Litter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other meanings of litter, see Litter (disambiguation).
Litter is a waste type consisting of any tangible personal property which has been unlawfully scattered and or abandoned outdoors. When tangible property is abandoned indoors, it is not considered litter. Litter is often caused by careless or accidental treatment of debris and waste as opposed to proper disposal.
Some people consider the practice of flyposting to be closely linked to littering. Flyposting refers to the pasting of advertising posters unlawfully on public properties where they will be widely seen before they are removed.
Contents |
[edit] Blame for litter
Litter is often blamed on certain sections of society. Some commonly-blamed groups are customers of fast food outlets, smokers and younger people. Studies show that areas which are allowed to remain dirty are prone to becoming more dirty, i.e. litter gives "permission" to litter. There are also natural causes such as high winds disturbing litter containers. Litter can be a result of lack of education, inheritance of poor parental attitudes, laziness to take litter home or find a litter bin, or ignorance of the law. Litter laws are constantly being revised and reviewed by the courts. For example, many U.S. states have created a more serious crime of "intentional littering" to address the increasing use of unauthorized roadside advertising.
[edit] Effects on the environment
Litter can have many effects on the environment. It is extremely unsightly and uncollected litter can attract more. Animals may get trapped or poisoned with litter in their habitats<ref>Wildlife Injuries Noyes, K (2006) Clean-Up Your Trash, Charity Guide</ref> . Litter can end up in rivers and canals, polluting the water supply. Vermin and disease are rife in places with high amounts of litter. Open containers such as paper cups or beverage cans can hold rainwater, providing breeding locations for mosquitoes which have been know to cause disease like the West Nile Virus. It is also a road hazard and can occasionally contribute to accidents.
[edit] Costs of litter
Many companies employ litter pickers to keep litter off their premises. City councils also have to spend taxpayer money on litter removal. Money from fines usually goes to fund litter removal. Roadsweeper and beach cleaner machines to clean litter are expensive, noisy, and cause more pollution.
[edit] History
Prior to reforms within cities in the mid to late 1800's, sanitation was not a priority on governments’ lists of things to do. Waste was disposed of by the roadside or in small local dumps. It was unsanitary for local inhabitants and the growing piles of waste led to the spread of disease.
Most notably, the rise of waste helped contribute to the bubonic plague in the mid 1300's. Black rats carried the fleas which were the vectors for the plague fed off biodegradable waste that was discarded by the public.
Farms and gardens have long recognised the benefits of composting food waste and biodegradable waste.
During the times of colonial exploration and expansion starting in the 1600's, littering was not uncommon on seafaring vessels. Boats were small, packed with goods, cramped with people, and dirty. After meals people would discard of leftovers or broken plates or cups by throwing them overboard into the sea. Certain goods that were found to be tainted or broken were also thrown overboard. During George Washington's famous cross of the Delaware River to defeat the Hessians, littering had occurred. Washington's men had carried small supplies of food onboard with them, but prior to battle, the food was tossed away. In present day litter is all around us. City streets and sidewalks are covered with candy bar wrappers, soda bottles, tissues and papers. Waste is often thrown out of windows of automobiles or out of hands of people. This is done intentionally for the discarding of unwanted goods. It can be considered both unsightly and rude.
[edit] Legal consequences
Litter can be expensive to clean up, so the act of littering has been made a fineable offense by statute in many places.
For example, in the U.S. state of California, the punishment for first-time littering starts at a $100 (USD) fine and eight hours of picking up roadside litter. A defendant's third offense and all subsequent offenses are punished with a minimum penalty of a $750 fine and 24 hours of litter cleanup (per offense)<ref>Littering Department of Motor Vehicles, California</ref>. Such penalties are often prominently posted on roadside signs.
Some jurisdictions offer small bounties for the cleaning of litter (for example, requiring people to pay a deposit on bottles, which is only returned when the bottles are returned).
[edit] Alternate viewpoints
Characters in novels and essays by Edward Abbey were often described throwing beer cans out of cars onto the side of the highway. The justification was that the existence of the highway had already littered the landscape in a much more severe way than a small amount of aluminum in the form of a can ever could.
[edit] 1990 Balloon Act
Approved by the Massachusetts state legislature, the definition of littering now includes releasing tangible property into the atmosphere regardless of the landing area. Violators can face double the normal fines and also be cited in multiple local jurisdictions, depending on landing area.
[edit] References
<references/>
[edit] See also
