HOME	The problem of Litter

What is litter?

When people throw things from their car, drop things on the ground or even if someone aims for a rubbish bin, misses and leaves it, that is littering.

Litter is the cigarette ends, softdrink cans, plastic cups, beer bottles, plastic bags, sweet wrappers and various other items you may see along Puhinui Road, blown up against a fence or swirling around an empty section. You may see litter in a park where people have been recently picnicking or at the beach after a busy day. If you look around the grounds at school, you will see lots of litter.

So what?

Litter may get washed down in to storm drains during a heavy rain. Eventually this water leads to the nearest harbour or river. We all need this water either for drinking or swimming in. If the water becomes polluted from litter we can't use it. Birds die from being strangled in plastic rings from six-packs, animals and fish die in the polluted water, and people who swim in it get sick.

Litter can be very dirty. Not only does it not look nice, but it may carry germs. Rats and mice and cockroaches are attracted to areas with lots of litter. They find their food among the trash and can pick up the germs and become carriers for diseases that may make people sick.

Litter is bad for the environment. It wastes our natural resources. When cans and bottles that are dropped on the roadside instead of being recycled, it means that even more resources must be used to create can and bottles from new materials.

If food litter is left lying around, it may start to decompose. This can result in a foul smell and means less places to play. You certainly can't play on our fields if they smell horrible, and are full of cans and bottles, and bits of paper blowing around!

What should I do?

When you don't want the rest of your lunch, see if someone else would like it. Or put it in the proper bin.

Don't just drop food containers (like chip bags) on the ground - put them in the bin.

If you see someone else littering, ask them politely to put their rubbish in the proper place.

If you walk past some rubbish lying on the ground, bend down and pick it up, and put it in a bin.

FOLLOWUP   1. Do you think we have a litter problem at Puhinui School? Why don't you interview Mr Poulson or Mr Hornby, and ask them about litter. 2. Make a plan for your class. What could your class do to make a difference to our school environment? .