Witnessing litter's harmful effects on nature

One day, my family and I were driving near our house in South Africa when we saw someone do something that made me FURIOUS. We saw someone throw trash out of his car window! I could not believe it! I have never seen anyone do that before. Litter is so harmful to the environment, and I cannot imagine why someone would want to hurt the environment.

South Africa is a beautiful country and it is shocking how much litter I see everywhere I go. Even at Cape Point, part of a national park, there was litter on their beaches, including an amazing beach that is hardly used by anyone. You would think at a national park, there wouldn’t be any litter especially when they have trash and recycle containers everywhere.

Recently, I spent some time in Cape Town, and have learned that Cape Town is one of three urban biodiversity hotspots in the world. Biodiversity means a variety of plant and animal life that interacts and depends on one another for survival. A hotspot means that the plant and animal life is threatened to become endangered or extinct because of agriculture, fire, climate changes, construction and invasive species.

While I was visiting Cape Town, I went to the V&A Waterfront and saw seagulls gathered around picnic tables hoping for crumbs. My brother spotted a seagull with something yellow on its mouth, and we realized that there was a piece of plastic stuck to the seagull’s beak. The seagull seemed frustrated that it couldn’t get the plastic off its beak. It was attacking other seagulls that came near it. It seemed so angry and I couldn’t help but feel so sorry for it. I saw with my own eyes the damage that litter can cause to animals and it made me sad for the seagull but also disgusted with people’s bad choices. 

There is nothing good about litter. After seeing the seagull, I don’t know why people would do it. I wonder if sometimes people litter because there isn’t a trash can nearby, but still, I wonder why? Why not wait until you find a trashcan?

So this summer when you are at the park, the beach or the pool, please remember the seagull and throw out your trash in an appropriate container. Save the environment and the animals that live in it!

Audrey Ray

Audrey Ray is a fifth-grader at Bay Middle School, currently living abroad in South Africa.

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Volume 5, Issue 11, Posted 10:08 AM, 05.29.2013