Solving The Littering Problem and Finding Possible Solution

Littering is an urgent problem which needs a solution. In this problem solution essay some possible solutions will be proposed as there are many solutions to littering, most of them are either quick ones or long-term ones. The amount of litter accumulating in the United States (U.S.) is growing to heights the world has never seen before. With continued negligence, quick solutions for littering problems will no longer have any effect, and the entire world will be at risk to many global catastrophes. Littering has been a major problem not only in the U.S., but all around the world, especially in impoverished countries. Continued negligence could lead to even more debt for the U.S., unbreathable oxygen for humans, contamination to the ocean and drinking water, and an overwhelming amount of trash anywhere that would be visible. Many citizens who litter think nothing of it, but if the trash they litter somehow ended up in their home, you would see how drastically the littering all around the world would decrease. It is clear that many who litter are either irresponsible, or are simply unaware of how severe every piece of trash they litter affects the environment around them, depending on if they live by large masses of water, if there are many wild animals around them or if they simply already have many other environmental issues. Citizens and the government need to act as soon as they can to decrease littering while there is still time left and should work on more ways to get citizens to properly dispose of their garbage and recycle to help the environment.

Sweeping Away Littering Problem: Five Solutions

One of the solutions to propose would be stricter laws in regards to littering in the U.S., many of the penalties for littering across the U.S. depend on the state you litter. In some states littering could be just a little fine to pay, in other states it could involve jail time, and other states it could result in license suspension. According to ncsl.org, a document written by Jennifer Schultz and Brook Oleen, “Fines range from $20 in Colorado to $30,000 in Maryland. In more serious cases, offenders may be subject to imprisonment, with sentences ranging from 10 days in Idaho to six years in Tennessee.  Laws in Maryland, Massachusetts, and Louisiana also provide for suspension of a violators’ driver’s license in certain cases”. Fines should be ranked from severe consequences to not as severe depending on how grave littering is in the state and should be monitored 24/7 to get the most out of results, stricter laws will also keep people from littering since they will be fearful of getting caught.

Furthermore, another solution to ending littering would be to have communities more involved with clean ups and changing behavior on how we view littering. According to keepnbeautiful.org, “Keep America Beautiful's (KAB) research shows we have to address both littering behavior and change the environment. About 85% of littering is the result of individual attitudes. Changing individual behavior is key to preventing litter”. Changing the communities mindsets on littering could benefit it in many ways, not just on littering but on many other issues as well. Citizens working together would not only build bonds and trust with one another, they are saving their community and doing their part in making sure the world is cleaner. It would also benefit children, and at a young age they’re outdoors making a change and being social and not inside all day letting social media take control of their lives.

In addition, one of the last solutions would be to involve corporate sponsors. According to an article written by Richard Florida on citylab.com, “In the last 15 years alone, over 12$ billions of the public’s money has gone to privately owned stadiums”. Only a little bit of these numbers are from sports, now imagine other corporate companies and the amount of money they own every year. Are sports and other things really higher than a clean environment? Money brought in from these companies a year would not only help tremendously but it would reduce and hopefully in the near future eradicate littering.

A rebuttal to the first solution would have naysayers wondering, “Strict laws aren’t going to help the problem”, however, many strict laws have been implemented throughout the years with many different problems, one of them would be texting and driving. Strict laws would help littering because it would be monitored more often and would leave many citizens fearful about where they dispose of their litter. In contrast, many citizens believe current littering laws are just a slap on the wrist, which is why many litter because they believe it has no repercussions and because they’re not being supervised.

Finally, a rebuttal for the second solution would naysayers thinking, “More involvement wouldn’t participate, or help”. Society in this age with social media will do anything that is currently trending and would participate in something if there were a group behind it. With the right publicity and a good amount of people, littering could be helped in communities. Many citizens would participate if they knew the risk of how much littering puts on humanity, furthermore, citizens watching others do their part and clean up the Earth will most certainly want them to participate. An example of this would be similar to World War II, many American citizens went to War and participated because it meant their freedom could be at risk, and with those wanting to go and participate, it drove other citizens to join the battle and do their part.

Conclusion

Many citizens don’t realize the damage being done to the Earth until the consequences are detrimental, or until the problems personally concern them, but why wait until the Earths air is unbreathable, or the Ocean is completely covered in litter, or the streets are covered in trash while we’re walking our children to school. The problem will continue to grow as the years progress and will not stop until it reaches a point where it is no longer salvageable. Our future generation will be most at risk because that is when the problems will really begin to show, and what was once a talked about subject will soon become reality.

Work Cited

1. Williams, K. L., & Dillman, D. A. (2002). Understanding the Relationships among Attitudes, Subjective Norms, and Perceived Behavioral Control. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32(3), 574-598.

2. Schuiteman, E. (2015). Reducing litter in public places: Strategies for behavior change. In L. Steg, A. P. Buunk, & T. Rothengatter (Eds.), Applied psychology: New frontiers and rewarding careers (pp. 167-176). Psychology Press.

3. Chaudhuri, S., & Majumdar, D. (2018). Strategies to Combat Littering: A Review. Environment and Ecology Research, 6(4), 243-255.

4. Hobbs, R. (2001). Packaging - reducing the environmental impacts of takeaway food. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 32(3-4), 259-267.

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5. Schmitt, B. H., & Kohli, C. (1993). Frequent flyer programs: How to stop feeling guilty about giving so much to so few. California Management Review, 36(4), 101-125.