For thousands of years humans have dwelled on this planet, and in most situations they have been good stewards of it.  During the past one hundred or so years that stewardship has failed to provide the necessary upkeep required to keep our planet clean and tidy for either animal or humans in a lot of cases.  Our rivers and lakes have become contaminated with plastic and other products thrown away without any regard to what the consequences of discard would be.  The oceans too have become waste dumps for ships at sea as well as the rivers flowing into them already full of human discards easily thrown aside by uncaring individuals.  It is hard to believe in a little over one hundred years the pollution of our waterways has become so contaminated by humans.

All is not lost however and there is still time to take a stand in cleaning it up and making things better.  It is doubtful to even think of full restoral to original status, but without hope and effort nothing can or will be done to help save our planet and restore the waterways to some symbol of cleanliness acceptable to help preserve the animals living in and around those waterways.  Only a concentrated effort by everyone will make restoral possible. 

Where there are waste receptacles for discards they should be used by everyone, and if you hike or travel into areas without such receptacles bring your waste out of that area and deposit it in a proper manner.  There are not enough police personnel in the world to oversee such a simple everyday task as cleaning up our planet so the effort has to be voluntary and consistent to enable such a huge task.  The effort goes beyond just our waterways, but some societies depend on their
Primary food source from the seas, lakes, and rivers, to exist.  Without clean water sources the food is contaminated and disease is rampant throughout these societies.  

We can all help to clean up our planet.  Petition local governments to provide waste receptacles, and to make sure they are emptied on a regular basis.  Start campaigns to make others aware of what is needed and the best approach to reach that goal.  Remind others, including industries, when they are observed not following the rules.  Almost everyone wants to live and be a part of something clean, why not our environment.