~Introduction~

The issue of litter and littering is one that has dropped down the order as far as public concerns go. There are other seemingly more important things such as fox hunting, the war and racism that have come to the fore recently. The problem of littering hasn't just gone away over night and it is still clear that it is a huge problem in this country. The impacts of littering do stretch beyond the simple fact that it is an eye sore and a nuisance.

I had to write an essay on littering and recycling for my general studies lesson at school last year. I have also covered similar issues in geography classes, linked in with tourism and population. These have both educated me about litter and the damage that it inflicts on the environment, everything around us.

~The Problem~

The majority of the public, are good citizens and endeavour to putting their rubbish in bins or taking it home with them. There are by contrast, those who just dump their rubbish in the street without any consideration for the consequences. The litter itself makes places look very dirty and grubby, which can put people off from visiting. The site of litter on the streets just doesn't give a good impression. In parks and other public areas, litter looks even worse and takes away the natural feel of the place.

~Consequences~

The impact of litter that is dropped does have a much greater effect than just making places look a complete mess. The wildlife of an area can be affected dramatically. Inquisitive animals approach rubbish to see what it is. They may then become entangled with items or injury themselves on glass or metal. There are others that may become dependant on a particular source of food from litter and live off of that. This will affect the ecosystem and also other animals associated with them.

~Measures~

There are a number of things that can be done to reduce the amount of litter that we see on the streets and in other parts of the country. These will all add up to making the place much more attractive and also a lot nicer to live in.

~Street Cleaners~

This isn't a method of combating the initial littering, but one of dealing with the existing and probable future problems of litter. There are a huge number of people employed in this country, whose sole purpose is to relieve the streets of their litter and make them clean. There are a lot of main high streets and busy road junctions that get regular cleaning to keep them looking fairly good. Other areas are cleaned less frequently but still receive some attention. They do a pretty good job at keeping the streets tidy but the extent of littering is quite severe. They do have their work cut out at times and picking up every last bit of litter is incredibly difficult.

~Product Packaging~

There is an awful lot of wrapping and packaging that comes with a lot of the food and drink that you buy whilst you are on the go. There seem to be two layers of wrapping on chocolate bars and packets of crisps are only half filled. This is unnecessary waste that consumers have to carry around with them and they invariably drop the waste on the floor. If the packages were smaller then customers may put them in their bags or pockets until they find a bin. If they do end up on the floor, the impact will be somewhat reduced as the amount of waste will be less. There should be some measures put in place, to force companies to change the way that they package items of food and drink. They should also be forced to put things on the packaging, encouraging people to put it into the bin once they have finished it.

~Provision of Bins~

There are some people that say that there are simply not enough bins in some areas for them to put their rubbish into. There are some problems with providing bins in some areas. They are often moved and tampered with by youths and I have seen a lot of them floating in rivers in various locations. The smell of food also attracts wildlife such as foxes and other scavengers to areas. This can upset the ecosystem and some animals become too reliant on the dustbins as a source of food. However, as long as the bins are emptied regularly then the provision of extra bins is viable. The location of bins should also be taken into account. The most common locations for rubbish are people have to wait or hang around; bus stops are a good example. The bins should place near to these areas to encourage the public to make use of them.

~Fines~

There are some rather sketchy measures in place, whereby you can be fined for dropping litter. However, I have never heard of anybody being fined for such an offence. There could be special days where police clamp down on littering by increasing their presence in troubled areas. They can dish out heavy fines and hopefully get a very stern message across to the public. I think that after a while, people will start to realise that they should be putting their waste into bins.

~Conclusion~

It is fairly obvious that littering is still a prominent problem within the United Kingdom. There does seem to be continued investment by local authorities to send people out to clear up the mess. However, it will be much cheaper and far simpler to tackle the source of the litter problem. The public needs to be educated on the impacts of littering more and also punished if they continue to do it. Littering is something that needs to be addressed and also stamped out very quickly.

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