Dear President,

Littering should stop and be taking more seriously because it’s causing harm to the environment. Everyday I pass by streets with lots of trash at the sidelines. When littering it affects both the land and ocean. Shown by “Ocean Conservancy: Top 10 Items Found,” that the most common thing found littered are cigarettes.

There are a lot of cigarette butts that are thrown on to the ground instead in trash cans. Cigarettes are the most found with an estimate of 2.1 million. They are toxic and are “Not Biodegradable” (being decomposed by bacteria or other living things) as said by “Cigarette Butt Waste.” Cigarette butts are being washed up and being ingested by animals in the water. When a fish or any kind of animal living in the sea ingest this kind of waste, the waste doesn't disappear or dissolve. Instead the chemicals will go into their tissues. Then when a predator comes for lunch, the chemicals will also go into its tissues. It costs a lot of money to clean up cigarette butts and litter in general. To clean up litter it costs more than 11 billion, being said by “The Cost Of Litter Clean-Up Is Substantial;” when the waste is small, then it’s harder to pick up and costs more.

Litter is swept away by water and goes into the sea. Everyday litter goes into drains after drains and their final destination would be the ocean. The waste causes pollution to the water because of the chemicals in them and many more other solutions(like air pollution). Plastic waste and smaller pieces are a huge issue in the sea. Plastic wrappers could get stuck on wildlife and kill them. Not just plastic and smaller pieces are an issue but all kinds of litter are just as harmful. The waste in the sea are affecting aquatic animals. When animals in the sea are to find plastic as food, that would likely choke them and end their life. Fishing equipments are also a waste. Fishermen either abandon their fishing gear or throw them out and this haves the same effect as other waste.

Litter not only affects the sea but also the land. Littering happens because we are humans, so we are lazy. We are too lazy to walk a few steps to the trash can, when the ground is just right below us. If we continue to do the same thing, then it will become worse, both the environment and our habit. Waste on land comes from many sources and all that litter could cause accidents on the road. Pieces of trash ride with the wind and get caught on cars or the litter would be on the streets in front of cars and because of that we need to throw away or recycle our trash. Littering affects plants, flowers, trees, etc. Plastic bags, glass bottles, fast food wrappers, etc. all have some kind of bacteria or chemicals that hurts the green living physically.

What is something good about littering? Why would you litter? When littering it only affects the environment and nothing good happens from it. So why? We should stop being lazy and help keep the environment clean. Even if there’s no trash cans or bins around, just keep your trash in your pocket until you do find one. In conclusion the sea and the land is being polluted with trash. So littering should stop and people should pick up after themselves. It's not that hard to throw away your trash. Littering is illegal, so if caught then there will be consequences. As said in “States Littering With Penalties,” You could be fined from 20 dollars to 30,000 dollars. 20 dollars may seem like a small amount but I would rather pay nothing than that.

Sincerely,

Sarah Vang