Sometimes, littering is accidental and unavoidable. Other times, though, it's clearly occurring because people simply don't care about the environment or aren't aware of their actions.
One Redditor decided enough was enough. They posted photos of a popular hiking area covered with trash, up to and including discarded pieces of furniture, large cardboard boxes, and plastic bags that were clearly dumped there. They noted that while local authorities had recently been convinced to install trash cans, "they're not doing litter cleanups, no signage has been installed, and the illegal dumping sites remain open for business." They also set up a time and a place for people to meet and clean up the trail themselves.
Being climate-aware begins with respecting nature, not polluting it. According to Global Conservation Force, littering causes all sorts of issues. It adds pollutants to rivers, lakes, soil, and more. It also degrades wildlife habitats, which hurts the species that need those habitats to survive. Additionally, it creates human health hazards, because it contributes to fires and more hazards.
The government of Raleigh, North Carolina, suggests several ideas to help combat litter. People can become more self-aware, bringing trash home from parks and properly disposing of it. They can notice when litter might fly out of car windows or their homes and take action to prevent it. Finally, they can recycle and educate their kids about doing the same.
If you have an area near you that's full of litter, you can use your voice to vote for people who will end it. You can avoid using items that commonly end up as litter, like cigarette butts. Or, you can join with others to clean up local areas, like this Redditor did.
Others who saw the original post were at least as upset about the trash as the original poster.
"Man, that is [an] unbelievable amount of trash," one said.
"Thank you for volunteering your time to clean their mess!" someone else added.
"It's pretty remarkable. I've often wondered at the psychology behind [extensive littering]," someone else shared.
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