Littering threatens wildlife: keeping the environment clean

Especially during the coronavirus lockdown, even more people are drawn to nature, with warm spring temperatures and the approaching Easter holidays adding to this trend.

This is to be welcomed, as fresh air does both body and soul good. However, everyone seeking recreation must be aware that our beautiful natural and cultivated landscape also requires appropriate care and mindfulness. This includes, among other things, not simply leaving litter behind in nature. It must be all of our shared goal to prevent littering from occurring in the first place.

A risk for people and animals

Plastic packaging, cigarette butts, glass bottles and tin cans, car body parts, electronic waste and chemical refuse — all of this is disposed of in our natural environment. Rubbish along roadsides and pathways is not only an aesthetic problem; it also reduces both the quality and safety of food and animal feed. Any waste that ends up in fields could be shredded and worked into the soil. The result is contamination of harvested crops and ultimately litter contamination in food products that may be impossible to separate out — and in the case of discarded chemicals, may not even be detectable or identifiable. This can also pose a health risk for consumers. Waste represents an equal hazard for wildlife and soil organisms, and the impact on livestock is also significant: contaminated feed can make animals ill, and the risk of injury increases due to metal, plastic or glass fragments.

Small fish thrash about in carelessly discarded plastic gloves that have become a fatal trap for them at the water’s edge. The chicks of songbirds strangle themselves on the rubber bands of FFP-2 masks, which parent birds have collected as «nesting material» dragged into their nests, and hedgehogs get their little legs tangled in discarded mask waste or suffocate in the PP non-woven fabric of disposable gowns.

Small birds such as robins and sparrows, as well as falcons and swans, get their wings caught in the elastic straps of disposable masks or become entangled with their feet. The elastic bands also wrap easily around beaks. All of this prevents birds from foraging and feeding. Gulls, ducks and swans, as well as mammals such as foxes and wild boar, inadvertently ingest remnants of soiled protective clothing. Plastic parts, filter attachments and fragments of protective visors have been known to cause death by starvation in animal stomachs. Veterinarians are also finding plastic residues identifiable as Covid-19 protective equipment increasingly often in the digestive organs of domestic animals such as dogs and cats.

Added to this is damage to agricultural machinery, and the increased workload for farmers in clearing our natural environment of waste should not be underestimated. Carelessly discarded litter therefore not only has a negative impact on people and animals, but also costs time and money.

We all know, really, that waste does not belong in nature. Yet a great deal of litter ends up in the environment out of convenience or carelessness.For birds, strings and threads are particularly dangerous, as they can become entangled in them. Litter lying around should therefore be disposed of consistently and properly.

Just like the decision to purchase a product and its correct use, proper disposal is also an important part of consumer responsibility.

Anyone who puts their waste in the designated collection containers is protecting our natural environment, the climate, and ultimately our future food supply as well as feed for animals.