A negative and growing trend in recent years raised a perplexing question for me: Why would anyone travel out of their way to trash or deface public lands?
To be honest, I haven't really found a sufficient answer to that question. However, in pondering it, I did realize that littering, dumping, or tagging on public lands, including parks, wildlife areas, preserves, and hiking trails, destroys more than just the environment of those spaces; it also destroys a shared commitment.
I don't know why people leave litter or graffiti in out-of-the-way public spaces. (It seems like a lot of effort to make when the same things could be done without having to drive anywhere.) No matter the reason though, these actions undermine our sense of connection to the defaced places, the commitment we make to caring for the places, and the societal bond that forms through such commitments.
Maybe that's the point of leaving that trash or graffiti. If it is, I'm still left with my question: Why?
