Litter, How long does it last? The items of litter below and their average breakdown time have been jumbled up. Draw a line between the item of litter and how long you think it will take to break down. Wool Socks Cigarette Ends Plastic coated paper Plastic Container Glass bottles Tin Cans Plastic bags Orange peel Nylon Fabric Leather Aluminium cans Plastic bottles up to 2 years 1-5 years up to 50 years 5 years 1 5 years 10 20 years 1 million years 20 30 years 30 40 years 80-100 years 50 years Up to 2 years
Try to find out: Which item takes the longest to break down? Which item do you think will be most damaging to the environment? Which items are likely to be most harmful to the marine environment? What should be done to reduce the amount of rubbish thrown away? What would you do to try and prevent people from dropping litter?
Teachers Answers Litter how long does it last? Cigarette butts Wool socks Plastic coated paper Plastic bags Plastic container Nylon fabric Leather Tin cans Aluminium cans Glass bottles Plastic bottles 1 5 years 1-5 years 5 years 10 20 years 20 30 years 30 40 years Up to 50 years 50 years 80 100 years I million years Forever
Some Interesting Facts to discuss with your group. Beach litter is at its highest level since records were first kept. The latest figures show that across the 397 beaches surveyed in 2009 a staggering 342,151 items of litter were found. This filled 2,742 bags which works out at 1849.2 items per kilometre. Put differently; for every footstep you take on the beach there are two pieces of litter. This figure includes the South East, where a total of 1,446 items of litter were found along 102 of our beaches. All the top ten items found are entirely or partially made of plastic. Plastic items represent some 63% of all litter recorded and the density of plastic items per kilometre of beach has risen by 121.4% since 1994. T Top ten most common types of litter on our beaches 1 & 2 Plastic pieces of different sizes 3. Lolly, sweet and sandwich wrappers. Plastic food containers. 4. Plastic rope, cord and string and fishing net pieces. 5. Plastic caps or lids 6. Polystyrene pieces from fast food containers and packaging materials 7. Plastic drinks bottles accounting for 5% of all litter collected. 8. Plastic rope and cord. 9. Cotton Bud sticks flushed down the toilet which go through the sewage filter system and are washed out to sea. 10. Cigarette stubs discarded in the street wash down storm drains into rivers and then out to sea. Litter comes from: The public using the beach 42% Fishing industry 15% Sewage related debris 5% Shipping 2% Fly tipping -.9% Medical 2% 35% unknown
Litter is dangerous to wild life. Marine creatures get entangled in our litter or accidentally ingest it. Brightly coloured bottle tops can be mistaken for food by seabirds 90% of fulmars found dead in the North Sea have plastic in their stomachs. Microplastic particles are being found inside filter feeders who sieve their food from the seawater. Polystyrene from packaging breaks down into small pieces in the sea and is eaten by seabirds. Turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and the bags block their stomachs often leading to starvation. Cigarette butts leach toxins into the water. Lost and discarded fishing net continues to ghost fish, trapping fish, basking sharks, dolphins and seals. Seabirds become entangled in plastic cord and sting. Pollution in the water can endanger the health of all those who use the beach and the sea.