Hiker makes frustrating discovery along local riverbank: 'It irks me'

A nature lover has displayed their frustration with just how commonplace littering is in a green space in their local community.

They shared a picture with the r/mildlyinfuriating Reddit community of a plastic disposable cup filled with trash pulled from the area.

"People throwing trash on the riverbank even though there's a trash can 100 ft away," the original poster said. "This is one of my favorite parks, and it irks me that people have no respect for it."

A 2021 Litter Study by Keep America Beautiful estimated that roughly 25.9 billion pieces of litter existed along waterways in the United States. When including roadways in that metric, the amount of litter in the U.S. doubled to around 50 billion pieces of trash.

Visitors disposing of waste improperly in natural areas has become a growing concern, particularly in national parks across the United States. Some vandals take their damage even further by defacing these places permanently, carving into rock faces or spray painting their names on the Grand Canyon.

Beyond aesthetic issues with litter, trash can pollute our waterways and affect the ecological well-being of rivers, lakes, and oceans. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, over 800 species worldwide have been negatively impacted by trash in their ecosystems, causing injury, illness, and even death to varieties of marine life.

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As research published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health observed, multiple studies have shown that communities can reduce litter if trash cans are readily available.

The anti-littering message does seem to be working, though. Keep America Beautiful noted that between 2009 and 2021, numbers of cigarette butts — the most common trash — reduced by almost 70%.

More than anything, the main solution is the investment of everyone in making sure these natural spaces remain clean and unpolluted. For those who don't agree, one Redditor has a suggestion of where litterers should be instead.

"The trash can is reserved for such people," they said.