We were on our way to school. It was the average day; we listened to

music, jammed out, ate breakfast, but there was something a little different. As

we were driving, my cousin, Tyson, who was sitting on the passenger side,

started to roll the window down to dispense of some miscellaneous, undesired

papers onto the ground. A mini conversation took place with our eyes as Tyson

looked at the driver, who was his older brother, and at the three of us in the back

seat to see if there was any opposition. I remember a thousand thoughts flying

into my head at that exact moment.

             I was never taught that littering was acceptable. In fact, if I ever dropped

something and didn’t pick it up, my mother would make me to pick it up.

Although I had never littered, I thought to myself was littering really that bad?

In this massive Earth of ours, what is a little stack of papers going to do? So

reluctantly, I did not oppose Tyson as he went to throw these papers out of the

window. Instant regret came to mind as I watched him dispose of the papers.

Defending my inaction, I started to come up with excuses in my head like, “If I

told Tyson not to, he probably wouldn’t have even listened,” or “Papers

biodegrade anyways, so what’s the big deal?” To justify even further, I decided to

do some research about littering. To my surprise, every piece of research I found

went against my justifications.

             According to a study done by the website L​itter it costs you,​9 billion tons

of litter is dumped into the ocean every year, and only 250 million of it comes

from trash cans, which means more people drop their trash on the streets, then

they do in a normal garbage can. Also, 11.5 billion dollars is spent a year in

order to clean up litter (Luther King). This personal experience has opened my

eyes to the real problem at stake. One might think that a couple of papers won’t

hurt, but they fail to realize that it is the small things that add up. Although

people know about littering, it doesn’t cross their mind to do anything about it.

We have a beautiful Earth that is constantly being polluted with trash of all

sorts. It may seem difficult, or not worth the effort, but we need to pick up that

soda can or that candy wrapper to help reduce the damage done to our

environment. Having the knowledge that I have now, if I had the opportunity to

relive the moment when Tyson turned around and sought after my approval,

then I would have spoken up. 

Works Cited

King, Luther. "9 Interesting Facts and Statistics about Littering ­ Litter. It Costs You." L​itter It Costs You.​ 2013.

              Web. 23 Jan. 2016.