The Crime of Littering
By Evan Jones
The truck zoomed passed. I glanced and saw a man, in a truck drinking a soft drink that he seemed to be consuming at a considerably fast pace. The wind nearly knocked me over and as I looked up in shock, I saw something horrible. The man reached out his window and dropped the cup. It hit the concrete of the street and sat there. Although barely making a noise, it seemed to me as if it were yelping at the previous action. I blinked, surely such a horrible tragedy had not just taken place, I simply couldn't believe it. I ran over and examined the cup. Crumpled and empty, the cup was a perfect example of litter and it disgusted me, and horrified me! "What if the aluminum pollutes the water that my pups drink from"! "What if they die?"
This man’s actions were a crime of littering, which is tearing apart the environment one trash item at a time. Did you know that 75% of Americans admit to have littered in the past five years? To many people are littering and it has horrible effects. Trash can attract bacteria and create a nasty environment, as well as people can step on glass objects and hurt themselves. Many times, animals mistake litter for food, and this can be a nightmare for the animals digestive system. Many people think that some litters can decompose and become part of the soil and ecosystem. However some things take time to break down and it can harm the environment in the time in which it is decomposing.
The reasons to litter are nonsensical. Most people litter off sheer laziness, the unwillingness to hold their cup until the get to work and the thought that such a small cup can’t kill anyone. However this is wrong, even if one cup can’t kill anyone, they add up and eventually have a huge disastrous effect on the environment. Many people think they won’t get in trouble, which is why the government needs to enforce the current littering laws if not make more. It baffles me as to why people can’t become patient enough to wait and throw out and recycle their items. There is no excuse to litter unless under a specific circumstance.
So I advise all readers to stop littering. It may be tempting, but I assure you, it will harm the environment and barely help you at all. I have seen littering, it is horrible. Littering has horrible effects and it is unreasonable to commit this horrid crime. Therefore, remember this when you are about to drop the cup on the concrete. Remember this when you are about to commit this crime and stop yourself. Don’t kill the environment for no reason at all. And stop littering!
~Evan Jones/Budget Executive~