A family member of mine let some guy who knows a guy she knows park his vehicles on her property. She has 1 acre of land with it being mostly trees and flat land and various wildlife. I’ve seen coyotes, rabbits, possums, and more running around there and it’s a nice place to walk around to feel like you’re away from it all without the actual distance. Trees everywhere, most being taller than most buildings in the city.
So how does this asshole thank her? By littering his stupid crap everywhere.
The picture is a vape cartridge that was tossed into a seasonal pond. It’s a nice place to walk around when it’s not actually filled with water. Only for me to stumble on this crap in the middle of it. I think what enrages me even more is that this pond, when filled in the season, will be home to ducks and their families, as the young ducklings learn how to swim and fly before leaving on migration. So had I not found this and cleaned it, it’d have contributed to pollution for these new families using this as their home. Possibly even poisoning them, at worst.
Then I found a lighter thrown in the bushes somewhere and cigarette butts lying on the ground in random places. NO smokers have ever tainted this area with smoke paraphernalia until now. This land has been here forever and this asshole is the first to bring this unhealthy trash here. Not to mention this is an area that often deals with bad wildfires, so thanks for helping start the new wildfire! That’s just what this area needs.
Then I find empty water bottles crushed and thrown in random spots. All are the same brand of water the property owner buys. Which tells me that this is an additional way he’s showing gratitude. “Gee thanks not only for letting me use your land to park my shitty cars, but let me also show thanks for sharing your water with me by throwing it around your yard too!”
Yes, trash cans exist and not locked on the property in various places. All one has to do is walk up to one. Some of this trash was only a few feet from a trash can.
Yes, I did pick this crap up too. I didn’t take pictures to only to vent online, but also to share with the owner so she’s aware of what an inconsiderate fuckhead she has using her stuff.
I’m legit pissed. If you litter, then fuck you too.
Love seeing young people outraged by littering! LOL my god you ain't seen shit. The highways all looked like this in 1970s America.
I haul shitloads of trash out of the woods and creeks, but it's nothing like it was in the day. I'm thankful that crying Indian ad turned us around!
Honestly I’m glad for progress too. But to me, it’s still not enough. I’m glad I didn’t get any comments about how little it was like I was thinking. I don’t care how little trash it is, I don’t want to see ANY of it! I think that’s what got me so enraged because I’ve been coming to this property for decades and never seen any amounts of trash and to see these straight up infuriated me.
I went to Iceland a few years ago and it was so clean. I couldn’t find one bit of trash anywhere, in any place of the country we visited. It made me feel sick to my stomach comparing it to my home where trash has become a literal part of the city streets. Gum and other spots and little bits of random trash fly around and it’s just another day for us.
I want so much better for our planet and society as a whole. It kills me being on a hiking trail and seeing the littlest bit of trash in the middle of nowhere. Takes me out of the experience and reminds me of the state of filth we live in and just feels so wrong to do to the one place where humans are not permanent, let alone our own neighborhoods.
I had no idea what it was like before my time, but it feels good to know we’ve gotten better about it, in some respects, especially judging by that picture. Glad we had people like you helping to make things better.
Bro/sis, I pick every tiny bit I find, ALL of it. Bottle cap or glass shard? Hell no, in the bag it goes. OK, tiny bits of glass go in the river or creek, they'll be smooth soon enough. Get a rock tumbler and you'll see what I mean. Still find most litter unacceptable. But stay your hate a bit!
Much of what I catch is unintentional. We all lose shit in the woods and waters. I've picked up my own trash a dozen times. "Hey! Free coozie! Ah fuck, that's mine."
Wife and kids used to grief me. "Dad! Don't go after that beer can! (from our little boat or off trail)" Now they compete to find trash. Wife makes me turn the boat around if she spies a fishing bobber. Hit the creek yesterday, didn't find a single thing! Fuck yeah! Also, people see you picking up shit. We're not only heroes but role models!
I clean the woods around here and have seen the "broken window" effect when I've been off trail for a month or two. Keeping it up? Nah, stays clean. Fight the good fight! Not a tiny bit of trash!
The important thing is to haul out more than we drop. I've drug hundreds of pounds of crap out of the local woods. Join the fight! (I know you already have, and you're a welcome ally and hero!)
Wish I knew you IRL. You sound exactly like me.
Heroism echoes loudly.