Nothing's worse than being outside at one of Colorado's beautiful parks or natural spaces and coming across other people's trash that they didn't throw away.

Not only is it trashy to litter in a place like this that so many other people go to for enjoyment, but it's horrible for the environment and climate too. If humans want places like Rocky Mountain National Park to be around for years to come, more efforts need to be made to properly dispose of all trash and waste.

At Roxborough State Park, there's an informative trash garden that shows just how long it takes for a variety of items, including aluminum cans, plastic, and styrofoam, to decompose.

Kelsey Nistel/TSM
Kelsey Nistel/TSM
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Certain discarded materials never fully break down, which can cause long-term problems for already-vulnerable plant and animal populations. The build-up of trash can also lead to health problems for humans, and of course, it's not pleasant to be in nature amongst a bunch of litter.

Kelsey Nistel/TSM
Kelsey Nistel/TSM
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Colorado Parks and Wildlife recently shared something rangers found while on duty in St. Vrain State Park, further validating how important it is not to pollute outdoor places with trash. A soda can from 1975 was recovered from inside a bobcat den in the park over the weekend. Shockingly, after nearly 50 years, the aluminum Pepsi can was still in one piece and had its color.

As CPW said in their post, it's ironic that the can says "don't litter, please recycle." Clearly, the person who drank this beverage didn't follow that advice and now humans and wildlife are dealing with the impacts of it 50 years later.

LOOK: Stunning vintage photos capture the beauty of America's national parks

Today these parks are located throughout the country in 25 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The land encompassing them was either purchased or donated, though much of it had been inhabited by native people for thousands of years before the founding of the United States. These areas are protected and revered as educational resources about the natural world, and as spaces for exploration.

Keep scrolling for 50 vintage photos that show the beauty of America's national parks.

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