A Reddit poster sounded an alarm over a distressing discovery in a neighborhood's bulk trash drop-off.
Posting to the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit, the poster showed a functioning fish tank, complete with seven clownfish, that had been put out on the curb to be picked up by the neighborhood's garbage men.
"I'm looking for someone to come and take them safely or I will take them myself to a pet store so they can at least have a chance to live," the poster said in the caption. "Just scared I won't get to them in time. Garbage behavior."
This particular bit of wastefulness hurts on several levels. It needlessly risks the lives of several animals, as clownfish, and many other saltwater fish, tend to react poorly to even slight changes in their habitat.
On top of that, carelessly casting aside the lives of creatures fully dependent on you to survive is a particularly cruel fate for them.
But the issue goes deeper than that: This incident speaks to a growing trend of consumerism to just throw things away when we're done with them or lose interest, which contributes to the problem of ever-expanding landfills.
According to the World Bank, the planet generates 2.08 billion tonnes (over 2.29 billion tons) of solid waste annually, and 33 percent of that waste is not managed in an environmentally safe manner.
China recently revealed that 26 million tons of clothing waste was produced in the country each year, while California has seen food waste filling landfills at a shocking rate. There is hope, though — there are companies that have been looking to salvage waste before it heads to landfills, like this one that repurposes clothes.
Commenters on the post were understandably livid.
"I have a special place in my heart for saltwater tanks," one said. "Those poor tough little clownfish."
"Jesus and that's a saltwater tank too," another said. "I can't even see the full setup but that's a lot of money being thrown away."
The poster provided an update, saying that they went back and rescued the fish, before taking them to a pet store, where they were properly cared for by the store owner. While four of the seven fish passed before the poster could rescue them, the other three were rehomed and named Nemo, Marlin, and Inky.
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