Nothing ruins a lovely walk along the beach like a bunch of garbage littered all over the sand. One Redditor shared photos of the trash they picked up while walking their pup one morning on Venice Beach.
"Consumption=Trash," they captioned the post in the r/Anticonsumption subreddit.
"Most common items today were: Plastic (bottles, caps, cup lids) Styrofoam (don't usually see too much of it here, was surprised and disappointed) Disposable footwear?" they wrote along with three photos of the garbage they piled together in the sand.
Plastic pollution is a serious problem facing humans and wildlife. According to The World Bank, people generated about 267 million tons of plastic waste globally in 2016, which is equivalent to the weight of 3.4 million adult blue whales.
Scientists estimate that only 9% of plastic is recycled, which means that 91% of the 267 million tons were either incinerated or ended up in landfills or the environment. Once in the environment, plastic can take hundreds of years to break down, and while it does, it sheds microplastics that end everywhere, from the deepest depths of the ocean to inside our bodies.
Studies show that spending time in nature can reduce stress. However, when people disrespect nature by tossing their trash wherever they see fit, it causes more stress for others and can be deadly for wildlife. By cleaning up after ourselves and respecting the environment, we foster a connection to nature that promotes a desire to protect it rather than abuse it.
Luckily, there are many ways you can limit plastic in the environment. Cutting single-use plastics like coffee products and water bottles out of your life is a good first step.
You can also support brands with plastic-free packaging and donate to non-profits, like The Ocean Cleanup, that work tirelessly to remove plastic from our ecosystems.
People in the comments were frustrated with the amount of trash the OP found and commended them for picking it up.
"You're a good person for picking all that up," one person wrote.
Another person noticed a troubling item in the garbage pile. "The vape too," they wrote. "Come on man! do they not realize kids walk and play there? even if it's empty that's a loose battery!"
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