The Growing Impact of Litter

Litter. The growing threat that communities around the world are having to find solutions to overcome and supress.

Studies have found that a huge 62% of people in England frequently drop litter, despite only 28% of people admitting to it.

It is unsettling, that many people don’t seem to understand the connection between levels of local litter and the impact on the planet’s environment. Most (if not all) of the litter in the sea comes from the land and, as the recent Netflix hit ‘Seaspiracy’ has highlighted, there is a lot of litter in the sea. Approximately 10 million tons of litter ends up in the world’s oceans every year without fail and this doesn’t just come from coastal regions. Any litter dropped has a chance of making its way into the water systems. Additionally, local littering attracts rats and flies that present health hazards not only to humans but also to native wildlife. Invasive rats are regarded as one of the most significant global threats to sea birds. Through predation of eggs, chicks and some adult birds, brown rats can cause some bird species to go extinct.

But litter is not just an environmental problem. With the recent increase in awareness around the topic of mental health, it is easy to see how the two societal problems can be interlinked. Studies have shown that people living in cleaner, greener spaces have better mental and physical health than people who live in dirty, urban areas.

There are many explanations for the rise in levels of littering however none excuse that this particular environmental issue is an undeniably human problem. There is no natural explanation for a mattress dumped in a lay-by, or empty Haribo packets floating around the school carpark. Some people potentially, don’t realise that what they are dropping is litter. Chewing gum, apple cores and cigarette butts are all things that do not belong in Cheshire’s grass verges, yet people think that they are too minor to cause any damage. It could be thoughtlessness or laziness that prevents people from responsibly disposing of their rubbish, however this is difficult to believe when you consider the fact that thousands of people contribute to the litter problem by throwing things out of their car; surely it would be much more convenient to leave it in the car cup holder.

Another possible contributor to the rubbish crisis is the widespread use of fast fashion and the excessive packaging that comes with it. Especially during lockdown, online sales have risen sharply and therefore the amount of unnecessary single- use postage bags have increased. Packaging is an issue in the UK generally as well as globally. It’s strange to think that people once put their vegetables in paper bags and chips were wrapped in newspaper, not polystyrene. The most relatable and noticeable explanation for the litter problem lies with the fast- food industry. How many of us have been forced to order a takeaway out of complete boredom during lockdown? The packaging and therefore waste that this industry generates is phenomenal – think about all those plastic straws and empty ketchup sachets that you have used.

The future of this pressing issue will ultimately be left to the younger generation to determine. As a team, TERM realises the enormity of not just the litter crisis, but the global environmental threat in general. To mediate and actively combat this issue, the TERM team have taken part in an organised litter pick of our local area and are making efforts to be more environmentally friendly going forward. When paper printing can resume, post-pandemic, TERM will use recycled paper to reduce the magazine’s carbon footprint. As environmentally conscious citizens, many students at our sixth form now bring their own lunch to school in a re-useable container, to avoid buying sing-use plastic that could potentially make its way into the oceans and cause problems for future generations. The main environmental goal of TERM is to reduce it’s carbon footprint and impact on others. Future generations should not inherit this burden. The cycle of environmental damage and littering needs to end.

Written by Ella Chang