Impacts of Litter

Litter has many negative social, environmental, and economical impacts; making in very detrimental and unsustainable.

The myriad of detrimental impacts of litter are observable in the U.S., Mexico, and every other country. Something that often happens in Mexico is that, when it rains, trash washes towards the storm drains, clogging them and creating a flood that can cause water damage to houses, which will cost the homeowner money to repair. Trash flooding the streets is not a pretty sight, which is also why the tourism business in some areas of Mexico is suffering; people don't want to go on vacation where there's trash everywhere, and it's costing businesses in Mexico to lose money and reflects poorly on the area.

Trash is also a breeding ground for mosquitoes, so when it accumulates, the mosquito population flourishes and they can bring diseases like dengue fever to the residents of the city. This is negative socially because it gives the area a bad name and is negative economically because it costs the residents money to get treatment.

Larval Habitats

Environmentally, animals both in and outside the area can choke on the litter produced there. The trash can get washed out to nearby water sources where marine animals can attempt to eat the trash and choke. Annually the RSPCA receives around 7,000 calls related to animals being hurt by litter. For example, a dog cut an artery on a piece of scrap metal, a badger had a plastic can holder embedded in its neck, a cat cut its paw on a piece of broken glass, and another dog got its tongue caught in a discarded can.

The problem isn't just on the surface; trash can also emit toxic chemicals into the earth. Cigarette butts take twelve years to break down, and while the elements, such as cadmium, arsenic, and lead break down, they're released into the soil and waterways.

Picking up the litter also cost the government a lot of money, some of it coming from taxes, so you're basically paying for the government to pick up trash you dropped. It's extremely expensive as well; Falkirk, Scotland uses around 5 million dollars to clean up litter. If people simply disposed of their trash appropriately. their money wouldn't be wasted on something that didn't have to be done; it could go towards something more useful.