TRANSCRIPT:
Hello this is Dr. Tom Mullikin with SCDNR for Into the Wild.
Sometimes conservation starts with something that seems almost too simple to matter. Picking up a piece of trash.
What we leave on the ground can travel much farther than we think. Rain can carry litter into storm drains, streams, wetlands, and eventually our rivers and estuaries. A bottle or plastic bag that begins beside a road can become part of a much larger problem for wildlife and water.
Plastic is especially persistent. Sunlight and weather can break larger pieces into smaller and smaller particles, including microplastics that can move through aquatic food webs.
So the next time you see a piece of litter along a trail, shoreline, or roadside, take a moment to pick it up. It may be a small act, but conservation is often built from small acts repeated by a lot of people.
Keep South Carolina clean. What we do on land can make a difference in the water, and every piece of trash we remove is one less piece for wildlife to encounter.