Why does it seem like more people are littering all the time?
405218
People need to be aware that everything we throw on the ground goes to the sewer that goes to the ocean.  I live near where the sewers empty into the ocean and its gross;  after it rains there is so much trash.  I thought people who littered were pigs before I saw that,  your neighbors children are being badly brought up.
646718
It depends. While more people = more trash, a lot of landfills are being built in better ways. Many landfills have multiple layers (clay, dirt, etc) thus helping to protect the groundwater underneath from becoming contaminated. A lot of landfills also have methane pipes, so the gas created by decomposition can be salvaged and used for electricity. However, I would assume that many landfills that were built a long time ago probably do have leakage problems, which can be highly detrimental since ground water contamination is a major problem (and an extremely expensive one to fix). Likewise, a lot of areas are running out of suitable areas to place landfills, such as Toronto, which sends its trash to Michigan. This is not good. We need to focus more on source reduction and recycling. Trash will always be here, but we should reduce it as much as we can. BTW- most items in landfills take years/decades/centuries to decompose, mainly because they are squished together and lack the oxygen needed to decompose. More people need to create their own compost piles and reduce their impact on landfills.
1152462
I don't know - I notice this too. I guess its all the pollution?\n\nI get excited if i see a sparrow on the bird table and there used to be millions of them.\n\nLet's encourage them back!
1061921
it seems that a lot of people
1031851
I so totally agree with you that cigarette butts are litter, and furthermore, dangerous to small children and pets if swallowed! We just got back from a camping trip to the beach and our campsite had cigarette butts all over the ground and even in the outdoor grill!  It was full of butts - we did not BBQ because there were SO many butts we preferred not to deal with their disposal.  The kids picked up all the butts around the site and believe it or not - they 1/2 filled a plastic WalMart bag with the butts.  Isn't that disgusting?
299570
Women take longer to go as they can't just unzip their pants and they are also the ones taking young children to the bathroom. They also go more often because they get periods. They have extra stalls because otherwise the line is much longer. People who inspect restrooms for cleanliness as a job are people who formerly cleaned it and got promoted. If no one inspects then people will do a bad job of cleaning it. Most women don't like to use a filthy bathroom so we are concerned with it being clean
361933
Not every body is. But, the ones that are need to get off their lazy rears and get a life. The rest of us have to keep the lazy bums up.
434089
Unfortunately, it seems as if the "middle-class" is fading fast. More and more people are living paycheck to paycheck. I notice that this is happening in many diverse communities.
198270
Probably for the same reasons people throw pop cans, beer cans, dirty diapers, food wrappers etc. on the ground..........because they are lazy or because there was no other place to put the cigarette butt. As far as the dangers involved in cigarette smoke, people have more to worry about as far as factory emissions and vehicle emissions than they do from a cigarette. Smoke rises! Go into a smoker's house and see where the stains from the cigarette smoke is found. It is found at the ceiling level. There are also more health risks from people urinating outside or pets urinating outside, than there are from a cigarette butt left on the ground. As far as the toxins from the cigarette leeching into the ground or getting into our water supply, the risks are far smaller than the chemicals that people use in their gardens and vehicles every day. I would be willing to bet that there are just as many beer cans and alcohol bottles thrown down on the ground each day as cigarette butts.  Look around and you will notice ALL the trash that is thrown down. It's disgusting no matter what the litter happens to be. Personally, I find it disgusting to see parents toss their child's dirty diaper onto the ground, just so they don't have to ride home in their car with the smelly diaper! They chose to have the child and anything that comes out of that child belongs to them! I hate when people allow their pets to roam around and use parks, other people's yards etc. for their bathroom. That is MOST disgusting!  I do have a concern about cigarette butts though, the cigarette butt can be toxic to children and animals, and a lit cigarette carries the danger of starting a fire. For those reasons I wish people wouldn't throw their cigarette butts on the ground and out their car windows. Littering of ANY kind is wrong and should carry a stiff fine. Unfortunately very few people who litter (any kind of litter) get caught. The reason it is overlooked by authorities is for the same reason other littering is overlooked. There just isn't enough manpower to deal with the situation. Police have more important things to deal with than drive around looking for litterbugs. I do think targeting one group of people for littering is wrong. If you want to protest against ALL littering that is fine, but to just have a problem with cigarette butts is ridiculous. The littering problem is not just cigarette butts. ALL littering needs to be stopped.\n\n\nResponse\n\nThank you Kenlas, I wasn't trying to say that there was no smoke down lower. People talk about the danger of second hand smoke even when they are outside. My point was that the little trail of smoke from a cigarette in comparison to everything the factories and vehicles spew out every day would not really be much of an issue. The majority of cigarette smoke rises almost immediately, leaving very little for others to be concerned about. I was using the ceiling in a smoker's house as an example of smoke rising. People want to believe that smoking and second hand smoke are the only causes of lung cancer, but researchers have NO way of proving that people who have never smoked developed lung cancer from second hand smoke. When they do their so called tests, they use HIGHLY concentrated amounts of cigarette smoke to try and prove their case. They know that the factories and vehicles spew out the same and worse toxins, in far larger quantities, than a cigarette, but because of the expense of forcing those two things to be made safer, they choose to ignore them for the most part and concentrate on a relatively small part of the population. Plus they can pass bills to outrageously raise taxes on cigarettes to help generate money whenever they need more money. I haven't seen them raising taxes on ALL alcohol to help generate more money, even though hundreds of people die due to drunk drivers each year. I don't see them banning alcohol in all public places to help reduce the amount
600760
Littering is a misdemeanor...but they usually don't pull you over for it...unless it's quota time\n\nAnd why do you have to appear in court if you didn't get a ticket....sounds more like a verbal warning\n\n\nA summons huh?...that's a little odd usually they give you a ticket if you have to appear in court.\n\noh and btw I think it's more of a gross abuse of power ,just to get there quota for the month
863852
We are hard wired to make judgments about everything in our environment, including others. Some of us make an extra effort to rise above our instintual impulses, and some of us don't. Everyone is guilty of it at some point though.
769692
i mean, it is technically littering but i have seen cops doing the same thing so i can see why you are angry.\n*just watch where you are throwing them*
499487
Wondering that exact same thing.\n\nSupposedly its been happening a lot recently in different yahoo leagues, which isnt a good sign.
348339
Global warming is becoming a problem\nLandfills are overcrowded\nIt saves us from having to use new natural resources when there is a limted amoutn of natural resources. example: paper\nhttp://www.epa.gov/recyclecity/
382629
There is definately a correlation between the increase in the population of the world and the destruction of the environment.  But remember that correlation is not causation.  Just because two things increase at a similiar rate, does not mean that one causes the other.  The causes of the destruction of the environment, stems from our inability to responsibly advance our society.  It comes from our poor practices as a global society and as local communities.  It comes from our inability to think about how to do things efficiently and effectively while taking into account the environment and our long term comfort and survival.  It also comes from our rapidly increasing technology, combined with our not so rapidly ability to deal with the waste and biproducts that come along with technology.  Simple example: car and smog.  I hope this can start your thought process in the right direction.
716482
Shame on you for littering... Get off your ass and go throw it in the trash...   Lazy!
350821
Corruption seems to have become part of life EVERY WHERE! It is a shame that greed has taken root in sooo many.