Past GT essay - In natural scenic spots, such as lakes, mountains and beaches there are much litter or rubbish. Why do people do that? How to deal with it?

These days the pollution produced by tourists has threatened the natural environment of some tourist attractions, making it a big problem to be addressed before those places are completely damaged. This essay shall try to highlight some reasons why people litter these places and also suggest some ways forward.

The most important reason why people litter these tourist places is that they have little awareness of environmental conservation. People think that their one plastic bottle or one wrapper of chips does not matter. What they don’t realize is that if each tourist has the same thought then very soon these natural scenic spots would turn into mountains of such litter. People also don’t know that this rubbish is mostly of non-biodegradable material and will stay like that for ever.

Another reason why people don’t care is that they think it is not their responsibility. They think the onus of keeping these places clean rests on the authorities. They have to realize that the environment is everyone’s responsibility. Finally, the environmental protection facilities are not enough in many tourist attractions. People would not litter these places if trashcans were there at regular intervals.

The first step towards sustainable tourism would be that the governments and tourist companies could educate the tourists about their responsibilities. Tourists should be made aware through the media and tour operators about responsible tourism. They should be made to realise that their careless attitude could kill future tourism and nothing would be left for the gen-next. Additionally, the authorities should have proper facilities at such places and if facilities are not enough according to the number of tourists then the number of tourists should be limited.

To conclude, it can be said that irresponsible tourism has led to damage of the natural environment and at many places the tourist places have been so much littered that they have ceased being a tourist attraction any more. The responsibility of saving these spots rests on both – the tourists and the government. One should remember the saying, “A good tourist is one who leaves behind nothing but footprints and takes away nothing but photographs.