I couldn’t export my photos for some reason, so here’s a bunch of them.
Over the summer, I had the opportunity to go on a short yacht ride around NYC, which included a pit stop at Ellis Island. The views were beautiful, but what wasn’t pictured was the pollutedness of both the Hudson and East River (where the boat left from).
The pollution of our rivers result directly from our carelessness with garbage. Every time we litter – regardless of how big or little we think it is: cigarette butts, plastic bags and bottles – makes a huge difference in the quality of life everywhere else. It may no seem like it, but there are organisms living in the rivers, such as floral and fauna, and bigger animals like oysters and fish. We’ve all seen those pictures of sea animals with plastic fusing into their skins and trapped in soda can rings. It’d be foolish to think something of a smaller scale isn’t happening in our rivers.
A small piece of garbage thrown out in the middle of nowhere can be blown into the rivers, or flow into the seweage systems when it rains, and eventually end up in the same place. Today, there are organizations and events that advocate for the cleanup of our rivers, but that is only a secondary solution rather than being preemptive about pollution and littering. There really isn’t an excuse for littering – there are literally trash cans on every other block in this city; there isn’t an excuse for not holding onto your trash until you come across a trash can.
