Waste is a problem

Human wastes can be found everywhere nowadays. People who throw away cigarettes, plastic bags, coffee cups on the streets or on forest trails, often don't realize how problematic this is. Especially plastic wastes are a big problem, because:

• They degrade very slowly, not like organic waste. A polyethylene plastic bag can remain in the environment for more than 50 years. It will slowly fall apart into small plastic pieces and can be eaten by birds, fish and mammals by mistake. Following the food chain, they can end up in humans.
• Degradation products are often hazardous for human and environmental health. For example phatalates from PVC are known as endocrine disruptors and carcinogens (more information).
• They are flushed with rain water into creeks and rivers, accumulating along river banks. Pieces of plastic wastes travel all the way into the oceans, where they create large areas of polluted waters (more information).
• Wastes can be inhabited by organisms, such as insects and birds. The removal of such objects from the environment can cause damage to their inhabitants. Such situations should be prevented by not allowing the wastes to reach natural habitats in the first place.

Whether a persons litters or not is a question of his character. Littering can be caused by insufficient environmental education and an indifference to environmental issues and is affected by the individual's social environment. Littering is a society problem. Punitive measures of the government are not the only actions that can stop people from littering in their living environment. Social disparities can force people to live outside in parks and woods, without connection to the society. Their struggle for survival does not allow to occupy themselves with environmental problems. Thus the fight against littering always include the fight against poverty and social disparities.