEAH this is good for my essay

  • Rosie - 28/03/2022 reply

    I really hope this STOPS and people get aressted for littering

  • Rosalie Saxton - 28/03/2022 reply

    those animals that are eating trash right now must be starving to death! We really have to stop that and get people to Pay for what they’d done!

  • Nathan - 22/04/2022 reply

    This is good because it cannot get into our reservoirs and effect the wata dat we drink

  • AnnaBeth - 25/04/2022 reply

    We did an Earth Day assignment where a bunch of QR codes were on a piece of paper and they had to scan them and do an essay on that website….It was sooooooo much FUN!!!

  • AnnaBeth - 25/04/2022 reply

    Also over 1,000 animals are being killed each day because of this!
    Plus polar bears are being very misunderstood not because of this but because polar ice caps are melting!!!

  • Cool goliath - 26/10/2022 reply

    That’s sad

  • ruheena - 08/11/2022 reply

    ZAMBOOZLE!! That is a great idea! I am going to write a letter to the government to clean all this trash so there would be no more litter. I am going to make posters and signs so everyone can help and Pisilla and Abigail, here I come to clean the earth and help animals!!

  • Ruheena - 10/11/2022 reply

    I think no littering can be a really good idea! littering can be a problem for animals and people. I will go ahead and write a letter to the government to clean up all this trash. Pissilla and Abigail, here I come!!

  • Ruheena - 10/11/2022 reply

    AnnaBeth, can you be an earth hero to save the animals? I saw so much trash in the playground like A LOT!! We have to stop the people and make them pay whoever has done this! And guess what! earth villians are ready to come and kill animals and litter! Lets be earth heros to save the earth. Lets go!!

  • #19 Teach Your Children Not to Litter – FamilyFirstNJA - 17/11/2022 reply

    […] Seera.  Why is Litter a Problem? Trash Hero World. (2018).  https://trashhero.org/why-is-litter-a-problem/ […]

  • Liam - 26/12/2022 reply

    This really helped in my essay Ty soo much!

    Lydia - 03/01/2023 reply

    That’s great! We’re so glad it helped you 🙂

  • sad for otter - 03/01/2023 reply

    sooooo sad for otter

  • sad for otter - 03/01/2023 reply

    sooooo sad for otter 1234

  • fatima - 08/01/2023 reply

    This helps me a lot with my speech.

  • sad for people on beaches - 19/04/2023 reply

    great for school project, so sad for otter

  • i LOVE SEALS - 19/04/2023 reply

    I funkin love seals

  • i LOVE SEALS - 19/04/2023 reply

    SEALS ARE FUNKING AMAZING

  • i LOVE SEALS - 19/04/2023 reply

    SEALS ARE SO GOD DAM COOl

  • Damian - 29/11/2023 reply

    I feel so bad for the otter L in chat for otter

  • roy the boy0908 - 16/01/2024 reply

    love this thank you so much pls put more of this content thanks this really helped with my assignment

  • Caroline - 27/03/2024 reply

    Like everyone else, I used this for a school assignment; this article helped a lot! My thanks to every party involved in the creation of this article for giving us students a great resource to help spread awareness!

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