There’s nothing worse than going for a long drive to the ‘middle of nowhere’ where nature abounds, & start hiking through the countryside, up mountains, & along rivers, & you start feeling like you’re the first one that’s ever been in that place….Then you come around a bend in the river, & there are all sorts of bottles, cans, & much more –in the water, along the shore—piles & piles of ‘picnic’ leftovers by unthoughtful ‘outdoor lovers.’ It’s enough to make you cry! The same is true if you want to ‘get away’ to an isolated beach, or deep into the forest, or go biking far from any towns. 

How can people be so thoughtless & uncaring?  Simple—it’s the ‘eat, drink, &  be merry’ syndrome, ‘for tomorrow we will die.’  Little do they imagine they’re perpetrating the second half of that very philosophy.  When I was a young girl, 50 years ago, I also found trash deep in the forest away from civilization—piles of abandoned magazines in an obvious ‘sparking place.’ The habit is old, but today it takes on new meaning because we’ve supposedly been ‘educated’ against such things for decades, yet it’s still a big problem.

So how can we change this? Signs posting steep fines does help, though the enforcing of those fines is questionable. Having more rangers (& such) to patrol frequented natural areas (especially where the trash is & has been a constant problem) could help.  Cameras in certain locations can catch people in the act & publicizing photos of the offenders could help, too, as the local people want to find out who’s doing all the trashing, too. And it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep up the intense training of the general public to “Don’t do it!” Some upbeat, catchy, commercials could be made to encourage nature lovers to not trash their trash out in nature, & keep it nice for the next people that come along.