How does litter impact the earth?

Have you ever littered? Where did that piece of garbage end up? What impact did it have on the environment? Well, today I will answer your questions. There are many ways that littering is harmful to the environment. Litter has chemicals in it that leak into the soil and water. Litter is also harmful to animals because the smell can affect the animal’s life habits. Lastly, it is harmful to the ocean because we drink the water that comes from the ocean. Littering is harmful and has a big impact on the environment, animals and the oceans.

How is litter harmful to the environment?

Littering is harmful to the environment because it affects things on the land. It is harmful to the air which is polluted when the smell goes around in the air. It pollutes the land when the litter is tossed on the ground because the litter is made from chemicals and those chemicals can harm plants and then when we eat those plants we also get harmed. It harms the soil because the chemicals go underground and then they mix, which doesn't allow the plants to grow nicely. This is how it can be harmful to the environment.

How is litter harmful to animals?

When we throw garbage anywhere on the ground we don’t think about the animals. Often, animals smell the food and get attracted to the litter. Animals get stuck in bottles, cans and more things like that. Eventually, when they can’t get out they lose their breath or they starve to death. Animals are innocent victims affected by litter every day. Researchers estimate that over one million animals die each year after ingesting, or becoming entrapped in, improperly discarded trash. This is why we should not throw trash on the ground because animals can die from this.

How is litter impacting the oceans?

Litter has a really bad impact on the oceans, especially the animals living in the ocean. The litter we throw in the ocean goes floating everywhere which goes deep in the oceans (where the marine animals live). Fish, seabirds, sea turtles, and marine mammals can become entangled in or ingest plastic debris, causing suffocation, starvation, and drowning which mostly is caused by plastic. Researchers say around 100 million marine animals die each year from plastic waste alone. 100,000 marine animals die from getting entangled in plastic yearly. These are just the creatures we find! We should stop littering so that we can save marine animal’s lives.

One might say that litter is fine because we can just burn it up afterwards. However, that causes more pollution for the air. Another might say that the oceans are huge and if we throw trash in just a little bit of the ocean, there is nothing wrong with that. Then I would say why throw trash at all when we can protect the animals and the oceans, and if someone said that we can just pick it up afterwards then I would say that if we use planes to pick it up afterwards we are not helping because we are polluting the air. “Once you ring a bell you can not unring it” afterwards so don’t do it if you can’t undo it.

Littering is bad in so many ways. Litter is affecting the environment by polluting the air and harming the soil and land with chemicals. Animals are dying because of litter. It is polluting the water because the water gets dirty and disgusting. The environment, animals, and oceans are just a few examples of the impacts that litter has on our world. After learning all of this I would definitely not litter again, and if I see litter I will pick it up.