Every Piece Counts; Make a Change!
By Oossanee Buasi
Due to our careless behaviors, in ONLY the U.S., over 51 billion pieces of
litter are imported into homes of animals, people, and of course the ocean. Think
about the animals, the ocean, you, and in general the whole wide world. We need to
eliminate the amount of trash being thrown in places where trash does not belong.
Littering causes much damage to the Earth. It affects all of our surroundings.
Picking up trash can prevent the Earth from too much litter!! Not littering saves
habitats, keeps the world clean of poop, and saves money
The animals would have a safe habitat. When we throw away soda can tabs
and plastic 6 pack rings, it harms animals. Animals will mistake soda can tabs for
food and swallow it; in addition, the rings can choke the animals around their necks.
When animals in the ocean swim, they get caught inside the rings. Have you seen
the movie Happy Feet? The penguin suffocates because our trash gets washed
down the drain and into the ocean. If we stop throwing trash where it doesn’t
belong we can save animals and their homes!
Have you ever stepped on something squishy, brown, and smelly? Poop!
The reason why we have poop on the ground is because we are not picking up after
our pets! We can’t blame dogs; we have to blame the humans for choosing to leave
waste on the ground. Researchers say once people see litter, it makes them litter;
it also increases the amount of trash. Picking up dog poop would lead to a better
and cleaner environment. We need to take care of Earth!
Finally, litter cleanup costs the U.S. almost $11.5 billion each year. It costs
huge sums of money to pay for litter cleanup every year. Litter cost the same
amount to cleanup as education and health care. If one person picked up an empty
can, bottle or cigarette butt each day for a year, there would be 365 less pieces of
rubbish damaging our land. We need to continue doing this. This would make a real
impact in our litter problem. Cigarettes make up 50% of litter! That’s a lot.
Smokers exhale about 100,000 tons of polluted air each year. Think about how
many cigarettes are being thrown each day. Cigarettes are expensive to cleanup.
The news reports they take 5 years to break down!
It’s “not my responsibility,” researchers say people think others will pick up
after them. No, you are responsible for your own actions. All you have to do is
throw away trash where it belongs. Most people litter in a littered environment.
Some people believe litter attracts more litter. A clean environment discourages
litter. When it looks clean, people seem to keep it clean. Everyone has to do his or
her part to keep the environment clean. Do you want your children to live in a filthy
place?
In conclusion, littering will lead to a polluted planet. We do not want animals
to die, to step on poop, to have a dirty environment, and waste so much money.
Cleaning up and stopping littering creates a healthy, clean, beautiful place to live!
Who wants to live in a place that looks like the dump? Some people don’t know that
they can make a difference. Every piece of trash picked up counts! You can start
now!