Bahamian environment Essay

Question: Littering and irresponsible disposal of garbage by humans is destroying our Bahamian environment. In order to define the littering we must first define the word litter. Litter refers to different waste products such as containers, papers, and wrappers that have been disposed onto streets, yards and remote areas. This means â€Å"littering† is the pollution of our environment by different litter waste. Littering not only destroys our beautiful Bahamian environment but it also affects wildlife, human health and the economy. Littering and irresponsible disposal of garbage in our environment is a very important issue, which many people overlook. Although people know littering is an illegal act, many continue to carelessly scatter their trash around nonetheless. Litter creates toxins and pollutants that are harmful to our environment. When Bahamians throw glass bottles and cigarettes in bushes and along the roads the sun reflects off of them, resulting in a fire igniting. The smoke from the fire will soon fill the air, slowly polluting and destroying the atmosphere. Litter is harmful to wildlife also. They may ingest the plastic and paper then suffer from serious illness. Small animals crawl into bottles and jars looking for food and may become stuck and slowly starve to death. Littering not only affects land creatures but marine life as well. Many marine animals confuse plastic bags, balloons, bait packets, candy wrappers and rubber with prey and eat them. Plastic bags and balloons floating in the water look like jellyfish. Turtles often eat them and choke or starve to death because they have so much plastic in their stomachs. In addition, illegally dumped items containing hazardous waste can harm the environment and have a potentially negative impact on human health. Food, packaging, and other materials left to rot provide a fertile breeding ground in which bacteria thrives, resulting in a health hazard for those that come into contact with it. Litter can also create safety problems, with items such as broken glass bottles and metal cans having the potential to cause injury to anyone that steps or falls on it. In the Bahamas, mainly in Freeport we experience many bush fires. When pollutants are left in the air we as humans inhale them, this contaminated are travels to our lungs which slowly kills them. Furthermore, littering can widely affect the economy. Due to animals consuming litter and dumping they sooner or later die. Because these animals are dying they will very shortly become extinct. With no marine life and wildlife, the Bahamas will lose it main attraction which is its beautiful coral reefs and sea creatures. With no tourists coming to see these attractions, the economy of the Bahamas will soon fall dramatically all from littering and pollution. Littering is an extremely important issue in Bahamian society that should not be overlooked. It can affect the Bahamas in ways such as environmental, economic, health and wildlife. Our beautiful country is filled with many undiscovered wonders; let us not kill them by failing to do such a small action. Throw garbage in the trash and not the sea; keep litter in your hand and not on the land. So remember â€Å"Keep the Bahamas clean, green and pristine.