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- According to Wikipedia, cleaning up litter in the U.S. costs hundreds of dollars per ton, about ten times more than the cost of trash disposal, for a cost totaling about $11 billion per year. That’s money which could have gone to building wind turbines, or planting trees and flowers, or greening roof tops.
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- The several trillion toxic cigarette butts littered worldwide annually are responsible for fatal fires and the deaths of numerous mammals, birds and reptiles who eat them.
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- Litter reduces property value, because it sends a message that people don’t take pride in their community.
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- In Georgia it costs $90 million annually to throw away 2.6 million tons of cans, bottles and newspapers that are collected and moved to Georgia landfills. Those items would have an estimated market value of $300 million if they were recycled.
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- According to the U.N. Environment Program, plastic debris causes the deaths of more than a million seabirds every year, as well as more than 100,000 marine mammals. Syringes, cigarette lighters and toothbrushes have been found inside the stomachs of dead seabirds, which mistake them for food.
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- Twenty years ago Burger King did a study which determined that $1 million of unopened ketchup got thrown out each year. Imagine the savings if restaurant goers everywhere only took what they needed.
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- Finally, littering is symptomatic of apathy, the root of virtually all problems. So, by stigmatizing littering, you don’t merely mitigate the aforementioned problems.
More Information:
Is the plastic pollution in our seas killing us?
Plastic fibres found in tap water around the world, study reveals
New Plastic Garbage Patch Found In The South Pacific Could Be ‘1.5 Times Larger Than Texas’
Trash talk: Vietnam slowly sinking under mountains of waste
Sea salt around the world is contaminated by plastic, studies show
Tattooed avocados and shampoo bars: the businesses curbing plastics waste
How to Recycle Anything (the Sustainable Way)
Nature throws humanity a softball, provides bugs that digest plastic
Plastic Pollution of the Oceans has reached crisis point
This Is What 200 Tons of Marine Debris (Over Just 12 Miles) Looks Like
The Problem With Litter Isn’t Plastic, It’s Apathy
Solar-Powered Vacuum Could Suck Up 24,000 Tons of Ocean Plastic Every Year
The Secret To Ending Plastic Waste And Its Devastating Impacts
How scientists plan to clean up plastic waste threatening marine life
Ocean Cleanup Array Could Remove 7,250,000 Tons Of Plastic From the World’s Oceans
The world’s rubbish dump: a garbage tip that stretches from Hawaii to Japan
S.F.’S 17 SOLUTION: Stop throwing away grocery bags, save millions
The Real Cost of Free Plastic Bags
We Need To Stop Killing The Planet Every Time That We Go To A Musical Festival
The Shocking Way Plastic Impacts the World’s Bird Population
Landfills Around the World Show the True Cost of Our Waste
Prince Charles calls for end to dumping of plastic in world’s oceans
How much plastic is in our oceans? Ask Carolynn Box
Bali surfers seek to ban plastic bags across the province
Millions of plastic particles found in cosmetic products
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch may be an even bigger dump than we thought
Seabirds ‘blighted by plastic waste’
How can we create a world where plastic never becomes waste?
Plastic Pollution in the Oceans is Reaching Crisis Level
Solution: Barcode All Packaging
California Passes Nation’s Strongest Ban on Plastic Microbeads
Modern life is rubbish: we don’t need all this packaging.
10 rivers may deliver bulk of ocean plastic
JUST SAY NO TO JUNK MAIL
Germany Gleefully Leads List of World’s Top Recyclers – Click to Read More
Is Food Waste the Next Frontier for the Circular Economy?
Keys to rolling out an effective mandatory recycling ordinance
Keys to rolling out an effective mandatory recycling ordinance
“Waste not, want not” ~Benjamin Franklin
