The Quick Facts: After a long winter, we look forward to spring and summer beach exploration. But the thrill of such exploration may be tainted by litter. Litter of all types and sizes clogs our lakes, rivers, streams, creeks, bays, and oceans, endangering wildlife and posing health risks to our families. Litter is a persistent problem as it lasts a long time in the marine environment. People are the source of litter and they can also be the solution. By adopting simple steps, people can help eliminate litter in our waterways and on our beaches, and become part of the solution to this pollution.
What do a cigarette filter, plastic water bottle, and a plastic shopping bag have in common? They are items frequently found floating in waterways or littering beaches throughout the United States, and the world.
Litter is a waste product that has been unlawfully abandoned in a public place (usually outdoors), and is caused intentionally and unintentionally by people. Every flick of a cigarette filter out a car window, every plastic bag left behind on the beach after a picnic, and every plastic bottle tossed aside in a parking lot is litter.
Litter of all types and sizes clogs our lakes, rivers, streams, creeks, bays, and oceans, endangering wildlife, and posing health risks to our families. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), almost 80% of litter on beaches and in coastal waters can be traced to land-based sources such as people littering, and runoff of rainwater and snowmelt from roads, driveways, parking lots, and lawns. This runoff washes off surfaces and enters storm drains, bringing the litter through underground pipes directly (without treatment) to nearby waterways that eventually lead to the ocean.
Effects on Wildlife: Victims of Mistaken Identity
Fish, whales, birds, and other animals mistake litter for food. As a result, aquatic life and birds get entangled in or ingest items such as plastic bags, fishing line, and cigarette filters with deadly results.
For example, cigarette filters have been found in the stomachs of fish, whales, and birds, blocking and affecting their digestion. Also, according to Clean Virginia Waterways, the filters, which are made of plastic fibers, trap hundreds of chemicals and additives that are introduced into the marine environment when cigarettes are smoked and not disposed of properly. The chemicals – too numerous to list here – include those from the filter (e.g., charcoal and a deadly form of asbestos called crocidolite) and the tobacco and additives to tobacco (e.g., glycerol, acrolein, and “tar”). These chemicals have been found in fish tissues. A study by Clean Virginia Waterways published in The Underwater Naturalist, a bulletin of the American Littoral Society, has shown that the compounds in discarded cigarette butts (the filters and remnant tobacco) are biohazards to the water flea (Daphnia magna).
Overall, plastic debris is the largest offender. According to the EPA and the Marine Mammal Commission, at least 267 species worldwide, including 86 percent of all sea turtle species, 44 percent of all sea bird species, and 43 percent of marine mammal species have been found to be negatively affected by plastic litter. Some birds feed plastic items to their young. Sea turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, one of their favorite foods. Gray whales have been found dead with plastic bags and sheeting in their stomachs. With plastic items filling their stomachs, animals can die of starvation.
Also, plastic items constrain the movement of animals when it entangles
them, sometimes leading to death. A variety of marine animals and birds
become entangled in fishing lines and nets, balloons (for more on the effects
of balloon litter see Real Mama’s related Spring 2007 Issue article entitled,
Every Party Needs a Pooper), and six-pack beverage
holder rings. The EPA reports that as many as 30,000 northern fur seals
per year get caught in abandoned fishing nets and either drown or suffocate.
Birds have been observed to have balloons and string wrapped around their
feet, legs, and bills.
Effects on People: Litter & Human Health
In addition to the harm it can cause to wildlife, litter can have many adverse effects on people. Besides being extremely unsightly and thus ruining an otherwise wonderful day at the beach or on the water, litter can contribute to the pollution of water supplies. Vermin and disease thrive in places with high amounts of litter. Open containers such as paper cups or beverage cans may hold rainwater, providing breeding locations for mosquitoes which have been known to cause diseases.
Children also mistake cigarette filters for food and are otherwise curious about these common litter items at home and in the environment. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) studied 146 children aged six months to two years who had ingested cigarettes or cigarette butts. One-third of the children who ingested cigarettes or cigarette butts developed symptoms, including spontaneous vomiting, nausea, lethargy, gagging, and a pale or flushed appearance.
Effects on the Environment: Trash that Lasts
Unfortunately, litter in our waterways and on our beaches lasts a long time-often years. Litter, especially plastics, takes many decades to several hundred years to break down, thereby threatening wildlife and public health for generations. Consider how long it takes for items commonly found in our waterways to break-down:
- Cardboard box, 2 weeks
- Orange peel, 2-5 weeks
- Banana peel, 2-5 weeks
- Newspaper, 6 weeks
- Apple core, 2 months
- Wool sock, 1-5 years
- Cigarette filter, 1-5 years
- Plastic bag, 10-20 years
- Tin can, 50 years
- Foam plastic cup, 50 years
- Aluminum can, 80-200 years
- Disposable diaper, 450 years
- Plastic bottle, 450 years
- Fishing line, 600 years
- Glass, 1 million years
- Rubber tire, infinity
As you can see, the natural items take a shorter time to decompose, and the man-made items (often the more pervasive and abundant) take much longer.
Solutions: Stemming the Tide on Litter
People are the source of litter, but they can also be the solution to the existing litter problem. By taking the following steps, people can help eliminate litter in our waterways and on our beaches, and become part of the solution to this pollution:
- Never litter. (It’s the law.)
- Reduce or eliminate your use of disposable items (such as plastics) when alternatives are available. Similarly, recycle, reuse, or refill items that may be used more than once. This can help cut down on potential litter items, and also conserves resources.
- Ensure that garbage collection and recycling programs at your school, business, and home are correctly implemented and followed.
- Make sure your outdoor garbage and recycling receptacles are covered so as to avoid unintentional litter.
- Do not place your garbage and recycling receptacles at the curb until just prior to collection time so as to minimize unintentional litter.
- Participate in “household hazardous waste” collection days and properly dispose of electronics, cleaning chemicals, and other materials containing hazardous substances. Contact your local public works department for the schedule.
- Urge your community to pass and strictly enforce ordinances against littering.
- Encourage your municipality or county authority to implement regular street cleaning programs.
- Organize or attend regular cleanups of school grounds, parks, beaches, or other outdoor areas where litter accumulates.
- Educate others of the dangers of litter, and how to help take actions to prevent it.
The bottom line: litter will stop being a problem for wildlife and humans when people stop it from getting into the environment; then we can truly live litter-free from sea to shining sea.
Links/Resources
Clean Ocean Action’s Step by Step Instructions for Organizing a Cleanup: http://www.cleanoceanaction.org/index.php?id=300
Clean Ocean Action’s 10 Tips to Reduce Nonpoint Source Pollution (includes
anti-litter tips): http://www.cleanoceanaction.org/index.php?id=102
The Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup (coordinates one international
beach cleanup; over 30 states and over 50 countries): http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=8761
Information used in this article was found at the following sources,
which you can visit if you want to find out more about this topic: http://www.epa.gov/owow/oceans/debris
(U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Marine Debris Abatement)
http://www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/marinedebris.html
(California Coastal Commission)
http://www.oceanconservancy.org
(The Ocean Conservancy, International Coastal Cleanup; The Ocean Conservancy,
“Pocket Guide to Marine Debris,” 2003, page 10).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litter
(Wikipedia – the Free Encyclopedia, “Litter”)
www.cleanoceanaction.org (Clean Ocean
Action: A nonprofit ocean advocacy organization with the mission “to improve
the water quality of the marine waters off the New Jersey/New York coast.”)
www.cigarettelitter.org (CigaretteLitter.Org
is an informal, non-profit organization dedicated to dramatically reducing
cigarette litter across the United States. The goal is to accomplish this
task by raising public awareness of the issue and educating communities
about the facts regarding cigarette litter.)
www.litterbug.org (Pennsylvania Resources Council
is recognized for a half century of fighting litter, introducing the Litterbug,
its efforts to bring recycling to Pennsylvania, recycling and waste reduction
expertise, and other accomplishments to address litter problems.)
http://www.longwood.edu/cleanva/cigarettelitterhome.html
(Clean Virginia Waterways is an award-winning, statewide, nonprofit organization
dedicated to citizen stewardship of Virginia’s water resources.)
