Los Angeles, one of the most populated cities in the country, finds itself as one of the most litter-covered cities in the nation. I think the Los Angeles City Council should implicate the idea of making littering laws stricter. I love the idea of having a clean and welcoming environment, but we, the people of Los Angeles, are causing it to be trashed. People who litter may be careless for their environment or just lazy in trying to find the closest trash can. If littering laws were more strict, lower rates of littering in the city are almost guaranteed. Some people may complain about not being able to even find trash cans, so that should be an easy fix to distribute more trash cans for the public. If someone chooses to litter and they get caught, they should receive a fine of $100-$10,000, depending on the size of the trash pile.
It’s important to understand how stricter littering laws can benefit society as a whole. One area that would benefit is public transportation, which many people rely on every day. Personally, I use the train or bus when I go out, and every time I see trash on the floor I try to find a trash bin, but there’s never one in sight. Another important place is public parks, which often have a lot of trash because of parties and picnics. I don’t appreciate the excuse when people say the trash workers are responsible for picking after them. That’s just a silly idea, but it has a big impact once you have thousands of people with that mindset leaving their waste for a few city workers. Not only that, but houses nearby the park also may encounter trash because of the high winds moving the trash to them. Trash also has disastrous effects on the ocean. The animals, plants, reefs, and water quality in the ocean are heavily affected by trash, and it doesn’t help when the trash in the water is nearly impossible to get out of the ocean.
An additional thing that should be done to get the word out about ending littering is promoting organizations that have weekly clean ups. People who are willing to help and devote their time for clean ups have a strong care for humanity, which is very good, because we need more of those people nowadays. Hopefully, the Los Angeles City Council makes this change sooner rather than later.
