Animals
Photo Credits: http://i.imgur.com/rKpPCoc.jpg
Small litter is often mistaken as food for animals who are not able to differentiate the differences. As a result, these animals will either be poisoned by litter with chemical composition or get killed as their digestive systems are filled with trash.
This is most apparent for marine animals or seabirds that mistook plastic and cigarette butts as food. It causes their stomachs to be congested with litter that intoxicate them which leads to death.
Even though we are not seeing it often, it does not mean that it is not happening.
☛ Did you know? ☚
A dead sperm whale was found in Singapore in 2015.
Even though the cause of death was due to the collision with a ship, researchers found plastic wrappers and cups in the dead whale’s stomach. 🙁
This implication does not apply to just wild animals but also domestic pets such as dogs which occasionally eat things from the ground. Dogs that have ingested small litter such as bottle caps or food wrappers may potentially suffer from air passage blockage.
In extreme cases, pet owners risk having to send their pets for surgery to remove the foreign items from their stomach as these litter cannot be released through natural processes and if left untreated can lead to further damage and infection.
Why would you want to be the cause of harm to such innocent domestic pets?
Frequent Floods
Litter that is washed into the common drain can result in clogged drainage which can be the cause of flood that has been frequently seen in areas such as Orchard Road or even my area, Eunos, during heavy rainfall. Singaporeans are quick to blame the government for their inefficiency in maintaining the drainage system and fail to see that they might have contributed to the problem of flash flood due to their littering behaviour.
Residential Environment
Litter can attract pests such as cockroaches and mice to residential areas which is undesirable as they can make their way into our homes. The most commonly seen pests are cockroaches and they are seen most at the littering hotspots such as hawker centres and their presence can cause unpleasant experiences as their existence reflect the cleanliness of the area.
Furthermore, trash such as cardboard boxes or any item that have the capability of storing water can create breeding grounds for
mosquitoes which is a problem that has been actively dealt with by the 
Singapore government due to the increase in incidences of dengue fever. Littering can hinder the success of government efforts in this way as it creates more breeding grounds. Thus, it causes the residential area to be one that may not be conducive and safe to live in.
As mentioned earlier, the cleanliness of the area can affect the place perception of an individual. Therefore, an area with litter can further worsen the situation as people will litter more in the same area. This will create a vicious cycle of the area being dirty and it causes people to attribute the area to one that is tolerant of littering.
