Mara T. New Jersey

Litter Is Destroying Our World

Dear President, “We are living on this planet as if we had another one to go to” (Terri Swearingen). Are you littering, or are you picking trash up? Because most of our population is trashing our world thinking there will be no damage or consequences. Littering is a choice. We are not forced to throw a bag of chips out our window. We decide whether or not a piece of garbage is going to end up polluting our home or just go in the garbage. The only excuse for littering is laziness. 75% of people have admitted to littering in the past 5 years according to litteritcostsyou.org. I’m not proud of it, but I know I have littered at least once in my life time , and I'm sure you have also! If we take a little time out of our day just to recycle or throw out a piece of trash, it could go a long way. Litter costs us. litteritcostsyou.org states that , “$11.5 billion is spent every year to clean up litter”. As people we created this mess. We are taking away money from ourselves and as well as taking away lives from animals. Litter on the ground degrades natural areas and kills plants and animals. All that it takes is for a cat to get stuck in a bottle or a bird getting caught up in a soda can holder.When a piece of trash is thrown out into nature it could end up anywhere.You won't even realize it,but your Dorito bag could end up in the Atlantic ocean.That’s why our oceans have 9 billion tons of litter every year claims litteritcostsyou.org. There is, however, one small, seemingly insignificant detail that destroys the case against litter . litterer. mises.org/library/defending-litterer states,” Litter can only take place in the public domain — never in the private domain.” The ads showing the supposed evils of litter take place on highways, beaches, streets, parks, subways, or public bathrooms — all public areas. This is not because most littering occurs in public places. We have to look at what the definition of littering is, if something resembling littering in all other aspects were to occur in a private place, it would not be considered littering. When large crowds in a private area leave a ballpark, movie, theater, concert, or circus, what remains among the seats and aisles is not and cannot be defined as litter, according to mises.org/library/defending-litterer is garbage, dirt, or waste, but not litter.. Regardless of the definition of litter we need to clean our Earth and take responsibility for our actions. Without our environment there is no us!. We need to make our environment as clean as it was from the start! Sincerely Your Concerned Citizen, Mara T

Brielle Elementary

Eighth Grade Citizens

The students in the eighth grade who wished to post their letters are featured here. Students worked for several weeks in both Social Studies and Language Arts classes, crafting their arguments. They participated in Penpal Schools Decision 2016 as well as Media Literacy Week.

All letters from this group →