How We can Nationalize Littering:
One specific issue that I have never been able to grasp is the fact that people throw trash in their environment. My definition of littering would be an improper way of discarding garbage into our environment that finds its way into locations where its effect is much greater. Especially with the movement that has been made for recycling across the globe, it seems as if there are trashcans at every turn. This is degrading to our society and is harmful to the places we call home. Continuing to push away this issue more problems are being created due to littering. There are multiple ways to go about solving this issue and being more eco-friendly. A national approach would take the people that live in the United States to educate and regulate their disposal of trash. On the other hand, globally would speak to everyone who lived on Earth and how we could make it the safest environment for generations to come. As hard as it is to enforce worldwide rules against littering, changes need to be made because of the effects it can have on future generations. To start, focusing on United States law and improving the regulations against littering would be easier than creating global fixes. In the United States, we already have some laws put into practice to avoid this problem, however, law enforcement is not overseeing the conditions and people continue to walk over this flawed government. Littering does not only affect our streets and how they look but also floods the oceans which produce unwanted toxins for marine and human life. Limited progress has been made in this respect, however, the community is starting to open its eyes towards the bigger problem littering is creating. Littering in the United States is still a detriment to the environment and human lives. The United States government can use its resources better than an international laws agreement would be able to, which would have limited control globally. And lastly, changes have already been made in everyday plastic goods to preserve our environment.
When thinking about this issue on a global or national scale, it would be hard to govern littering laws in their entirety. Movements across the United States have already taken place. Many states have implemented fines towards guilty litterers’, yet still, this hasn’t seemed to put the right idea in the people’s minds. Whereas around the world, laws haven’t been created to control the spread of littering because of the size they have to cover and the work they have to do. It’s very difficult for a worldwide law to pass through because of the lengths the bill must pass to be ratified. The smaller national scale provides more governance over these regions that can implement littering regulations. On top of that, passing a law nationally requires far less work and is a lot more achievable. In the United States, a lot of the same plastic goods are used everywhere. Therefore, implementing laws would be far less difficult because most states hold the same problems.
One of the main reasons I’d want to educate the community on littering would be to preserve our nature’s beauty. Here in California, it’s home to the nation’s most visited national parks. It hurts the environment and is a shame for tourists to see these national landmarks filled with disposable trash. Similarly, across the globe, they deal with this issue as well. National parks are being flooded with the trash that harms the environment and takes away from its natural beauty. Polluting these lands will affect the economy because of the volume of tourists yearly. Nationally, we must do better in this context. Wildfires come from the pollution and discarded trash left by our people. Locally, we have affected wildfires every year. This can be changed with the government making altercations to the littering laws. Around the world, it’s so different everywhere and the products used locally are different globally. Thus making national laws regarding the preservation of these national parks will be easier to achieve because of the resources we have here in the United States. Improving the quality of life and these landmarks is important because of the unhygienic environment that litter brings us.
A big part of the movement to create littering regulations is for saving the oceans. This is a problem not only in the United States but also worldwide. The waters become polluted from the wrongly disposed of trash. By entering our oceans, we affect the environment in the ocean and marine life is extremely endangered. And because marine life is a food source for humans, it moves up the food chain and is harmful to us. Many people are unaware of what throwing a piece of trash out of their car window does to their domain. Creating national laws makes more sense because of the regulations on international waters. All bodies of water are used differently, but nationally we can agree that the preservation of life is of the utmost importance. The economy of marines is severely affected by littering thus educating the people would be the next step to preservation.
The increase in recycling has been urgent nationally. Changes and progress have been made here to move from plastic products. The same can’t be said globally, we are still using excessive amounts of plastic that are not being disposed of properly. There is still a lack of global awareness on the effects of plastic in our environment versus the national guidelines that have been made for years regarding the context. More so, there is a lack of progress being made worldwide to eliminate plastic goods.
In the United States, on the other hand, taxes have been made on plastic use to warrant the good. Furthermore, we are slowly removing plastic water bottles from our society. Almost twenty-two billion water bottles are thrown out yearly. Most of this ends in our oceans and national parks which is harming lives. Around the community, water manufacturers have begun to move from plastic water bottles to aluminum cans. On top of that, an increase in paper straws is slowly taking over plastic straws. Going out to eat in California, makes me feel better about the direction of the nation moving away from plastic products. Environmentalists have already made national changes unlike a worldwide movement away from these everyday plastic goods.
I hope people worldwide can become more aware of what their trash does to the environment. Next time you think about tossing a water bottle into the streets, I want you to think about the animals, people, and natural beauty that you are harming. Across our globe, not enough changes or education has been enforced on littering. The majority of people worldwide aren’t aware of the consequences that come from littering, thus educating smaller scales seems like the correct protocol. I’m impressed with the movement nationally, the altering of products, and recycling motivations. There is so much diversity across the globe and it would be hard to touch the community as a whole. The products are the same nationally therefore, implementing a national rule is something everyone should follow. Nationally, we are already focusing on the next generation. Not making changes immediately would cause more harm to the environment and fluctuate future health problems that come from littering. Focusing on this issue on a national scale gives us much more promise because we are under one government that can sanction these laws to provide a healthier community. It creates so much infrastructure trying to do the same worldwide, as every country works differently in terms of materials, disposal systems, and local environments.
