Tourists to Banff National Park in Alberta are often in awe of the area's physical beauty and all the park has to offer. Locals, on the other hand, are often disappointed by tourists' behavior.
Banff local and tour guide 2me_Travels (@2me_travels) shared some reasons why in a TikTok video.
@2me_travels Watching someone litter in Banff is so frustrating… please show some respect! #nationalpark #banff #tourists #respect #fypシ #fyp #environment #youshouldknowbetter #beautiful #smoking ♬ original sound - 2me_Travels
He explains in the video that on that morning, he saw someone come out of a building and throw a cigarette butt on the ground.
"Now, this is just piling on to my frustration of the fundamental lack of respect for this natural environment here, which is just so important to all of us," he says before continuing to list his disappointments.
They include crowding a deer at a distance close enough to touch it, graffiti atop a mountain, and two people smoking cigars despite a smoking ban.
"You throw a cigarette butt out, well, there are squirrels and chipmunks and gophers and deer that may go and consume that, but that's sort of secondary to the point," he says. "You're creating pollution whilst visiting a place that is fundamentally here to protect the natural beauty of our world. So please, please come visit, but show some respect for this physical environment and for all of us as well who live here."
Before signing off, he points out how easy it is to dispose of your trash properly or recycle or refill a water bottle to avoid throwing plastic away, and he reminds viewers not to approach wildlife.
Sadly, this is only one example of many visitors who do not respect our world's beautiful places, including Yellowstone National Park, Lake Tahoe, and Glacier National Park, just to name a few. Climate awareness begins with respect for nature, and interactions with nature, whether with wildlife or the land, should lead to a greater understanding of our natural world and the desire to protect it, not the abuse of it.
Disregarding simple rules inhibits the connection that others experience with nature and endangers wildlife, which, as the creator points out, often ingest litter from careless tourists.
"It's a shame that people are so disrespectful and have a total disregard for the environment," one viewer commented.
"Watching people throw out lit cigarettes in Alberta. Like they have no idea how fire works," said a second, making an astute observation about worsening and more frequent wildfires that wreak havoc on ecosystems worldwide.
"It's not hard to be respectful," a third stated simply.
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