A Nigerian man who was caught on camera heaving trash from his hatchback to the side of the road in Lagos State initially seems to defy physics.
As seen in a YouTube
video
shared by
The Eagle Online
, it seems nearly impossible that the mound of garbage beside his ride once fit inside the vehicle.
But the dastardly stunt landed Olawale Ogunbadejo in jail for the simple reason that the world isn’t his trash can.
To be fair, it’s not entirely clear whether all of the garbage was his. But there’s no doubt that at least a decent chunk belonged to him.
“The offender was caught red-handed disposing refuse indiscriminately in public, thereby undermining the government’s efforts toward achieving a cleaner and more hygienic Lagos,” Tokunbo Wahab, Lagos Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources,
said
in a statement, per The Eagle.
“His arrest is a clear demonstration of the state’s resolve to enforce environmental laws and restore sanity to public spaces.”
Watch now: Giant snails invading New York City?
Littering is a problem in the United States, too. A comprehensive study by
Keep America Beautiful
from 2020 estimated that there were 50 billion pieces of trash along the country’s roads and waterways. That’s 152 pieces of garbage per person.
Unsurprisingly, 90% of people surveyed said they think that littering is a problem in their state.
Plastic pollution is particularly troubling because the material can take up to 1,000 years to decompose, per the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
. As plastic breaks apart, it turns into harmful
microplastics
, which are infiltrating our food, water,
soil
, and bodies.
Scientists are studying the health repercussions, including possible cardiovascular disease risks, according to research published in the journal
Nature Medicine
.
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The Nigerian litterer isn’t alone in disrespecting nature. Earlier this year, a Los Angeles man was accused of causing $350,000 in damage by
cutting down eight trees
in the city with a chainsaw.
According to Wahab, Ogunbadejo will have to answer for unloading his garbage in Nigeria.
“The suspect will immediately be prosecuted in accordance with the relevant law of the State,” he
said
.
You can help
clean things up
in your neighborhood simply by picking up litter. Earthday.org can help you
find a trash-collecting effort
to join.
Meanwhile, highlighting news about extreme cases is a good way to
talk to your friends and family
about the impact of harmful littering and how to help.
Using less
plastic can prevent one of the most common types of rubbish from causing harm.
Ditching
throwaway
plastic bottles
in favor of a reusable one can save you a load of cash, too.
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useful tips
, and don’t miss
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of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Man hit with severe penalties for committing crime on public road: ‘The offender was caught red-handed’
first appeared on
The Cool Down
.
