Parks and Recreation Directors are people who care about the environment. They know how beautiful, well-kept parks have historically proven many societal benefits, as well as the environmental protection it provides.  Which is why they use the resources necessary to keep our parks clean and free from improper waste disposal, infamously known as illegal dumping.

Unfortunately, abatements of illegal waste costs the government, as well as the law-abiding, tax-paying citizens dollar amounts that can run into the millions, sometimes billions per year.   These accounts could preferably be spent on better upkeep care and preservation of the environment, rather than spending it on the environmental cleanups of illegal and absolutely preventable dumping.

Parks Directors understand that garbage, dumped illegally by thoughtless individuals, harms the environment.  If debris is dumped at a publicly accessible area, this can be dangerous to people.  It is an injury threat if discarded scrap is dumped in an area where children play, or where people play sports, such as near a playground or in a recreational area.  Illegal dumping sites might also contain toxic waste, which can be detrimental to human health.   When illegal waste dumped contains toxic materials that cause a hostile environment to parks, it not only makes it unsafe for people, but it simultaneously kills off the wildlife, and it poisons the habitat of the plants and the trees.

When all the good people, all the innocent wild animals and all the beautiful gardens and plants are gone, that’s when crime increases.  The homeless population moves into the park, and it becomes a common dumping site.  Not only is this waste dumping a form of environmental vandalism in and of itself, but the site of trash everywhere will cause other, thoughtless vandals to further disrespect the park, and other types of vandalism such as graffiti and property destruction may become more prevalent.  The park at this point could become a gang territory as well.  It is also easier to hide other unlawful activity in an environment like this, and it could very well become a hot spot for illegal drugs and violent crime.

This very sad domino-effect has an overall negative impact on society.  The numbers of negative side effects of a bad environment add up in droves, which is why the Directors of Parks and Recreation are good at taking extra heed to prevent all types of crime, such as illegal dumping, from ever becoming a crisis.  It’s all about nipping illegal dumping in the bud before it blossoms into a full bloom environmental catastrophe.

Environmental protection starts with crime prevention.