Illegal Dumping » KC3 Essay

Hawaii is known for it’s diverse natural scenery, abundance of public beaches, warm tropical climate, and ocean surroundings make it a popular destination for tourists, surfers, and biologists. It may seem like paradise with its tourist attractions and sunsets, but we face the same everyday problems. Pollution. We don’t ever realize or become aware of it, but this “paradise” of ours becomes polluted more and more each day, and the reason for that is because of US. Tourism also plays a big factor in this as well. We cause the many problems in Hawaii, and you should begin to think, is it really paradise? We’re just taking advantage of its resources but we’re really just making it worse for future generations, and illegal dumping is one of the important problems that needs to be perceived through our minds in order for us to realize what is really being caused by us, pollution.

We litter the streets, dump on vacant lots, public or private lands, and unattended locations with our chewed pieces of gum, our food wrappers, our solid wastes, our releases of sewage, oil, and chemicals. Litter isn’t just unsightly, it’s illegal, unhealthy and wasteful. Numerous laws exist to prohibit both littering and illegal dumping. If you don’t have a precise clue of what illegal dumping is, it says it right in the words “illegal dumping”, meaning dumping your trash illegally, as in disposing your waste where you’re not supposed to. And littering is just about the same thing, but just to a lesser value than illegal dumping. So, how are we causing “illegal dump sites”? By doing what you are doing now, not having the slightest urge to stop it. This isn’t targeting to every single person but it sure is quite devastating that 94% of people identify litter as a major environmental problem and yet people still litter. We choose to litter because we are careless in the handling of waste. But I get the fact the litter is smaller, lesser in value and probably won’t impact much as illegal dumping, but it’s still illegal and build up making the problem bigger and become the same value as illegal dumping, because once litter is on the ground, it attracts more litter. Just because a cop isn’t around doesn’t mean you’re allowed to litter because no one will stop you (which is true, no one will have an actual urge to stop you), if there so happens to be a cop around when you drop even the smallest piece of trash, according to articles.sentinel.com, “Most states fine $100 to $200 for litter, while others such as Washington state can charge for the first offense, he said. It could cost a litterbug more than $1,000 for tossing "dangerous" litter, such as a burning cigarette, out the car window in that state.”, because wherever there is people, wherever there’s us, there’s bound to have garbage, and it’s disappointing. 

Why. The reason why do this, the reason why we illegally dump, the reason why we all litter, is for our own benefits. It’s not because we hate the land, or hate the government, or even hate the way to properly dispose our waste, it’s because it costs us. According to dpw.lacounty.gov, “One of the main reasons people illegally dump is to avoid collection and disposal fees, or because they believe proper disposal is just “too much work” and is a “costly mess” that must be cleared up with our money”. We slowly blind ourselves from the environmental damages it could cause to life (including us) because of money. We just simply don’t see the importance of proper disposal or of what good it causes, because saving money plays a much bigger part in our lives and we feel that money is more important than keeping everything that surrounds us healthy. We think to ourselves that illegal dumping and littering won’t be any harm to the land, to animals, or to us, but I think otherwise. 

When I mentioned “environmental damages it could cause to life (including us)”, you were probably thinking, “abandoned furniture is crushing the plants or grass because of it’s size and weight.”, or “it causes harm to us by charging for proper disposal.” Illegal dumps or litter doesn’t just sit harmlessly on the ground (and that was probably all that you thought it did). It diminishes the quality life and livability of the surrounding area. Litter can cause a whole range of problems for everyone in our communities. It also threatens the wildlife and our human health while at it. Not only animals and ourselves, but the living plants around it too. Illegal dumping poses a threat to drinking water supplies when the toxins reach out of the trash through rain water and work its way into the community’s source supply, considering almost half of identical illegal dumpsites are directly within 50 feet of waterway. And from that, aquatic life and wildlife could also be affected. It could also cause injuries to children playing around the dumps and become a home to rodents, mosquitos, and other noxious insects. Either way, it eventually leads back to us, harming the normal system of our ways, just because of our small pieces of litter and huge amounts of trash, you never fully realized what it could cause. 

Carelessly discarded garbage affects every member of society: it causes harm to people and animals, damages our waterways, cost us money and suggests that we do not care for our environment. Billions of money is spent just to clean up the litter that many people have thoughtlessly tossed out on the streets and other public spaces. But if each of us try a bit more of discipline and application of basic knowledge about the effects of litter, imagine how much money could be saved and used for other more important services. Fortunately, we can all do something to help prevent and reduce litter. The solution. Is there really any solution to this? No, no matter what, people will still litter, you can’t stop every single person in the world from littering... but you can decrease the amount of people who litter. The idea is to stop each small dumping event from becoming larger and a potential threat to public health and environment. We should identify strategies that fit best with its local resources. If it were simply a matter of intelligence and commitment, this problem would have been solved years ago by so many who have made the effort.