Plastic Doesn’t Belong in Our National Parks
A dumpster overflowing with trash at Crater Lake National Park
If you’ve strolled through magical redwood forests, observed waterfalls painting rainbows among the mist, or caught the first light of day peeking above rock granite faces, you understand the significance of national parks.
When we visit these treasured landscapes, we get a rare glimpse of nature as it should be – untouched and protected from the throes of mankind. Native plants snaking up forest canopies, deer brazenly trotting out in the open, vast landscapes that haven’t given way to city skylines.
But when we look closer, we see a different story. One that consists of overflowing trash cans, cigarette butts littering the forest floor, and plastic water bottles used once and discarded.
Around 300 million people visit U.S. National Parks every year – almost the entire population of the United States. These visitors hike and explore, but they also eat and drink and take care of personal hygiene. All of this has an impact on the very lands we claim to love.
Almost 80,000 tons of solid waste were generated on federal lands in 2020, and plastics accounted for a significant portion of that total. In June, the Department of the Interior issued an order to phase out the sale and distribution of single-use plastic products on federal lands by 2032 — 10 years from now.
While we applaud Secretary Deb Haaland for her leadership and commitment to reducing plastic waste on public lands, a 10-year timeline is far too long.
To better understand the current landscape of plastic pollution in national parks, 5 Gyres mobilized a network of volunteer community scientists to collect data while visiting parks this summer. The goal of Plastic-Free Parks TrashBlitz is to provide valuable data on plastic pollution in national parks to support and advise more effective plastic pollution policy measures. Knowing which plastic items and companies are the worst offenders in national parks can help the Department of the Interior determine where to focus their energies first, while simultaneously acting as evidentiary support for legislation like the Reducing Waste in National Parks Act.
The Results
According to data submitted by 558 volunteers at NPS sites around the country, plastic is the most prevalent material found across national parks and federal lands, making up 81 percent of all trash recorded.
Food and drink-related items made up the bulk of waste found, comprising 45 percent of total trash. Cigarette butts, food wrappers, plastic bottles, bottle caps, and textiles were the most common items found. Repeatedly topping the list of top corporate plastic polluters in the world, Coca-Cola, Nestle, and PepsiCo were among the top 10 brands identified, along with Camel, Marlboro, Nature Valley, Gatorade, Crystal Geyser, Parliament, and Kirkland.
What can we do?
The data from Plastic-Free Parks TrashBlitz underscores an urgent need for policy change and legislation that addresses single-use plastic in national parks. Moving up the Department of the Interior’s 10-year timeline is one strategy, and passing the Reducing Waste in National Parks Act is another. The latter is especially effective because it will prevent future administrations from reversing this policy and allowing the sale and distribution of single-use plastics in national parks to continue.
But policy can be slow, and there are actions that parks and park visitors can take to mitigate the plastic problem in the meantime. The National Park Service can implement improvements like increasing access to refill stations and requiring reusable foodware for on-site dining, while visitors can lessen their impact by bringing reusables and packing out what they bring in.
Our national parks were once home to Native People who for thousands of years were the original stewards of these lands. We must honor the legacy of Indigenous stewardship to ensure that generations to come will inherit a just, healthier, and more sustainable future.