America the Beautiful…and likely covered with litter. In between its spacious skies, amber waves of grain, and purple mountain majesties, you'll likely find an abandoned piece — or pieces — of improperly disposed trash.
A recent Reddit post in the r/DeTrashed thread shows just how outrageously out of hand littering can get as the poster tries to do their small part picking up trash in Pensacola, Florida. The Redditor posted a slew of photos to show the extent of the litter, but it's hard to even identify what any of it is — however, it's beyond evident it doesn't belong in the nature of Pensacola.
One Redditor replied, "That looks insurmountable, thank you for taking on the challenge!"
🗣️ Do you think America has a plastic waste problem?
🔘 Definitely 👍
🔘 Only in some areas 🫤
🔘 Not really 👎
🔘 I'm not sure 🤷
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
Another commented, "That construction debris absolutely looks like illegal dumping. … There should be someone who cares about enforcing laws and catching violators."
"Code enforcement and the county commissioner have been notified," the poster said. "They won't pick up the little stuff. So that's where I come in."
In the age of increasing industry and packaging, so has the littering. According to a study by Keep America Beautiful, there are almost 50 billion pieces of litter in the country — that's an average of 152 pieces of trash per U.S. resident. And many of those people have strong feelings about littering too, with a Keep America Beautiful survey finding 90% believe it's a problem in their state.
Litter is not only an unpretty sight, but it can have dangerous effects on you, your environment, and the planet at large. It leads to soil, water, and air pollution, harms the biodiversity of an area, and can endanger animals — we've all heard the harms of turtles eating rogue straws that somehow end up miles away in the ocean. It's not easy on the wallet either: Litter cleanup costs the U.S. more than $11.5 billion annually.
One Reddit user summarized this strife best:, "Holy smokes! I wish there were some ways you could be monetarily rewarded for doing this. While it is awesome, you should be paid for doing what the city/state/federal governments should be doing, keeping our environments clean and liveable. Maybe some smart people could devise a way to … be subsidized for their efforts. It would make for healthier people and environments. Win, win."
The humble quest for a litter-free America from sea to shining sea continues, with the incredibly noble help of people like the Redditor who shared this experience.
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