The world is an oyster — not a trash can.
A large group of parkgoers didn't get the message, leaving a huge mess for an employee who spent more than an hour righting the wrong by cleaning up.
"People dumped trash into hollowed out tree," they wrote last year in the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit. "3 industrial sized trash bags worth of garbage dumped into a hollowed out tree at a park that I work at. All from a motor cross event that we held a week prior."
The poster added that an enormous dumpster was positioned just 60 feet from the tree.
"Wrong sub," one commenter said. "This is not 'mildly' infuriating. This makes me livid."
Others agreed, writing, "Shameful to see people have little respect for the environment," and, "I find this frustrating because all we hear about is the environment the environment we gotta save the environment and then people go and do this.
We do need to save the environment, which is suffering from an overabundance of human-caused pollution, from toxic gases released by the production of dirty energy to plastic that is poisoning our ecosystems, wildlife, and even ourselves. These problems contribute to the alarming overheating of the planet and spur climate, food, and health catastrophes that are becoming more frequent and severe.
Work is underway to turn this ship around, and you can help by following the example of this park worker by modeling respect for nature. Such stewardship leads to the desire to protect the environment rather than abuse it, which fosters connections between humans and flora and fauna that can span generations.
Concrete steps you can take include trading in single-use plastics such as water and other beverage bottles for reusable thermoses and cups, buying from brands that are plastic-free, and supporting pro-environment political candidates with your votes.
Picking up after those who exhibit careless and aggravating behavior feels good, too, and you can always contemplate the scenario that one Redditor passed on while you do it.
"I liked the one commercial … where two people knock on the door and dump a bag of trash on their porch," they wrote. "Person gets all mad and then they tell them 'you didn't have a problem with dumping your trash where you didn't live.'
"I would like more shaming for this lol."
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