>>2844687anon from the conservation general here. i've been thinking about this thread a lot during this last week.. and how "just stop going outside lol" is simply defeatism. do you know how painful it is to try to remove plastic bags that are pierced on mesquite, barbed wire, or buried into the soil? how easily most plastic used as foodware/consumables is broken down by UV over time? you don't really understand until you're out picking up stuff on the brink of decaying into microplastics, shattering in your hands - or worse, something that is already a pile of shards.
if we all just took the literal 5 seconds it would take out of our day to pick up trash we see in the wild, things would actually change - no matter how small, taking the time to remove it is enough to permanently affect the future. you can also do things to make sure it happens, like properly bagging it. anything you can do to recycle what you find is an added bonus. if you don't know any kind of recycling program near you, check with your city and or local churches which may have a program that accepts materials like aluminum, cardboard, or glass. pick up trash that is near roadways by keeping trash that would shatter into microplastics from doing so when people run it over, alongside anywhere idiots would mow it over. if you want to prioritize protecting life, try to look for trash near places where people fish - the fishing line and hooks are dangerous (especially to birds) for obvious reasons, also glass shards are something else that injure animals that go to the water. i've found injured animals like baby birds with spalled legs and frogs that were hurt when someone was mowing, and took them to get them the help they needed.. you could even find a lost kitten that needs a good home. the solution isn't going outside less - i think it's time to go outside MORE, it's time to pay attention to the world around you MORE. if you don't step up, who will?
