The effects of litter on the environment.

The effects of litter on the environment

Waste is anything we don’t want, from newspapers to poisonous chemicals left over from industry. The amount of waste we produce is growing. This is partly because of the world’s growing population. We buy more and more things, and then throw them away when they are not needed. Most of this waste ends up in landfill sites. Waste from factories gets piped into rivers and seas, and fumes from industry and cars just pollute the air we breathe. All this creates pollution, which can poison wildlife and cause various health problems and diseases in people. It is also very wasteful of the earth’s limited resources, which will eventually run out.

However most solid wastes are buried in the ground in landfill sites. Some things like old food and paper can decompose. While others like plastic can take hundreds of years to decay. The problems with landfill sites are they fill up quickly, when it rains, water can dissolve harmful chemicals in the rubbish, which can then seep into water supplies. Another problem is that rotting rubbish can produce explosive gases such as methane, which can cause an explosion anytime. This is very dangerous for people whose house may have been built on a landfill site. Also, as the rubbish settles, it can cause any buildings built on the land to collapse. The reason why landfill sites are used for dumping household rubbish is because they are one of the more cheaper options for getting rid of rubbish.

As landfill sites are becoming less and less, the other method being used for disposing of rubbish is by incineration. Burning rubbish in an incinerator is a good solution, but it also has some disadvantages. Incinerating waste is very expensive. The fumes pollute the air, and lots of fossil fuel energy is needed. Air pollution is very unattractive, and can turn tourists away from visiting a place with high pollution. The advantage of this method is that all the waste is burnt leaving only the ashes to be buried in the landfill sites. These ashes take up very little space ...

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Underground pipes take the sewage from our homes to sewage works treatment for cleaning before being disposed into the sea safely. The waste from industries and sewage is also sometimes disposed of by piping into rivers or the sea without being treated. This can kill wildlife and make people ill. It can wash onto holiday resorts, making them unsightly and unpleasant, and affecting the tourist trade. Companies are fined for this, but in poorer countries, this piping of waste takes place all the time. The richer countries should help the poorer countries to develop proper sewage works, etc.

Gases from cars, homes, industries and power stations drift into the air where they are causing many problems. Burning fossil fuels like coal and oil contains many chemicals, which cause lung problems. Other waste gases in the air cause acid rain, which is causing damage to buildings, forests, lakes and rivers, etc. Also, our climate is changing due to the greenhouse effect caused by these gases. If they are not reduced, then we will find that our climate changing so much that we will not be able to survive. The land that we live on will flood by the seas, affecting everything on the planet. As fossil fuels are being used more and more, these natural resources will soon finish. The scientists need to find ways of using natural sources such as the sun and wind for generating power and other things. The more natural sources that are used, the cleaner our environment will become.

We all need to take responsibility in the way we dispose of our litter. By throwing our litter (such as drinks cans, plastic containers, sweet wrappings, etc) on the streets, in the rivers, etc, we are making our planet unsightly, and putting wildlife in danger. Many birds, animals get stuck in or injure themselves with the litter thrown by us. Litter also can encourage disease and pests such as rats, fleas, etc. Animal owners must become more responsible and clean up any toilet droppings left by their pets on public grounds, for hygienic reasons.

We all therefore need to start recycling more than we do at the moment, to protect our environment. Big companies should produce less waste by buying products that can be reused or recycled. We can also avoid buying things with too much packaging, which wastes the world’s resources unnecessarily. Governments can encourage industries to reduce and recycle their waste, especially if the industries save money by doing this. They could charge a tax based on the amount of waste produced. The money from this tax could then be used for doing research and developing ways to reduce or recycle waste, change production methods, use less chemicals, etc.

We need to protect our environment by recycling more products, reusing what we can, and producing less waste and gas emissions. Industries should make use of natural source for energy, otherwise we will all suffer and even become extinct !!!