Throwing rubbish in public places is undoubtedly a shameful act. Those who are fiendishly fussy about cleanliness in their homes but have no qualms about littering public places have lower morals than litterbugs who are not too fastidious about cleanliness in their own homes.

 To improve the situation, existing laws aimed at alleviated the malady should be strictly enforced. Enforcement is clearly weak at present. This situation is due to shortage of officers to cover large areas and to carry out spot checks regularly. To solve this problem, more officers must be recruited. These officers must carry out their duties strictly.

 Hefty fines and lengthy jail sentences must be imposed to show the public that the government means business about keeping the country clean. Tougher enforcement may, therefore, deter the public from indulging in this bad habit and hopefully obliterated it altogether.

Public apathy towards the littering habit has thwarted the efforts of the government to eradicate this bad habit, which has been long ingrained in them. The people deserve some flak for their indifference to the littering problem. By not taking an interest in the matter, Malaysians are not carrying out their responsibilities as good citizens.

 Hence, the government should educate the public on the adverse effects of littering and how they can play their role in curing this malady. Without awareness, the people will not develop any consideration for cleanliness, let alone fathom its importance.

  In tandem with this, other measures can be carried out. Prevention campaigns will nip the problem in the bud. The mass media should publish the ugly news together with photographs showing the unsightly mountains of smelly, rotting rubbish, which has tarnished the reputation of Malaysia. The mass media should also highlight the efforts of the government to keep our environment clean. This will make the people aware how seriously the government view the littering problem and the part that the people can play in alleviating it.

The love of cleanliness should be taught at the earliest possible stage, that means as soon as the child is able to understand why it is important to be clean. So, the home and the school have an important role to play. Parents and teachers have to instill in children their responsibility in preserving the cleanliness of their own and public properties.

  Cleanliness can be made a compulsory subject in school, just as Moral education now is. Besides studying the theory of cleanliness, pupils should also be tested on the practical part of it. It is useless getting a distinction in the theory of cleanliness if you are the worst litterbug around.

 However, the whole thing will not work if adults merely preach cleanliness but practice untidiness or dirtiness. Examples are better than precepts. Children should be taught to throw rubbish in to rubbish bins and wastebaskets and not wherever it sits them. In class pupils should be assigned duties to keep the class clean such as sweeping the floor, wiping he windows and cleaning the blackboard.

 In addition to that, pupils should be trained to pick up rubbish wherever they see it. The value of cleanliness that we imbue in the young is more effective in curing this malady of littering than punishing them for young when they become adults.

 Therefore, for Malaysia to become a clean heaven, devoid of garbage, the moral development of our young generation gives us the best hopes of success.

Ad hoc measures to tackle this problem will not do. There have to be effective long-term plans to put an end to this problem once and for all. Everyone must be galvanized into action for the good of the country. I admit that it will not be an easy task. However, given the will, we can surmount this problem together.

Marine litter is believed to come from four main sources, with the majority of marine litter entering oceans directly from public sources. Public litter includes items such as plastic bottles, aluminium cans, food wrappers, cigarette butts and golf balls. The remains of helium balloons from ‘balloon races’ are also frequently among this litter. The second highest source of litter is the fishing industry, with items such as fishing line, rope, cord, floats and hooks being found. Many of these items are lost to the sea accidentally, making it a more difficult problem to eradicate. Sewage related debris makes the third largest contribution to marine litter around the UK. In some cases, toilets are used as ‘wet bins’, with debris entering the sea from sewage pipes. Britain has around 20,000 emergency storm overflow pipes that carry raw sewage and rainwater to the sea, but some of these are continually used, releasing items such as sanitary towels, tampon applicators, condoms and cotton buds to the sea. Cotton buds alone contribute to 70% of the sewage related debris found on our beaches, possibly because they are so thin that they are not removed by sewage filtering systems. Binning plastic items is the only way to be confident that they will not end up in the oceans. The final major source of marine litter is the shipping industry, which contributes items such as oil drums, strapping bands and crates to our oceans. In addition to these sources, there is a large amount of litter that cannot be easily sourced, frequently because it is broken into microscopic pieces. Marine litter from these four sources has been shown to have several key consequences.

One such direct consequence is the entanglement and death of marine organisms. These litter items are said to continue ‘ghost fishing’ – accidentally entangling organisms in fishing line, net and rope. Post mortem examinations on 30 baleen whales stranded on the Scottish coast since 1990 concluded that 16 of these died from entanglement in creel lines and other ropes. Fortunately, conservationists sometimes reach stranded animals and are able to disentangle them, but this is both a difficult and dangerous job. Entanglement is believed to be a huge risk to turtle species, all seven of which are included on the IUCN Red List of endangered species. Seabirds also suffer entanglement when they dive or swim into litter whilst foraging. Images of entangled seals are particularly disturbing, because as the seal grows, the string or rope becomes progressively embedded in the animal’s flesh, restricting its breathing and ability to forage. In 2002, a scientist from the Sea Fisheries Institute, showed that of the Cape Fur Seals harvested on the South African coast, approximately 84 seals per year suffer entanglement, representing 0.1% of the harvest.

Not only can litter entangle marine life, it can also be fatal when ingested. Marine organisms often mistake litter for food items or have a low discrimination rate when feeding. Upon ingestion, litter can block the passage of food, causing starvation . Large plastic pieces have also been shown to cause inflammatory lesions in the intestines of Albatross chicks. Plastics can sequester man-made toxins from seawater, and some debris already harbours toxins when deposited. For example, some plastics contain PBDE, a flame retardant. Amongst other consequences, PBDE has been shown to affect the neurological and hormonal functions of marine life, hence influencing reproductive capacity. Chemicals found on plastics, such as DDT and other chlorinated hydrocarbons, have been shown to cause low steroid production and a delayed reproduction in several species; for example ringneck doves. Bioaccumulation of toxins can occur on moving up the food chain – occasionally concluding with human consumption.

Evidence of ingestion by marine life is extensive. For example, in 2005, a minke whale washed ashore in Northern France was found to have 800 grams of plastic bags in its digestive system – approximately one bin liner full. In 1985, a study of fulmars in the Netherlands showed that, on average, each bird had 12 items of litter in its stomach. In fact, 80% of plastic washed ashore on the Dutch coast has peck marks characteristic of those made by seabirds. In 2002, scientists from the University of Valencia found that 43 of 54 juvenile loggerhead turtles had debris in their gastrointestinal tract, possibly because these animals have a very low discrimination rate when feeding. Additionally, the consequences of the many microscopic plastic pieces in the sea are largely unknown, but they have been shown to be ingested by barnacles, lugworms and amphipods, and it is likely that this ingestion is not without consequences.

Marine litter is also capable of indirectly influencing species richness and biodiversity by transporting potentially invasive species to new areas. Invasive species are species not native to a particular area that can exclude native species by depleting limiting resources. Well-known examples have shown that invasive species can have dramatic effects on native species. One such example is the decline in red squirrel populations in Britain because of the introduced grey squirrel that delivers squirrel pox to native red squirrels whilst being more tolerant of the disease.

The durability, high abundance and buoyancy of much marine litter make it particularly suitable as a vector for invasive species. Man-made debris is capable of harbouring species, as demonstrated by a plastic strapping band, found on Adelaide Island, Antarctic Peninsula, shown to be the home to 10 species, including sponges, bryozoans, polychaete worms, a mollusc and a hydroid. On several beaches in the Seychelles, more than 60% of the debris was shown to contain potentially invasive species in 2006. In 2002, David Barnes from the British Antarctica Survey estimated that man-made debris has doubled the spread of invasive species to subtropical regions compared to the spread promoted by natural materials and more than tripled the spread to subpolar and polar regions. He has described marine litter as a ‘commercial jet airliner’ for invasive species, allowing unlimited travel.

With so much litter already in the oceans, financial support for investigation into suitable removal methods is required. Currently several methods are used for removing floating debris from the sea. The US Army Corps of Engineers typically remove 90 tonnes of debris from San Francisco Bay shipping lanes every month, because of the threat that they pose to seaplanes. It is unknown whether removal involves trawling for debris but this would be counterproductive since it would also unavoidably remove marine organisms. In the Tres Palmas Marine Reserve, Puerto Rico, debris is removed from reefs by snorkelling, tow-boarding and scuba-diving. Although this is effective on a small scale, it is impractical on larger scales and equipment is costly. Manual removal is considered to be the most environmental method because, unlike machine collection, it does not remove organisms from the environment. In Britain manual removal using gloves and litter pickers is popular and several environmental charities regularly organise beach clean-up events. These events also entice community involvement, whilst also improving awareness of the issue.

Governments have important roles to play in the mission to decrease marine litter. Alongside environmental charities, governments can assist in providing funding for investigation into removal methods. They are also responsible for ensuring littering laws are enforced and carry appropriate penalties. The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 1973/1978) is one intergovernmental initiative that has proved successful in reducing marine pollution from ships. Amongst other outcomes of this convention, plastic disposal at sea is now prohibited.

What can society do to decrease the damage on wildlife from marine litter? Prevention is the key! Society should continue in its effort to reduce the amount of waste produced and attempt to reuse and recycle existing items where possible. Furthermore, by supporting beach clean-up events and other environmental debris removal methods, it is hoped that society will be able to assist conservationists in ‘turning the tide on marine litter’. Because of the cost, impracticalities and time-consuming nature of removing floating debris, there is an urgent need to promote prevention!

Would you consider doing something that would cause physical pain to yourself?

Would you consider doing something that can destroy the life of someone you love so much?

Would you consider destroying something precious a loved one gave you?

Would you consider killing something or someone you depend on for supply of your needs?

I believe your answer to all these would be NO

So I ask, why do should we do things that would directly or indirectly destroy the planed EARTH?

We must remember this earth is non-renewable

God in His own wisdom gave us this earth so we could live comfortably.

He is a good architect, so He made provision for all we need here on earth

So why do we destroy the earth?

No specific actions mentioned in here

Just be cautious what you do to the earth

It affects you, whether good or bad

Do not think you are littering a place that is not your home

The earth has been given to you to take care of by God

Do not make Him disappointed in you

Treat the earth as if it were your house or even your bedroom

Protect the planet; Save the earth!

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

Image via steventan.org

China’s streets are not clean at all, whereas America just has this clean feeling attached to it.  There is litter everywhere, and city roads can be cracked or broken.  Everywhere you go, you will find cigarette butts on the ground, and soda bottles are scattered all over the place.

Image via pisqa.com

China’s cities are polluted.  Many people smoke, and it is pretty unhealthy environment.  Smog producing factories are everywhere, and the air is sometimes hard to breathe.  China has done a great job cleaning up the air since the ‘08 Olympic Games, but there is still a lot of work to do.

Image via blogs.wsj.com

Chinese kids are not as educated when it comes to personal health.  Have I mentioned smoking?  It’s a widespread problem, and something definitely needs to be done.  Drugs, such as opium, are somewhat more prevalent in China than in America (though it’s getting better).   Dental health is also lagging behind.

Image via Engadget

Many Chinese still have low paying jobs, especially factory workers.  China makes everything, and they have a huge underpaid labor force to work unsafe jobs.  China simply doesn’t pay as well as America.  This can even lead some to suicide.  Check out this editorial for more information on these suicides: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/21/editorial-thoughts-on-foxconn/. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s not like China is a hellhole.  For more info on an example of one, check out this article about Egypt.  China has made great progress over the past few decades, and it will continue to make strides.  However, it is clear that China’s economic progress is far superior to its progress on improving citizens’ lives.

I talked to some people about it and I think I can really do this, and I encourage you to do it at your schools/communities too. As of now, I’m planning it all out, working out all the kinks. There are many things I have to take care of:

• Making flyers to pass out/hang up
• Get gloves for everyone to use
• Have refreshments for all the volunteers
• Get a truck to haul away the trash after the clean up
• Choose Clean Up Leaders
• Contact the press
• and much, much more.

I really, really want to get this into action; I should probably stop writing this and go work. I’d like to thank you all for reading, and I hope you do a clean up in your area.

I wrote this so I could hear from you guys; I’ve never done one of these before. Could you give me tips or useful information that would help this go smoother? I really want this to be a big success. Thanks!

-

Find more of my work at:

http://www.triond.com/users/Lonely+Peanut

Littering

A major problem in our community is littering. Littering is the action of throwing things such as paper, containers, and wrappers onto the ground as opposed to disposing it properly by throwing it into a garbage can.

        Littering can cause a lot of damage to our environment. Litter in streets and parks can travel through the storm water system to our bays and oceans, where it can cause harm to wildlife. Litter is a threat to public health. Litter attracts bacteria, because it is really dirty and most of the time it is food. Items such as broken glass can be a health hazard in public places. Litter looks bad. Litter negatively affects the image of places, especially tourist locations. Litter attracts litter. Litter sends out a message that people do not care for the environment and that it is acceptable to litter. Litter can harm or kill wildlife. Plastic litter can choke or suffocate birds and marine life. Carelessly discarded containers can trap small mammals. There are a lot of effects of litter but we still continue to litter in our environment.

         There are some ways to help prevent littering. Use garbage cans properly if provided. Make sure your waste goes in the garbage can, not beside it. Take your litter home when visiting parks and gardens. Pick up garbage, do not flush it away. Sweep paved areas and pick up all the garbage, rather than hosing it down into gutters and drains. All the garbage in gutters works its way into the water. Pack a garbage free lunch with reusable plastic containers and water bottles rather than bags and drink boxes. Use a reusable cloth bag when you are shopping, or choose cardboard boxes instead of plastic bags, whenever possible. Reuse plastic bags by taking them back to the store, Always place waste in the most appropriate place. If there are no garbage cans, take it home with you. It is best to reuse and recycle, never litter.

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Litter at the beach is more than an unsightly inconvenience. It is one of the biggest pollution problems affecting our waterways.Litter discarded on the beach could remain an eyesore for hundreds of years. Worst of all, this unsightly mess could kill marine wildlife if they eat it or become a entangled in it. Help preserve the beauty and safety of our beaches by properly disposing of rubbish.

Palitha Ariyarathna

Deep Sea Diver & Rescuer

Products bought in stores, delis and meat markets used to be wrapped in yesterday’s newspaper or plain brown bag wrap. The environmentalists cried over the death of the trees that produced the paper pulp that became paper bags not to mention the little dweeby bug-owl that nobody has ever seen before, and then only in a black & white handbill image that made it look sad staring out of a knothole in some dead pine tree. They said these owls would become extinct in our lifetime as a result. The switch to plastic bags was deemed an eco-friendly move. So, -what happened?

 Paper is Bio-Degradable and Therefore, Better?

Image Source

I hear this excuse all the time and let me identify some problems with this fallacy. True, paper will decompose and become mulch over time but you would not want a lot of this in your garden any more than you’d want bagfuls chipped houseboards. Paper cellulose is not really a good fertilizer until it has completely broken-down, -which can take several years.

Buried in landfills where there is little oxygen (because it is buried) and very little movement in the water table, paper survives for decades. Landfills are placed exactly where they are because of these factors, little to no water-movement. This prevents any leachate from contaminating streams, lakes and other potable ground water.

It was a common practice decades ago for disposing of daily newspapers to roll them tightly and bind with a string or cord before burial in the landfill. This action actually preserves the paper and some of the best excavated newsprint  papers have come from converted landfills going back into the 60s, 50s and even earlier. Have you ever seen those ads where you can buy a framed front-page newspaper from your hometown from the day you were born? Usually in fair-to-good condition? Yes, -those are reclaimed-from-a-landfill newspapers that someone salvaged (possibly by the hundreds or thousands for any particular day and any particular town or city) and found a very entrepreneurial way to profit from them.

The Switch to Plastic Bags, Bottles & Plastic Packaging

They use less material than cardboard boxes and bag combinations so it conserves disposable volume. Less mass to truck means saving over-the-road costs, fuel, and less space required for inventory. Reduced and minimized packing costs are an effective inducement for having switched to plastic bags, bottles and containers.

Image via Wikipedia

Plastic bag containers are more sanitary than paper equivalents for many types of foods. They keep foods fresh longer, are more lightweight and can be formed to have handle for ease of carrying that surpass the ability of paper.  Concerns of a more recent nature are that of the possibility of malicious product tampering. Product tampering measures often involve a plastic seal that is created at the point of production and in not broken until the end consumer uses it.

A plastic bag or other product that uses plastic sealing methods cannot be maliciously accessed without visible damage showing whereas paper by its nature, would have been folded and taped to some degree. The non-permeability of plastics alone makes its use for food and food products safer than paper which could absorb poisonous, toxic or any other liquid substances it could come in contact with. And of course if the plastic is of the right type, it can be incinerated in any waste-to-energy facility just like paper.

Lastly, if all else fails plastic bags buried in landfills would be stable and inert. The ultimate ‘do no harm’ would be achieved. It behaves more like paper and it would remain ’stable’ for a very long time.

But the Problem with Plastic is…

Image Source

…Improper disposal!

Thrown onto the ground and left alone, it will not decay or break down easily and could lay there for hundreds or perhaps even thousands of years. Often, garbage that includes plastic bags, bottles and related plastic products ends up in the world’s oceans where they entangle and kill marine animals and birds. Sea Turtles will mistakenly eat plastic bags, probably thinking they are jellyfish or sea kelp. Doing so will in all likelihood cause bindage in their stomach, causing the animal to die.

Image via Wikipedia

Whales too could ingest the plastic items and become impacted and die from the obstruction in their intestinal tract. Birds will rest upon floating piles of plastic garbage seeking food and become ensnared, eventually drowning for the lack of ability to escape, die of hunger.

Reports cite as many as ‘one-hundred  thousand deaths’ but there was never any scientific data to support this number given. Not for plastic bags, anyway. -Lost fishing gears (nets, ropes, etc.) was the subject of that report.

Fish seeking shelter will hide amongst the plastic flotsam and become entangled, often carrying pieces of plastic string around their bodies which become tighter as the fish gains girth. The entangled plastic string, nylon rope or shards becomes a virtual plastic garrote which becomes tighter and tighter as the fish grows in size, torturing and maiming, eventually causing death.

A fish or marine mammal such as a whale or dolphin might fail to mate under such an unnatural condition, depriving a future progeny. Or at least this is the oft-cited over-exaggerated claims. It is more a matter of discarded fishing nets and banding straps that do the actual killing, and not ‘plastic bags.’ We could still err on the side of correctness and not fill our oceans and cover our beaches with discarded plastic water bottles, though.

Waste Not or Have Not

Image Source

We can blame plastic for a multitude of environmental sins. But plastic is not the problem. People are the problem. With conscientious environmental awareness we are gradually moving away from plastic bags, but let’s not break an arm patting ourselves on the back just yet. The reusable products that are replacing plastic bags are, -plastic cloth-like bags!

Reusable Bags Made from Plastic Bottles!

Plastic bottles and recycled plastics are being spun into new ‘eco-friendly’ carry-all totes, sandals and clothes but let’s not forget that these are still plastic. What are we going to do with these when they have outlived their useful life? Why, -throw them away of course! And then buy more, believing that because we are buying ‘recycled plastics’ again, we’re making a positive difference.

I cannot recall how it came up, but one night while drying dishes, (my mom washed, my sister and I took turns drying) my mother mentioned something that troubled me so deeply I remember it to this day. I have no idea how the conversation started but the point she made was that farmers, when faced with a surplus of unwanted kittens, would put them in a bag and put the bag on the road.  Of course this brought me to tears.

How cruel can a person be. I understand taking an unwanted, old, or sick, pet to the vet for euthanasia, put to put a pet in a bag and leave it to be killed in such a way that might be instant, or might be slow and lingering, is just sick. Similar there are accounts of people drowning unwanted pups and kittens. In some ways I even find this more tolerable of an end.

Now, I am sure at least one person, who hates cats, will respond with a negative comment, perhaps to shock me or cause anger. I assure you,there is nothing that can shock me or anger me. I have worked at a shelter, I have helped euthanize day old kittens. I have seen the worst you can see, and heard it already too. I know many people hate cats, and understand why. It is not the cats fault though. Typically the blame is with the people who do not spay or neuter their pets, and allow them to roam where they are unwanted.

A few years ago I was sitting at a livestock auction, as often happens there was somebody at the door giving away free kittens, two women behind me were talking, one mentioned that when her cat had kittens last summer she never thought of giving them away, she put them in a bag and left it on the road.

Every year millions of cats are put to death in shelters because more are born than there are homes for, thousands are killed by the owners, unfortunately some of the owners kill them in unpleasant, and illegal, ways. Yes, tossing a litter of kittens in a bag onto the road is illegal in most places. In some places people take it upon themselves to clean the road ways of garbage. Imagine if a family has taken it upon themselves to clean that particular stretch of road. Who will find your dead kittens?

If you have an unwanted litter, find them homes, or better yet take them to a shelter, who will either adopt them out to homes that will spay or neuter them, or at the very least they will euthanize them humanely. Then spay your cat. Do not let an unspayed cat outside. Even if you are on a farm. I am on a farm, I have six cats, and all are spayed or neutered.

Letting a cat have even one litter contributes to the overpopulation of cats. “Cute” is not a reason to let a pet reproduce. No deaths are good, no deaths are “kind”, but many deaths are preventable simply by being a better pet owner.

If you are a person who has done this, or is thinking of doing this, my message is to you. Tossing a bag of kittens onto the road is about as selfish as a person can get. Be a bigger person. Just because you did not do the final deed, does not keep the blood off your hands, or soul.

Not all farmers kill unwanted extra pets this way, some shoot them, or drown them.

Many countries are using these bottles to create energy and other productive uses. Hopefully, after you read this you will think not to litter but rather recycle for the sake of our planet.

Here are some facts about the topic of bottles.

1. People in the U.S. consume more packaged drinks per capita than in any other country-about 350 aluminum cans per person per year, compared to 103 in Sweden, 88 in the United Kingdom, and 14 in France.
2. In 2001, 285 million Americans failed to recycle some 51 billion cans-enough to encircle the Earth 153 times if laid end-to-end. (That same year, 451 million residents of 18 European nations wasted only 8.9 billion cans.)
3. Making 1 million tons of aluminum cans from virgin materials requires 5 million tons of bauxite ore and the energy equivalent of 32 million barrels of crude oil. Recycling the cans, in comparison, saves all of the bauxite and more than 75 percent of the energy, and avoids about 75 percent of the pollutants.
4. Recycling just one aluminum can saves enough electricity to run a laptop computer for 4 hours.
5. Making 1 million tons of plastic bottles from virgin materials (petroleum and other fossil fuels) generates an estimated 732,000 tons of climate-altering greenhouse gases.
6. Plastic bottles made from PET (polyethylene terephthalate) can be recycled into many products, including beverage bottles, plastic strapping, fleece jackets, sleeping bags, and carpets. Yet in 2002, less than a fifth of all plastic beverage bottles in the U.S. were recycled.
7. Recycling glass yields a 10 percent energy savings and preserves the life of the glass furnace. Yet currently, less than a third of glass bottles sold in the United States are recycled.

Please, next time you got an empty Coke can or an empty water bottle, find a garbage can and throw it in there NOT on the road. It may look queer but in the long run, if we continued our bad habits mankind will think again saying recycling is “queer.”