Effects of Littering on Your Community and the Environment
Did you know that the effects of littering on your community and the environment span further than your community alone? An individual community’s littering habits affect the greater littering problem across the globe, which is why it’s important to minimize littering in our communities. Learn more about the impact that littering has and how to be more litter-conscious.
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Small-Scale Impact
No matter where or how littering occurs, it can have an impact on your local community and environment. If enough litter collects in community areas, it can start to pollute local waterways and even impact local wildlife. Litter poses a serious threat to local animal populations and larger-scale animal populations worldwide.
On a less serious scale, litter can also affect your community’s appearance. If littering in parks and other community venues is common enough, it can even drive away patrons and ruin local landscapes.
Large-Scale Impact
While it may be difficult to perceive on a smaller scale, littering habits can also have a significant impact on the larger-scale environment. Individual littering habits add up on a global scale and impact our whole environment. Just like on the local scale, littering impacts our greater environmental efforts and pollutes global air, waters, and landscapes. Trash that people carelessly discard can even lead to the spread of disease in both humans and animals, which is another global concern.
How To Be More Litter-Conscious
For your community to make positive changes toward littering efforts, it has to start on the individual level. This is why educating your neighbors and overall community on these consequences of littering is so important. There are several ways to spread this word and make a positive impact. For example, start a recycling program in your community—the more trash that stays out of landfills, the better. You can also host or attend community clean-up events with family and friends. The farther these events reach, the more likely community members are to participate.
The effects of littering on your community and the environment may seem overwhelming, but we can all do our part to help. Follow these tips for being more litter-conscious and see how you can help your community be more sustainable and eco-friendlier.
