LITTER

By Mariah Weigel, Gali Zaborowski and Nick Cheney

The Problem

• Litter is garbage that is lying around in an open place.

• Over 51 billion pieces of litter land on U.S. roadways each year

• 9 billion tons of litter gets dumped into the oceans every year

• Animals who mistake litter for food, or get caught in it are dying every day because Americans are lazy.

Heavily Affected Areas

• Roadways are very heavily affected by littering.

• 52% of the litter found on roadways are from motorists.

• Litter is also found a lot in storm drains, recreational areas (e.g. parks), and construction sites.

• All this litter thrown on land gets dumped into the ocean and that is our biggest problem

How we cause it

Improper disposal of waste in the forms of dumps. Not recycling plastics, which stay in the environment. They do not decay and break down. This makes it easier for it to get lost in the ocean. Animals are very likely to get caught in trash, or try to eat it and die, in the case of turtles, who mistake plastic bags for their prey; jellyfish.

Possible outcomes if not stopped

If there is no solution to the problem, it will only get worse. More and more trash will pile up, causing more and more dumps to be built. More and more will be

incinerated to save space, which

will release more and more

greenhouse gasses. This will

attribute to global warming,

and will only become worse

from there.

Environmental Impact

If the litter gets into the water, it can clog up the water flow by gathering at the narrow parts and sticking there, or ensnare animals like this duck and seal. This can harm the animals involved by choking them

Other human interferences

Litter is not the only problem humans are creating. We have been polluting the air, using up natural resources, and cutting down all the forests. We need to stop before we destroy the only world we have.

Ways we can help

• Always throw out your trash, and pick up any you see lying around

• Remind others not to litter

• Recycle or have a compost system

• Volunteer to clean up your town's litter

How it impacts natural cycles

This impacts natural cycles by stopping flow of water, which can have a similar effect to damming a river. Species will be displaced and others will be denied food, now that their food can no longer flow through the river.

Impacts Continued

If the litter is something like rotten food, which is still full of nutrients, it can cause algal bloom. This stops water animals from getting light.

Works Cited

• (Litter Prevention) http://www.kab.org/site/PageServer?pagename=focus_litter_prevention

• (Litter)http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/swfa/litter/

• (What is Litter?) http://www.flagstaff.az.gov/DocumentCenter/Home/View/6817

• (Matter cycles and pollution) http://www.lenntech.com/matter-cycles-pollution.htm

Pictures Cited

• http://ecology.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/seal-plastic-ring.jpg

• http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Sev5h7MCcEM/TVtD8c_JiaI/AAAAAAAAAEY/m4FBJkJwN3A/s1600/16_lovelace.JPG

• http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/images/270x224/publications/all_animals/2009/julyaug09/6_pack_duck_270x224.jpg

• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Hoover_dam_from_air.jpg

• http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5vxo8Oljb1r31aj4o1_1280.jpg

• http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/664/cache/algae-blooms-in-lakes-may-be-new-normal-aerial-boat_66470_600x450.jpg

• http://www.beckybones.com/Play/DownloadCharacterArt/tabid/75/Default.aspx

• http://news.thomasnet.com/green_clean/2012/10/25/report-industry-is-main-culprit-of-pollution-problems-in-developing-countries/

• http://planphilly.com/eyesonthestreet/2013/02/06/south-philly-group-battles-ongoing-litter-problem

• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Kwai_Chung_Incineration_Plant.jpg/300px-Kwai_Chung_Incineration_Plant.jpg

END!