How A Bag Of Cheetos Unleashed Chaos In A Fragile US Cave Ecosystem

The incident at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, highlights the damaging effects of littering on fragile ecosystems.

It's a known fact that single-use plastic waste people leave behind after outdoor events and activities has a detrimental effect on the environment. No matter if it is a plain, a riverside, a desert, or a hilltop, it seems travellers have left behind plastic waste in all natural locations. Littering is emerging as a huge problem that is threatening these locations for their fragile ecology and aesthetic value.

Last week at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, in United States, one visitor tossed away an open bag of Cheetos. It served as a snack for the mould of the cave. One of the most visited places in New Mexico, the cave in the park welcomed almost 400,000 visitors last year.

In response, park rangers painstakingly removed mould and microbial growth along the path leading to the cave, which is biggest cave chamber by volume in North America-for 20 minutes. And all this was because of the bag of Cheetos dropped by the careless visitor.