These Destinations Were Once Pristine. Now They're Littered With Trash

What a waste

Sadly, tourism can come with some serious downsides when not all visitors are as considerate as they should be. In fact, some of the world’s most beautiful destinations, from the Himalayas to Hawaii, are becoming swallowed by mountains of waste. In June 2023, Thailand announced that all tourists arriving by air will be charged a one-off tourist tax of 300 baht (roughly $9.10), whose funds will help visitors involved in accidents and developing tourist destinations. We take a look at the vacation hotspots becoming overwhelmed with trash, plus the measures in place to combat littering.

Bali, Indonesia

The beaches of island paradise Bali are sadly not as picturesque as postcards might suggest, as trash has become a major blight on some of the island’s most beautiful shorelines, including Kuta Beach (pictured). Waste problems are particularly bad during the annual monsoon season, when debris is swept in by strong winds and currents and strewn across the sands. Swollen rivers wash garbage from riverbanks to the coastline too.

Bali, Indonesia

The stretch between Kuta and Canggu is one of the Indonesian island's most popular tourist beaches – and it’s also one of the places where the most trash is found. To combat the issue, in 2020 the government announced a plan to cut marine plastic waste by 70% in just five years. This includes doubling the rate of plastic waste collection, reducing and substituting the use of plastic in new products, as well as doubling recycling capacity. 

Bali, Indonesia

The plan has been welcomed by environmentalists around the world, given that Indonesia as a whole is one of the world’s worst contributors to marine plastic pollution. Activist group One Island One Voice has organized mass voluntary clean-ups for the past few years on Bali's shoreline and officials are looking at implementing bans on single-use plastics such as straws and plastic bags to help stem the deluge of waste.

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Mount Everest, Nepal

Discarded camping gear, used oxygen tanks, ropes, food packaging and human waste are the ugly face of adventure tourism on Mount Everest. This image was taken on Camp 4, which, at 26,240 feet (7,998m), is the world’s highest campsite. The biggest problem here is mountaineers abandoning tents and gear. As summiting Everest becomes increasingly commercial, lodges are beginning to import more food and drink, equipment and tools, which are not always being properly disposed of.

Mount Everest, Nepal

Hampered by exhaustion, altitude and the dangerous terrain, carrying bulky items back down can be a step too far for some climbers. Instead, abandoned gear and litter is often left at Camp 4 only to be dispersed across the mountain by high winds. As well as environmental concerns, it can become a hazard for other climbers, although some people argue the frozen tents are impossible to remove. With 600 climbers expected to scale the peak this climbing season, there's little doubt that the trash will have ramped up a gear.

Mount Everest, Nepal

Many Sherpas have risked their lives to retrieve trash and human waste left behind by climbers on the mountain. In recent years, the Nepalese government, expedition organizers and charities have arranged official clean-up operations at the start of the season to remove trash from the increasingly busy trail up to base camp and beyond. 

Machu Picchu, Peru

It’s not just natural wonders – many of the world’s historic sites face being swamped with trash too. At the ancient citadel of Machu Picchu, many tourists trekking to the ruins have reported seeing litter along the Inca Trail and in 2018 it was reported that tourists produced 14 tons of waste per day. However, a new scheme announced in 2019 has seen Machu Picchu begin to recycle 100% of its waste, which has been regarded as a huge step forward in terms of sustainability.

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Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Unsightly scenes of trash floating in the water are sadly how many visitors recall their voyage around Vietnam's famous Ha Long Bay, which is famed for its emerald waters and towering limestone islands. While the UNESCO World Heritage Site remains a magical landscape, it faces many environmental challenges as it attracts more and more visitors. A pressing problem is that it's being polluted with litter, waste and discarded fuel from the boats that ferry visitors. 

Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Styrofoam, plastic wrappers and bottles bobbing around the water and strewn around the bay are depressingly common sights and TripAdvisor reviewers frequently lament the amount of trash and waste water they've seen polluting Ha Long Bay. However a UN-funded clean-up project has so far helped to collect at least 150 tons of plastic waste, with increased collection and separation of waste now in the pipeline. 

Maldives

It’s considered one of the world’s most pristine paradises, but the Maldives is also facing a huge waterborne garbage problem. Many of the white sand beaches here need to be cleaned daily of washed-up trash and discarded fishing nets. Overtourism is contributing to the Indian Ocean islands’ influx of plastic waste, which is posing a real and immediate threat to marine animals and their fragile ecosystems as the microplastics are ingested by plankton, fish and other creatures.

Maldives

The problem is worsened by the fact that almost all items used by resorts on the Maldives have to be imported – and the average tourist produces more than 7 pounds (3.5kg) of waste per day. From the 1990s until very recently, litter was transported to Thilafushi, aka ‘Trash Island’, where it was set on fire. But since September 2021, the blazes have been extinguished and the task of sorting the waste has begun in earnest, with the intention of setting up a state-of-the art waste management system here by 2024.

River Thames, England, UK

At least 200 tons of waste is removed from the Thames every year, while an estimated 94,000 microplastics flow through the river every second. Clean-up charity Thames21 has compiled data on the types of plastic unearthed from the river, finding that plastic food wrappers, cotton swabs, drinks bottles and cups were the biggest offenders in their latest survey. 

River Thames, England, UK

But it’s not just a problem in central London. At Southend-on-Sea (pictured), where the Thames meets the North Sea, just under half of items found by Thames21 in 2019 were single-use plastic. The Thames Estuary shoreline is an important feeding ground for wading birds and other marine wildlife, whose habitats are being devastated by the slew of plastic waste flowing down the river. According to conservationists, more than 60% of the litter in the Thames Basin would disappear if we eliminated single-use plastic. 

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Hawaii, USA

Marine debris has reached critical levels in remote parts of the Pacific too with some of Hawaii's once pristine beaches suffering from a major plastic problem. Many of its beaches and islands, including Niihau (pictured here), have become overwhelmed with mountains of trash. Much of it comes from a huge mound of waste, dubbed the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is swirling around in the Pacific Ocean between the coast of California and Hawaii.

Hawaii, USA

Kamilo Point, a far-flung beach in the south of the Big Island, has become such a focal point of Hawaii’s litter problem it’s been nicknamed 'plastic beach'. Its white sands have become a dumping ground for all manner of junk including plastics and discarded fishing gear, as the Pacific Ocean’s currents and powerful winds leave man-made trash strewn across the shore. And it’s having a devastating impact on wildlife: research by NOAA in 2019 found that fish begin ingesting plastic particles just days after they’re born. 

Barcelona, Spain

As tourism overwhelms the city of Barcelona, its beaches have borne the brunt with many partygoers and visitors leaving more than just footprints in the sand. Cigarette butts, plastic glasses, bottles and food containers can be seen littering the sands of Barceloneta beach (pictured) and others after the pleasure-seeking crowds disperse. In fact, a recent study found that tourists are responsible for a whopping 80% of trash found on beaches across the Mediterranean. 

Barcelona, Spain

However, the city does not take litter lying down. If you’re caught leaving trash on the beach, you could face a fine of up to $3,220, while there's an array of restrictions on what you can and can’t take onto the sand. In recent years the city has implemented a Zero Waste strategy on its beaches, in collaboration with beach bars, to help reduce single-use plastics on its shores. Bartenders will only serve beachgoers takeaway drinks in returnable glasses which come with a $1.07 deposit.

Phuket, Thailand

Waste is something that has been tarnishing Thailand’s beguiling islands for many years now. Phuket, pictured, is one tourist hot spot where beaches are scattered with garbage and the water quality is suffering. In order to reduce plastic litter and encourage proper waste management, a new internationally funded scheme was launched in April 2022. The project aims to cut down on single-use plastic and strive towards a circular economy, whereby all products made can be reused or recycled. 

Koh Lanta, Thailand

While it's no surprise that party islands Phuket and Koh Samui suffer from a litter problem, it's more shocking to see the relatively sleepy beaches of Koh Lanta covered in trash too. Thailand is the sixth-biggest contributor to marine waste globally, of which a whopping 90% is from tourists and communities living by the water. Due to Koh Lanta’s remoteness, it’s difficult for authorities to transport litter elsewhere, meaning it ends up clogging local beaches and entering marine habitats.

Rome, Italy

You might not associate the Colosseum with mounds of trash, but scenes like this are becoming increasingly common at the ancient capital. Overflowing communal bins and uncollected junk covering sidewalks and marketplaces are also an all-too-familiar sight in the Eternal City, with some restaurants even claiming that their revenues have fallen due to waste being dumped outside their premises.

Rome, Italy

Waste management problems in Rome have worsened since the city’s nearby landfill closed in 2013, with no nearby alternatives opening up. Municipal waste facilities have to collect 3,000 tons of trash each day, much of which is sent to other countries to be incinerated. In summer, when temperatures frequently reach 86°F (30°C) or more, overflowing trash piles release a heady stench which circulates the streets. 

Boracay Island, the Philippines

In 2018, beach resort Boracay Island became a poster child for the ugly face of over-development, when the Philippines' president Rodrigo Duterte announced its closure and called it a “cesspool”. His comment referred to the raw sewage that was filmed flowing directly into the tiny isle’s famed blue waters from hotels and restaurants. The scale of trash was another huge issue: the amount generated per person here was reported to be more than three times higher than in the capital, Manila.

Boracay Island, the Philippines

However, since its six-month closure and the subsequent effects of the pandemic, Boracay has struggled to attract tourists again. In March 2022 it was reported that just 434 foreign visitors had been to the island since its reopening in February. Local authorities have put new rules in place to manage waste in the region, which include a ban on smoking and alcohol in public areas, a cap on tourist numbers, plus strict regulations on hotels and resorts. 

Lake Titicaca, Bolivia and Peru

The sight of litter lying along the shores of the sacred Lake Titicaca, the highest lake in the world, is a tragedy. Yet it’s just one of the problems affecting the ancient lake, whose waters were thought to be the birthplace of the sun by the Incas. Industrial and household waste, plastics and other trash have washed into the lake, polluting its water and poisoning wildlife. What’s more, illegal gold mines in the Andes have been responsible for dumping up to 15 tons of mercury per year into the lake, which has had devastating impacts on animals living in its waters.

Mumbai, India

One city fighting a seemingly losing the battle against the rising tides of refuse is Mumbai, where volunteers have been working hard to clean up garbage from shorelines for several years. But it’s not just day-to-day waste that gets left behind by revelers, as beaches are also blighted by trash that’s washed up from the sea. Versova and Juhu beach are some of the dirtiest spots, with plenty of unsanitary sights and scents scarring the sands.

Mumbai, India

As India's most populous city, Mumbai has a well-documented waste problem. In fact, it has become home to mountains of trash up to 18 stories high, which waste pickers root through to find items they can sell to waste markets. These unsightly man-made ‘mountains’ have even been known to catch fire, releasing toxic gases which are a major contributor to air pollution in the city. In October 2021, prime minister Narendra Modi announced a new waste management plan which would involve setting up new facilities to deal with the mounds of trash. 

Lebanon

Another nation fighting a never-ending battle with trash is Lebanon. The issue goes back several decades: in 1978, municipal authorities decided to dump the vast majority of Beirut’s waste into the sea, which continues to clog beaches to this day. Waste is also a huge problem in the capital, with an out-of-date management system that’s poorly equipped to deal with it, while political tensions and a lack of funding have so far prevented lawmakers from putting a comprehensive plan in place. 

Honduras

You might associate the Caribbean Sea with postcard-perfect beaches, but its crystal-clear waters are now becoming mired with floating masses of marine trash. The problem is especially bad in Honduras, where a 'trash tsunami' washed up on the country's beaches in September 2020, with much of the waste thought to have originated from neighboring Guatemala. This is devastating news for the biodiverse Mesoamerican Reef here, which is under threat from not just solid waste but poorly managed sewage and industrial oil leaks. 

Dominican Republic

The vast sea of pollution and plastic bobbing about in the Caribbean Sea has affected the Dominican Republic too, with a surge in microplastics polluting its beaches and waters. These tiny pieces of plastic have a devastating effect on the coral reefs and marine life that ingest them. In 2018, there was a massive clear-up operation on the beautiful island with soldiers, conservationists, local government agencies and residents trying to clean the beaches.

Panama

Unsightly trash piles can also be found on the beaches of Panama, such as Costa del Este, where this photo was taken. However, the nation is hoping to turn the tides on plastic waste with a ban on plastic bags, introduced in 2019, as well as widespread volunteer-lead beach cleans and recycling initiatives. But it’s not just beaches that are suffering under mountains of waste. In poor neighborhoods of Panama City, residents have complained of inadequate garbage collection services which have attracted vermin and bugs, as well as emitting foul smells. 

Mallorca, Spain

Mass tourism and poor infrastructure are some of the reasons why the Mediterranean island of Mallorca can be plagued by trash problems. This bay near Palma is an unsightly mass of garbage and sewage, caused by heavy rainfall. Thoughtless tourists have been blamed for regularly littering Playa de Palma, a gorgeous but busy stretch of sand, with their beer bottles, food wrappers and cigarette butts. Worse still, just 20% of waste here is recycled, due to the high costs associated with transporting waste to Menorca or Ibiza for recycling. 

Agra, India

One of India's most sacred rivers, the Yamuna, which flows past the Taj Mahal, is becoming clogged with garbage and household and industrial waste. Across the country, litter is a huge issue and it’s only getting worse: in 2021, it was found that the amount of plastic waste generated had more than doubled in five years. Which means sights like this – a world wonder reflected (or scarcely reflected) in trash-strewn waters – could become the new normal in India. 

Agra, India

And it's not just plastic trash blighting the river. Sewage and industrial waste released into the Yamuna have created a layer of toxic white foam across its surface, containing high levels of ammonia and phosphates which can be extremely hazardous to health. The outlook is bleak, to say the least: a spokesperson from South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) described the Yamuna as “ecologically dead” and said it’s no longer home to fish or freshwater birds. 

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