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catch litter violators. People in a local neighborhood near Annandale, Virginia are getting fed-up with the litter they are finding near bus stops and trash pick-up locations. There is so much litter to pick up they can't do it all themselves so it just keeps growing and growing and it is starting to become a
big problem. Besides just ruining our planet litter hurts wildlife too. If animals injest litter they can become very sick and die. It is also a breeding ground for bacteria. Not only that litter can easily catch on fire. Over 75% of people have admitted to littering in the last 5 years. Every year there is nine billion tons of litter dumped into the ocean. And every year there is 11.5 billion dollars spent to clean it up and it is still an issue.
Editorial Page
Litter
By: Cory O'Shea
Litter is becoming an increasing problem in the world and I think it is about time to stop littering. Everyday hundreds of thousands of pieces of trash are just thrown on the ground. Litter is terrible for the environment and the
things living in it. You probably don't notice, but next time you are driving down the highway take a look at the side of the road maybe that will give you some motivation to get involved.
Think about it if there is about 60 billion pieces of litter found every year in just a decade there will be 600 billion items littered. That is a lot if every single person just did their job and didn't litter we cut that number by a lot. There are programs out there for you to get involved in so please help. Better yet you could start a program yourself it doesn't have to be a huge nationwide program just something in your neighborhood were maybe a couple kids to come and pick up litter on the sides of the streets in your neighborhood. Every little step counts.
Think about your children and grandchildren you could make a difference in their lives and everyone around the world. Most people under the age of 15 do not litter. People from the ages of 15-25 are most likely to litter when they are in groups and anyone over the age of 25 is most likely to litter when they are alone. People litter for reasons such as laziness, the place is already littered, or sometimes
it is on accident like blowing out of the back of a truck or a trash can. Sometimes people do it to hide things from other people like cigarette butts or alcoholic glasses.
Some of these things you might think disintigrate easily, but they don't. Things like Glass bottles take over 500 years to disintegrate. I know someday I want to make a difference in the world and I hope you do to, and this is a great way to start.