Same here, the GRCA wants to close the trails again since the recent influx of people leave all their trash behind. Recycling plants have been on hold or reduced here since the pandemic started. And all supermarkets have switched back to plastic bags (don't bring your own bags) Over all they measured a 4% increase in the total amount of household garbage, at least for that which doesn't end up on the ground.
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-06-13/coronavirus-pandemic-plastic-waste-recycling
https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/plastic-pollution-single-use-waste-climate-coronavirus-a9567456.html
With the price for virgin, or non-recycled, plastic now at historic lows and oil demand reduced, environmentalists fear that producers will pump out cheap plastic to stoke demand and soak up some of the global glut of cheap oil and gas. Plastic wastepiles are mounting in parts of Asia and with some recycling firms struggling to operate, plastic pollution looks set to rise.
I don't understand why anyone would think it's ok to litter, yet every month or so I collect another bag full of trash from the river access at the end of our property. It was getting better, less trash along the roads, but this pandemic has dialed the clock back on a cleaner environment by many years.
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