Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
119submissions
Finished
119 Heartbreaking Photos Of Pollution That Will Inspire You To Recycle
20 million Americans mobilized on April 22, 1970; 30 years later, that number was up to 200 million citizens of the Earth. What was the cause that brought these people together? The desire to make the Earth a better place.
Earth Day is not a holiday, but an annual event dedicated to demonstrating support for environmental action. Consider the math: in many Western countries, each person generates 4.3lb (1.95kg) of waste every day, up from 2.7 (1.2kg) in 1960. There are now 7.3 billion people in the world; with the current population growth rate of 1.1%, this means that in roughly 64 years, the Earth's population will be almost 15 billion.
That's a lot of garbage. Let's do our part, avoid the mistakes of the past, and keep our planet clean! If you have an image of pollution in our neighborhood, add a photo to this list - and then help clean it up!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Tortoise Trapped By Plastic
RELATED:
#2
Turtle Trapped In Plastic Waste Couldn't Grow
#4
Bird In Oil Spill
#5
Albatross Killed By Excessive Plastic Ingestion In Midway Islands (North Pacific)
#6
Stork Trapped In Plastic
#7
Suffering Seal Not Safe In Its Own Habitat
Final score:
100points
#8
Oiled Penguins
#9
Surfing On A Wave Full Of Trash In Java (Indonesia), The World’s Most Populated Island
#10
He Spends Each Morning Looking For Recyclable Plastic That He Can Sell For 35 Cents Per Kilo To Help His Family
MonikaMorgan 9 years ago
What a s**t way to make a living, but in a small way he is helping to clean up some of the pollution.
#11
Fake Hong Kong Skyline For Tourists
YannSilba-Loebnitz 9 years ago
I had the same idea by seeing the image...
Load More Replies...
StephenReid 8 years ago
It's also a lot of humidity in Hong Kong .. so this image might be not only pollution
Load More Replies...
AlisonBoroski 9 years ago
I was there about 25 years ago, and the sky was almost a yellow ochre color. I cannot imagine how horrid the air quality is now.
AmyNg 9 years ago
Hey, I live here, and right now, as I look through my window, the sky's covered in grey stuff. It was a great day yesterday though. :(
Load More Replies...
MirekPraha 9 years ago
There is not smog in HK, poor visibility is caused by high humidity. This picture says nothing about pollution.
#12
Seal's Nose Trapped In Plastic Waste
#13
Bird In Oil Spill
#14
Boy Swimming In Polluted Water In India
#15
Child Drinks Water From Stream In Fuyuan County, Yunnan Province
GraceHunter 9 years ago
So sad to see this. We are all lucky we can drink clean water every day.
#16
Girl Walks Through Smog In Beijing, Where Small-Particle Pollution Is 40 Times Over International Safety Standard
#17
Worker Cleans Away Dead Fish At A Lake In Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province
ΛctuallyFinest 7 years ago
The fish could of had a future but all they got was the filthy death we gave them.
#18
Ken River Oil Field, California (USA) – Exploited Since 1899
#19
Mexico City Landscape, 20 Million Inhabitants
#20
Child Swims In A Polluted Reservoir, Pingba
#21
Landscape Full Of Trash In Bangladesh
wolvesrcool 9 years ago
wait till the day the whole earth is like this , just because of stupidity
#22
Man Cleans Up Oil Spill In Dalian Port, Liaoning
#23
Great Wall Of China, Shame
JeanneDeaux 9 years ago
Shame on tourists! It's not because you are not home that you can do whatever you want!
#24
A Bald Sunbear In Borneo Where Major Deforestation Is Threatening Their Habitat And Health
Final score:
29points
#25
Residents Look At A Heavily Polluted River, Zhugao, Sichuan Province
#26
A Mute Swan Builds A Nest Using Plastic Garbage
#27
Landfill In Accra (Ghana). Our Electronic Rubbish Usually Ends Up In Third-world Countries
#28
Boy Swims In Algae-filled Water, Qingdao, Shandong
#29
Man Walks By Pipe Discharging Waste Water Into Yangtze River
#31
Journalist Takes A Sample Of Polluted Red Water From Jianhe River
#32
Crab Lives In Old Bottle
#33
Plastic Bag Floats In The Sea Off The Philippines. Ocean Plastic Has Turned Up Literally Everywhere - In The Deep Sea And Buried In Arctic Ice
#34
Young Raccoon With Fishing Lure Caught In Lip.
Final score:
21points
#35
Over 3000 Dead Pigs Fished Out Of Huangpu River
ShaudaySmith 9 years ago
not sure if this is from pollution.. maybe some sort of disaster. a damn shame nonetheless.
#36
A Family Walks On A Garbage-strewn Beach In Mumbai
#37
Boy In Polluted Water
#39
Boy Tries To Avoid Scattered Rubbish Floating On A Flooded Street In Shantou, Guangdong Province
#40
California Drought
#41
Fishermen Row A Boat In The Algae-filled Chaohu Lake In Hefei, Anhui Province
#42
Workers Try To Drain Sewage Water From Leaking Sewage Tank, Shanghang, Fujian
MirekPraha 9 years ago
they are cleaning some industry equipment, so what is the problem? No pollution outside. you are trying to manipulate our minds.
#43
Buildings In Beijing Surrounded By Smog
#44
Dry 'river' In Northern Bali - When The Rains Come The Plastic Washes Out To Sea.
Final score:
14points
#45
Indonesian Forest Transformed Into Palm Plantation
BekkaWilson 9 years ago
This is so sad to see, and is the reason younger generations will probably only see orangutans in zoological museums
#46
Workers Clean Up Floating Garbage On The Yangtze River
#47
Terrible Pollution In India's Rivers
#48
Brazil Drought
#50
Plastic Sandals Found On Beaches In Raja Ampat
Final score:
9points
#51
Part Of The Amazonian Jungle In Brazil, Burnt Down To Be “Repurposed”
#52
An Elderly Man Uses A Broom To Sweep Away A Burst Of Algal Bloom From The Surface Of A Pond In Order To Bathe In Jiaxing
GabrielėPetrauskaitė 9 years ago
yeah, and he's washing out the shampoo or something like that out of his head. Way to go.
#53
Cat And Trash At A Beautiful Beach In The Westsahara, Morocco
Final score:
8points
#56
Blizzard Of Nor'easters No Surprise Thanks To Climate Change
#57
Madhya Pradesh,in.:cows Awaiting Death,poisoned By Plasic,eaten With Food In The Garbage.
Final score:
6points
#59
Plastic Kochin, India
Final score:
5points
MarjoLampinenQvist 9 years ago
Terrible! I was there with my family 2008 and it didn´t look like this then....
#60
Open Dumping In The Streets Of New Delhi, India
Final score:
5points
#61
Taken At A Tourist Spot In India - 2011
Final score:
4points
LauraPiper 9 years ago
I suppose it only takes one t****r to throw a bottle down there and the rest will follow!!
#63
Derilect Building In Johannesburg
Final score:
3points
#64
The Ship-breakers Of Bangladesh
Final score:
3points
MirekPraha 9 years ago
Ship-breakers area good example of recycling business. This photo is not about pollution at all.
#65
Landfill Perimeter 2 Days After Being Cleaned
Final score:
3points
#66
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
3points
#67
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
3points
#68
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
2points
#69
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
2points
#70
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
2points
#71
Shall We Take A Swim In Plastic Soup, We Don't Have To Go Far...
Final score:
1point
PolythenePam 9 years ago
why I boycott the filthy stuff - If you want to cut your plastic footprint check out plastic free alternatives www.plasticisrubbish.com
#73
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
1point
#74
Pelican Unable To Fly Due To A Plastic Wire Around Its Legs
Final score:
0points
#75
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#76
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#77
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#78
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#79
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#80
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#81
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#82
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#83
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#84
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#85
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#86
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#87
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#88
The Tunisian Chemical Group Pollution In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#89
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#90
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#91
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#92
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#93
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#94
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#95
Radioactive Pollution Of Gabes Coast (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#96
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#97
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#98
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#99
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#100
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#101
The Tunisian Chemical Group Pollution In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#102
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#103
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#104
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#105
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#106
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#107
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#108
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#109
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#110
The Tunisian Chemical Group Ecocide In Gabes (tunisia)
Final score:
0points
#111
The Dog's Really Want To Eat Something (romania)
Final score:
0points
#112
Nuclear Waste Px Born Monkey Man Hybrid
Final score:
0points
#113
Social Impact Entrepreneur Solving Global Problems With Neutopia Ecoparks, Belize 2015
Final score:
-1point
RobertLaporte (Submission author) 9 years ago
Neutopia ecoSOLUTIONS Inc is world's first social impact environmental solutions company, ANYONE CAN DO IT!
#114
Sleeping Waterbury Squalor Albino
Final score:
-1point
YvesWouters 9 years ago
this photograph is an insult to all who take the placing of pictures about polution serious.
#115
Capitalism
Final score:
-2points
Add New Image
What do you think ?
sctntxtn13 9 years ago
God put us here to take care of His creatures, not kill them with trash
CharliEdgems 9 years ago
This planet is too beautiful for us... we don't desrve it! The animals are suffering because of our stupidity!!
RishiPatel 9 years ago
This video really helps hit the point home: https://youtu.be/eRLJscAlk1M
DesireeLoewens 9 years ago
This is so sad. I sincerely hope that whoever reads that is able to see what kind of devestation that this is causing. You think that this hurts you? Thinks bout how much that that hurts them.
BryanBecker 9 years ago
We don't deserve this planet. We need to reduce the population by 6.5 billion to have a sustainable world again.
MikePepper 9 years ago
Should I feel ashamed of these photos, or should manufacturers be more responsible with their packaging?
KathleenBottelberghe 9 years ago
Mens-dom...dieren-rijk! Dat wij uitsterven vind ik niet erg, dat de dieren moeten sterven door ons vind ik veel erger!
richestmanas 9 years ago
I agree with all the comments below and feel very shameful. I will be very watchful of any excessive buying by me.
GabyNaptali 9 years ago
Stop using plastic! organic materials are available & NEVER USE DISPOSABLES If you can possibly help it Refuse bags & carry your own fork <3
GuilhemSauvaire 9 years ago
These pics are just depressing. Then knowing that it will never end and that I can't do anything about it is even more depressing.
GuilhemSauvaire 9 years ago
Seeing these pics is depressing. Then knowing that it will never end and that I can't do anything about it is even more depressing.
KristinaKukk 9 years ago
As you all see - major of those photos were taken in countries, that have a really big population - India, China etc. Think about that!
SherryDavis 9 years ago
people GOD GAVE us these creatures to admire and care for . Not to destroy !
RuthieKaplan 9 years ago
This is super sad! :( But if we wan't to change this, we need to start by cleaning up our own towns first, then helping others.
sctntxtn13 9 years ago
God put us here to take care of His creatures, not kill them with trash
CharliEdgems 9 years ago
This planet is too beautiful for us... we don't desrve it! The animals are suffering because of our stupidity!!
RishiPatel 9 years ago
This video really helps hit the point home: https://youtu.be/eRLJscAlk1M
DesireeLoewens 9 years ago
This is so sad. I sincerely hope that whoever reads that is able to see what kind of devestation that this is causing. You think that this hurts you? Thinks bout how much that that hurts them.
BryanBecker 9 years ago
We don't deserve this planet. We need to reduce the population by 6.5 billion to have a sustainable world again.
MikePepper 9 years ago
Should I feel ashamed of these photos, or should manufacturers be more responsible with their packaging?
KathleenBottelberghe 9 years ago
Mens-dom...dieren-rijk! Dat wij uitsterven vind ik niet erg, dat de dieren moeten sterven door ons vind ik veel erger!
richestmanas 9 years ago
I agree with all the comments below and feel very shameful. I will be very watchful of any excessive buying by me.
GabyNaptali 9 years ago
Stop using plastic! organic materials are available & NEVER USE DISPOSABLES If you can possibly help it Refuse bags & carry your own fork <3
GuilhemSauvaire 9 years ago
These pics are just depressing. Then knowing that it will never end and that I can't do anything about it is even more depressing.
GuilhemSauvaire 9 years ago
Seeing these pics is depressing. Then knowing that it will never end and that I can't do anything about it is even more depressing.
KristinaKukk 9 years ago
As you all see - major of those photos were taken in countries, that have a really big population - India, China etc. Think about that!
SherryDavis 9 years ago
people GOD GAVE us these creatures to admire and care for . Not to destroy !
RuthieKaplan 9 years ago
This is super sad! :( But if we wan't to change this, we need to start by cleaning up our own towns first, then helping others.
Related on Bored Panda
