The Detrimental Effects of Littering

Often we see nowadays anywhere around us, a discarded materials ranging from a piece
of plastics wrapper to a big chunk of used tires scattered everywhere and soon will end up in
piles thus creating numerous of adverse effect on human being. While much of emphasize and
resources has been place on fighting a crime, building a better facilities and infrastructures,
beautified our surrounding but had we ever thought of creating an environment where litters was
a history? As an existence of litter, rubbish, and waste has haunted human being on the day they
begin to multiply on this planet. Apparently since the day, waste, litter and rubbish have
accumulating tremendously beyond anyone will to put it into control. Even though, there are
attempts to stop littering for being a problem that forever a nuisance to human being but still
such an attempts can be considered as quite fruitless as we seen litters still polluting our streets,
our river, our beach and on every surfaces of this Earth. In the same time some of us could be
still wondering, what is a litter? By definition, litter is defined by Merriam-Webster an online
dictionary as a trash, wastepaper, or garbage lying scattered about. Hence, a literal understanding
we can made from a definition of word litter or littering is an act of disposal of a waste product
without consent at an appropriate places. Such of description is in fact agreeing with what we
can found on Wikipedia portrayal about littering. Additionally littering has become a big crisis in
today world, where human has being created more waste than what we can manage. Such of
situation can be seen at where we live in, and it is a real problem facing by every community
regardless of their skin colours. It is a duty of all in order to curb littering from destroying our
priceless environment, our dearly animals, and to us as a human being. However, before a
preventive measurement can be taken unto a crisis, an in-depth analysis of negative effects of
littering must be identify in the first place to fully comprehend the real threat we are facing.
Firstly, littering could destroy environment. It is very real that an act of littering has all
the potentials and capability in destroying our environment. Littering just like all other hazardous
form of threat, have a destructive power hidden behind it ready to blow up as what a Little Boy
did at Hiroshima in 1945. But littering possibly worst than a nuclear weapon, as nuclear weapon
being safely guarded from falling into a wrong hand but litter is at everybody finger tips. A litters
that we throw by our fingers might end up at anywhere around this planet we could possibly
thinking of, it could be on a beach, on a stream, on a river bank, on a bottom of a river, on a peak

of a mountain, inside a fish belly, inside a throat of another fish, and it could be deprive an
oxygen of another life. Those are just among a short list on how litters can harm environment.
Eventually, there are infinite ways littering can be so dangerous towards nature. A piece of a
plastics wrapper that we through on a street will be washes by a falling rain into a drain, joining
another pile of others rubbish and this is the cause of a clog drain which trigger a flash flood unto
those area where rain water accumulating to find an escape routes. Same scenario could happen
not only to our drain but also to our stream and river, where a clog stream and river trigger a
flash flood which could have bad consequences of losing lives and damaging millions dollar of
properties. Despite of flash flood, littering also can harm our river and it aquatics life. For
instant, how many of our river in city centre has drinkable water? There are absolutely none, and
an answer to this question is simple, rubbish, waste and littering. Our own habit of littering has
poisoned our environment by placing a waste into our river. How sad! Water supposes to be a
valuable resource for human being for various reason but we choose to poison it instead. In short,
we had almost poisoned almost everything in nature by littering alone.
Secondly, littering could kill animals. According to National Geographic, on their green
living site specifically mention about littering as one of a danger facing by animals around the
globe. A helpless animal need our protections for their survival but instead we threaten their life
by our ignorance acts through a litter that we throw away from our fingertips every day. Take for
example of a cigarette butts, or filters and a chewing gums being thrown in millions each day
eventually end up inside an animals digestives system. It caused a great pain and a health issue
for effected animals and in most cases will slowly slay those unfortunate animals. This is believe
to be happen because animals often mistaken a cigarette butt or chewing gums and filters for
food. While cigarette butt and chewing gums could chock animal throat or poison animals
stomach, a plastics bag another widely found litter around us continuously poses a danger to
animals since the day it was invented. Due to the facts that plastics bag is a non-biodegradable
materials, a single piece of plastics bag will haunted animals for hundreds of year if not
thousand. The worst is, such a plastics bag having ability to kills animals by tangling animals
neck, wrapping small animals, or simply stuck into animals breathing system thus deprive air
feed into their breathing organ. A deficiency of air feed into animals breathing system causing
death. Beside a direct impact of a littering towards animals, there are some animals which

suffering from a repercussion of littering. As litters create a harmful toxin which will remain
inside our soil and water for a certain span of time and this toxin is poisonous to animals.
Thirdly, littering could kill human as well. Many of us unaware about a fact that littering
possibly could lead to a death in certain way. Several of us may argue that it is doesnt matter
since it is just a small piece of plastics wrapping but even a small piece could lead to a disaster.
Actually the truth is human are the most effected from they own bad habits of littering. Animals,
plants, fruits, water, and air are all vital resources for humans in daily life. Just imagine if all of
these resources which are so important for us but already become poisonous.

It is not just a

poisonous resource that might kill us but the side effect from the littering also could lead to a
greater threat for our life. A litter that we thrown away could be a good breeding ground for
mosquito, rat, cockroach, etc; with a possibility of providing us with a borne diseases. The most
worrying among them all is a case rampant dengue fever nowadays in Sarawak for which
sometime can be fatal and a source of a dengue is from an aedes mosquito. For most of the time,
it is human must be blame for a fatalities occurring by providing a good breeding ground for
aedes mosquito. Piles of rubbish from littering also could attract a rat to infesting and not long
ago a country was in shock over a death of police academy trainee as resulting from rat urine. If
diseases are not disturbing us enough, littering also could bring along social problem into a
society that has a tendency for littering. Some study has indicated that a crime is associated with
a littering culture and it is seem to be parallel with each other. A criminal will attracted into a
society where people ignoring a simple thing such as littering. Such mentality of ignored a small
and simple actions of littering will lead to a bigger disregard of a law such as stealing, robbing,
rapping, killing, drug related offences, etc.
Hence, littering is not a small matter as some may think of it. It is seem to be a worldwide
pandemic, spreading fast like a wildfire. A tough stern action need to be taken by everyone to
curb a culture of littering from continuously destroying our dear society and human race. The
fact is that like any other problem plaguing us, littering also has its own specific kind of solution.
Like a great saying goes, prevention is better than a cure. In order for us to minimize a risk of
littering; few measurements can be taken such as through a litter reduction strategy by
authorities, educational approach through campaign in school or mass media, cleaning operation
by the community, proper urban and architectural design to minimize littering, providing enough

tools and resources to combat littering, litter trap and catchment on a waterway, recycling of a
used material, law pertaining to littering and enforcement of those particular laws.

Reference:
1. http://www.theborneopost.com/2011/12/11/littering-reflects-badly-on-local-attitudes/
2. http://saynotolitter.blogspot.com/
3. http://www.greenworks.co.za/litterpage.html
4. http://greenliving.nationalgeographic.com/pollution-affect-living-things-includinghumans-2193.html
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litter
6. http://www.stoplittering.com/
7. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2209342
8. http://envdevmalaysia.wordpress.com/category/laws-and-regulations/
9. http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne+News/Malaysia/Story/A1Story20120805363464.html
10. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?sec=focus&file=/2011/1/4/focus/7728645