Clean It Up!

You don't have to wait for a volunteer opportunity to take charge and clean up! If you live in an area like I do that is full of lakes, ponds, and even retention ponds you will tend to find trash littering the water ways. I find it very sad that some of the people visiting these areas can't or wont clean up after themselves.

So I tend to take it upon myself to bring a couple of trash bags with me when I go fishing or just sunning by one of our bodies of water. I even take them to the beach as well, so that I can help clean up a bit. I really can't enjoy my day with the trash polluting the natural beauty.

There are many reasons it's important to keep water ways clean. The most obvious is looks, but looks only scratch the surface of the problems pollution causes. Pollution changes the quality of the water which cause changes the structure of that areas eco system. Which will eventually results in the death of some of the local wildlife and plant life resulting in the loss of crucial food supplies for the local wildlife that depends on certain plants and wildlife.

Another major problem pollution to water ways cause is wildlife eating the trash. Ingesting trash such as plastic bags can cause choking, blockage of the digestive system, or toxic poisoning. It's not just trash bags that cause problems another item that causes a lot of problems with birds especially are those plastic rings that hold cans together. They get tangled around the birds neck and slowly strangle them.

Toxic poisoning is a big problem where chemicals such as mercury are dumped into water ways. The mercury doesn't just cause toxic poisoning but it also causes birth defects. It also makes fish toxic for us to eat as well as local wildlife.

So next time your out remember to clean it up! It's not just for you but it's also for the ones that can't tell us what is wrong.