Youngsters litter the most
Some scientists have recently carried out research whose aim was to answer the question: which age group litters our surroundings the most. It turned out that youngsters, surprisingly enough, the group which is the most conscious of the environmental problems, litter the most often.
Where do they drop litter and why? They are the most frequent consumers of products such as: bars of chocolates, chewing gums or fizzy drinks in plastic bottles. These are the products which are eaten quickly and usually outside home. All these wrappings, plastic caps or bottles litter the streets as young people want to get rid of them very quickly and don’t even try to look for the nearest waste bin (which is usually quite far away, unfortunately). What is more, young people are the most numerous group during gigs or festivities which often take place outside. During such events people drink a lot and then drop litter no matter where they are. It is important to know that this is a good opportunity for the producers of plastic packaging - after all, the disposable forks, plates or mugs or containers are made of plastic. It is also said that young people also don’t care about the others’ opinions and are not afraid to litter in public.
There are many opinions how to solve this problem and teach young people to protect the environment. Some people say that the blame should be put on parents and school as their task is to bring children up and educate them, also on the subject of environmental problems. On the other hand, the simplest solution suggests that if the authorities put more waste bins in the cities, youngsters would use them. Some psychologists even attribute this increased littering to the rebellious period that youngsters have to go through.
However, no matter who is to blame, the important thing is that all these wrappings and packaging are extremely destructive for the natural environment and they will stay in the soil for hundreds of years. They will be decomposing much longer that an absent- minded young person dropping it may guess.