Picking up at least one piece of trash every two days could change the world.
A hunter known as Alicia (@alimoroutdoor) posted a video of an upsetting scene she found in the woods.
@alimoroutdoor I dont think people in my area realize how wrong littering is for so many reasons #hunting #littering #publicland ♬ original sound - 🅐🅛🅘🅒🅘🅐
"Does anyone else have a littering problem on their public land they hunt?" The on-screen text asks.
The short video shows trash littered throughout the woods, from garbage bags to an entire mattress.
Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon occurrence. This hiker and her parents stumbled upon a ton of garbage carelessly left by partygoers. It's everywhere — not even our national parks and forests are safe from litter.
In their 2020 study, nonprofit cleanup organization Keep America Beautiful found "nearly 50 billion pieces of litter along U.S. roadways and waterways."
Not only is littering illegal, but it's harmful to the environment. Litter pollutes soil and waterways, harbors bacteria, kills wildlife, and stunts plant growth. Litter cleanup is also expensive for taxpayers, costing billions of dollars every year.
Litter is a huge problem, and it's entirely preventable. Keep America Beautiful did the math: If every American picked up 152 pieces of litter throughout the year, we could remove or prevent 50 billion pieces of litter. It's called the 152 Pick Up Challenge, and if you're interested, you can read more about it here.
If you're looking to make a difference, community cleanups are a great way to give back and directly see the results of your hard work. The Earth Day Organization has a tool to help you find or plan a cleanup near you. If you prefer to work alone, that's fine too; many individuals, like this good samaritan, dedicate time to weekly cleanups of their neighborhood.
Commenters were very disappointed with the state of the woods.
"Wrong … for so many reasons," a user said.
"I was always taught to come out of the woods with more [trash] than you brought in," another commented.
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