Stop Littering Research Paper

Have you ever walked down the road and seen hundreds of cans and bottles that were just tossed out the window? The earth is being polluted more and more each day as people are tossing their trash on the ground. Millions of dollars are spent every year, making simple things such as plastic bottles, because people are sending them to landfills instead of recycling bins. The earth is becoming a dirty place and it is already beginning to impact us. The best ways to make the earth cleaner are to recycle, buy reusable items, and stop littering. The complexity of the problem of pollution on the earth is not understood by most people. 75% of Americans admitted to littering in the past year (King, 2013). The math comes out to be roughly 242,797,500 people that have thrown a piece of trash on the ground. This waste accumulates over time. The top two most common things littered are cigarette butts, and fast food packages. Smokers don’t think throwing their cigarette butt out the window or dropping it on the ground is littering, but it counts for 50% of items littered (King, 2013). The trash disposed of on the ground could take years to disintegrate, making it an item that must be picked up and taken to landfill or it will damage the environment.
The pollution …show more content…
Littering is what pollutes the earth. Fast food wrappers and cigarette butts are the most commonly littered items and 50% of the time the litterer doesn’t even realize he/she is doing it (EPA, 2016). By throwing the trash in a garbage and bottle and cans in the recycle bin instead of out the window, the amount of pollution that is affecting our water sources and wildlife will decrease. This will also save time and money spent on trying to clean the litter up. Also, not only will using a garbage help, but if you come across a piece of litter, pick it up and throw it away (Flagstaff, 2015). Litter is the main source of pollution and it can be