discussion post

The Cost of Littering
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Environmental protection awareness has notably increased in the recent past. However, one of the most significant challenges facing this endeavor is the commercial cost of environmental protection and reclamation. Quite often, it is the most trivial of our undoing that costs us insurmountable financial implications. In America, many stakeholders have voiced concern over the high prevalence of littering which refers to the unauthorized dumping of waste products at undesignated areas. Although it is often not prioritized, the cost of tackling littering is a colossal one.
A consultation of the findings of various environmental protection agencies is informative of the littering menace. Amongst the worthiest mentions are the findings of Keep America Beautiful, contained in an advisory entitled ‘Being a Good Neighbor; A Guide To Reducing And Managing Litter’. In this text, the authors begin by highlighting the most prevalent forms of litter, which include; tobacco products, food containers and wrappings, and different plastics. They move on tp provide fiscal estimates which suggest that the collection of this litter costs the American taxpayers 11.6 billion annually (Eastman et al. 2013).
The Virginia State Administration decried this high cost as well. In a report by Virginia’s Commissioner of Highways, it was revealed that littering alongside highways had compelled the department to dedicate a significant portion of …