11-20-2021 5:55pm

Littering Laws & Penalties

Cori Brown Editor

Del Sur and 4S Ranch are beautiful places to live and residents should do their part in keeping our environment clean.

Going and coming from Target is sometimes a gauntlet of plastic cups, paper cups, and food wrappers. It's particularly unappetizing to see a half-eaten sandwich and a semi-full drink left on a bench or wall. Litter is found everywhere, near the shopping centers and in bushes, grass, around trees, in the gutters, or just deposited on the sidewalks.

Some suggestions for keeping trash contained is to find a trash can nearby and deposit trash there. Usually trash cans are not far way. Walking a few more steps to save the environment is not too harsh. If it's just a wrapper, take it home and put in a dumpster or kitchen trash can.

There is a terrible glut of plastic in our oceans, so recycle plastic as much as possible. Plastic bottles and soda cans are worth money!

The plastic that holds soda cans together should be cut up before throwing them away, because birds and other wildlife have been terribly injured by getting caught in the plastic - unable to fly or walk. And they die.

As far as food is concerned, if it's dropped, please pick it up. If left on the ground, it draws rats, mice, and coyotes. Dogs can become very sick and/or die from eating various types of food left by humans, and they're very good at sniffing out food even it's not good for them.

DO NOT feed bread to birds. They cannot process bread products the same as humans. Read the following:

https://www.thespruce.com/good...

I think most Californians are concerned about our environment, but some younger people may need reminders. Littering does carry fines, as follows:

What is the fine for littering in California?

For example, in California the punishment for first-time littering starts at a $100 fine AND eight hours of picking up roadside litter. A defendant's third offense and all subsequent offenses are punished with a minimum penalty of a $750 fine and 24 hours of litter cleanup (per offense). Such penalties are often prominently posted on roadside signs.