We as a society know we've failed once we need to thank people for picking up garbage half-buried into the ground
This is different from my usual rants but this just really pisses me off
I live in an area where to the side of every road is the forest (not disclosing for y'know, safety, but just know that there is a lot of nature and houses don't really interfere with that) and the other day I was walking down the side of the road and I noticed that it was just COVERED in garbage. I couldn't even go a singular step without seeing trash everywhere. I had a bag with me so I picked up what I could (and yet i very quickly ran out of room because once again there was just so much garbage, but then again I brought a small bag since I went out with the intention of collecting sticks for a project I'm doing) but it is just disgusting that littering has become so normalized that even in a town where you would expect people to care about keeping clean and preserving the nature THAT WE LITERALLY LIVE IN. Alongside this, it's obvious to me that a lot of this stuff has been in the environment for a long time since a lot of the garbage I picked up, I had to dig out from the ground.
I fear it should it common etiquette to pick up this garbage and it shouldn't be something that people must praise others to do in order to see more of it. Yes, it is a good thing to pick up litter, but I believe that we should be taught to pick up garbage the same way we are taught to have manners without acting as if it is some grand gesture.
In summary next time you (yes you, the person reading this) sees trash on the ground, please pick it up and throw it out in the nearest trash can/recycling bin you see. And next time that you are walking and have garbage on you, just please hold it until you can throw it out. To be in close contact with such a gorgeous ecosystem is a blessing and some people don't realize how lucky they are to be able to see it.
