People are trash. Every year, we collectively produce around 57 million tons of plastic waste and litter. Almost half of it finds its way directly into nature, where plants and animals pay the price.
To put this into perspective: the equivalent of over 2000 garbage trucks full of plastic is dumped into the world’s oceans, rivers, and lakes every, single day. And it doesn't stop there. Roughly 4.5 trillion (yes, TRILLION) discarded cigarette butts accumulate in streets, rivers, and oceans every year.
First prize would be for everyone to consume less, recycle more and stop littering. But by the time that happens, Earth may no longer be around. Thankfully, there are many people who refuse to sit around with a "not my rubbish, not my problem" mentality. They're doing their bit to clean up after others and leave the world better than they found it.
