Just yesterday I was driving home
from my high school and I witnessed someone in the car in front of me throw a napkin out of their window. This was painful to watch and it made me realize that not many people are aware of the gravity of this action. I am sure all of you have encountered a plastic bag rolling
along the highway as well. You may hear people say things like, "it's only one straw." In reality, the careless decision of tossing trash out your window has a much bigger impact than people assume. Nearly 50 billion pieces of litter end up along roadways each year. About $11.5 billion is spent cleaning up litter every year in the United States alone. These pieces of litter end up in animals mouths, in rivers and oceans, and soil. They could even end up the the Great Pacific garbage patch. THAT is precisely what you are doing when you decide to throw a bottle cap out of the window. It doesn't just disappear. Another common misconception is that food scraps like orange and banana peals can be thrown into the woods to decompose. This is not the case. Food scraps belong in the trash or your compost pile or landfills. So, when you randomly throw them out the window of your car or house, you are indeed littering the environment. There are many ways to reduce this litter and make a difference. A few easy switches you can make is to start bringing a reusable trash bag in your car or just stick to the reusable lifestyle in general. With reusable water bottles and limited packaging, you won't find yourself needing to throw away a lot of trash in the first place. I hope this encourages you to start being mindful with your trash.
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