During the month of August, I shot in a wide range of places. I went from local marshland, to mighty rivers, to one of the Great Lakes, and back to the local marshland. Now sitting here at the end of August looking at this month’s photos, I can’t help but go back to a photo taken at the local marshland.

I was on a very peaceful morning walk along the maze of boardwalks over the water of the marshland when I came across this Chipping Sparrow. Perched on top of a reed, enjoying the warm morning sun inside his little home. I like this photo because it gives me the feeling of looking into the world of this little bird, peering through a window into its home of tall grass and reeds. The late summer foliage gives this bird a small, momentary sanctuary from the outside world. At first glance, it may seem this is the perfect little dwelling for the sparrow, but what you don’t see is the garbage littered in the water and grass at this birds doorstep. Below is a group of photos taken at my local marshland during this last month.

It saddens me to see what little habitat wildlife have left get ruined and the problem seems to be getting worse and worse. It is a very common occurrence for me to come across trash in the grass and water at this location. Some of it is easy to pickup, but unfortunately a lot of the trash is adrift in the water, too far from the board walks to be fished out. This isn’t just happening at my local marshland, I see this increasingly becoming a problem at many of the natural areas I visit. This trash not only ruins the beauty of these natural places, but also puts the lives of wildlife at risk. I know not all of the trash I come across was left on purpose, I understand accidents happen. Wrappers fall out of pockets, wind blows kids’ juice boxes away, and people trip, fall, and loose their flip flops over the edge of boardwalks. But as visitors in natural areas, we need to make a better effort to leave them better then we found them.

We as humans need to be more respectful and take better care of what little natural areas we have left. Not only because they are beautiful, but because they are home to many, many other forms of life. I want this blog post to be a reminder we all, including myself, should think more about the impact we have on the natural areas we visit. Taking better care of our natural areas will benefit not only us, but the many other forms of life on this planet.

If you want to learn more about how we can make less of an impact on our natural areas, you can visit the website for Leave No Trace. There are a ton of great resources on how we can be more responsible visitors of natural places. I have personally changed a lot of my behaviors in the last year to adhere to the 7 principles of Leave No Trace. I highly encourage anyone who is reading this to make a very conscious effort to apply the Leave No Trace principles the next time you’re out enjoying the great outdoors.