CARBONDALE (WSIL) -- It's the time of year when you can get outside and we have lots of places to soak up Mother Nature in our region.
But while we're getting outside it's important to remember the impact we have on the environment. Getting a bit of fresh air while taking in the sights and sounds is a great way to decompress, but it's important to remember to pack out what you pack in.
"As visitors to our natural areas it's always important to remember that this is an animal's home. Its, it's habitat," explains Jennifer Randolph-Bollinger, Natural Resources Coordinator at Giant City State Park.
Randolph-Bollinger says Giant City recieves more than one million visitors a year. "When we see an increase in visitation we also see an increase in litter. I think it's really important for people remember to not throw their litter on the ground. We do have recycling containers here at Giant City for plastics."
Randolph-Bollinger says a plastic bottle takes up to 450 years to break down. "We find a lot of cigarette butts and it can take 10 to 12 years for a cigarette butt to decompose. We also find things like balloons. We have a lot of birthday parties in the park and unfortunately balloons can take anywhere from 6 months to 6 years to biodegrade. Also aluminum cans we find a lot of, 200 years for an aluminum can to break down."
Even an orange peel can take 6 months to a couple of years to decompose. The best practice to remember is, leave no trace.
"We're really lucky here in southern Illinois to have so many outdoors opportunities and it's really important that we take care of those. We're very lucky to have these and a healthy ecosystem is a diverse ecosystem. We want to keep our plants and our animals healthy, in turn, so that we can be healthy people as well," adds Randolph Bollinger.
For more information on Giant City State Park and how you get outside to enjoy the great outdoors click .
