Disturbing discovery at local lake sparks community outrage: 'They knew what they were doing was wrong'

A citizen was enjoying time by the lake when they spotted someone dumping full bags of garbage into a lake near Brampton, Ontario.

In a subreddit for the Canadian community, the poster shared photos of several large bags of trash clogging up the shoreline.

They explained in the caption they saw a man "struggling" to carry the bags in "several trips to the lake" and spotted an accomplice nearby. "When I noticed this, the getaway driver (Black Dodge Charger) got extremely nervous & relocated several times before turning around to take off," they wrote. The driver alerted the dumper, and they both disappeared shortly after being seen.

"They knew what they were doing was wrong because they ran/drove away. What has happened to Brampton," the original poster lamented.

People in the comments were outraged and hoped the garbage droppers would be caught. "Please report them, this is easily one of the worst things anyone can let happen in their community. Let people know this isn't an option," one person wrote.

"This is so upsetting, they could have easily driven this to the dump instead," another said.

Dumping trash in a body of water has obvious negative impacts, including physical damage to wildlife from ingesting or becoming entangled in the trash, leaching chemicals and microplastics into the water supply, and traveling from inland water sources out to the ocean, causing more damage as they do, per the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA also notes there is a social aspect to this kind of trash dumping, detracting from the natural beauty of an area and leading to expensive cleanup efforts.

Appreciating nature is key to turning the tide on climate change issues.

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As the WWF UK explained, people often take the natural world for granted because it is free and all around us. "If we start to understand the value of nature to our society and economy, we will recognise the importance of living in harmony with nature, rather than destroying it for short-term gain," Karen Ellis, chief adviser for economics and development, said on the organization's website.

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