3rd post: Walking along the Rocky Mountains

Oceans, rivers, lakes and streams
Have all been touched by man
The poison floating out to sea
Now threatens life on land

Don’t go near the water
Ain’t it sad
What’s happened to the water
It’s going bad

“Don’t Go Near the Water” – The Beach Boys

Along with my lived ethics project in which I am learning the ethic of the land, I am also committing myself to individual exploration of the land. On my two-hour walk along the Rocky Mountains, I've noticed the destructive behavior of man.
Strolling through Monument Valley Park, you see various things. People, trees, pavement, gravel, grass. However, on my walk I noticed even more as I examined everything in sight. I noticed that most of the trees had been affected by man in one way or another, the grass drier in certain patches, and trash stuck below twigs and branches of sorts throughout the forest. After taking a second look at the pristine parks and recreational public areas we've created for ourselves, it reminded a lot about  While on my walk, I noticed all the trees and unfortunate state of the parks.

Here's a picture of a polluted park.

It's really sad that there is so much trash and pollution in the United states. Other countries seem to have a more peace and ease with the treatment of their environment, but for some reason Americans don't know how to appreciate the land from which they are from. Perhaps it's because time and development are moving so fast that there is no opportunity to even consider the history and ethic of the land.

Additionally, once one person litters, everybody thinks it's okay to do the same. Throwing trash is never okay, and there's never a good excuse. It's interesting how people may throw trash out of anger or 

Everyone has their fair share in littering, we've all done it at some point or another. But the actual effects it has on the planet are heartbreaking.

However, not only are our parks polluted, but also our oceans. In the northern Pacific Plastic Ocean, there is a subtropical gyre that is created by a high-pressure system of air currents. Along with the tiny phytoplankton that live there, the gyre is filled with millions of pounds of trash, most of it plastic. Being twice the size of Texas, it's the largest landfill in the world and floats in the middle of the ocean. 

Jellyfish tangled in trash.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, located somewhere between San Francisco and Hawaii

Trash is an international dilemma. As I realize that there is trash locally, as well as in the middle of the Pacific, there is a huge task at hand and an even bigger question: who's responsible?

As countries leave the trash floating in the ocean, is it up to environmental organizations and people that care, to clean it up? All people that are human should care.