It’s no surprise that the beautiful world we live in is full of indescribable landscapes, gorgeous oceans, and breathtaking locations. But at the rate the population is going, those once gorgeous places can quickly deteriorate into wastelands. With billions of people in this world, and those of us who do not choose to recycle, the results are going to be absolutely frightening. Sometimes when you don’t see the outcome of your actions, it is easy to avoid the epidemic that is happening. Not only has it already, but it will continue to destroy our sea life, forests, and have a much greater effect on our every day lives than it has already. Below are some eye-opening and devastating photographs from around the world showing the horrific consequences of not recycling.

Pollution is one of the biggest killers, affecting more than 100 million people and animals worldwide.

The garbage dumped in the ocean every year is roughly around 14 billion pounds. Plastic is the major constituent.

Pollution kills more than 1 million seabirds and 100 million mammals every year.

Every year around one trillion gallons of untreated sewage and industrial waste is dumped into U.S. waters.

This is horrible, but more than 3 million kids under the age of 5 years die every year due to environmental factors like pollution. This is something that is preventable.

There are more than 500 million cars in the world and by 2030 the number will rise to 1 billion. This means the pollution level will be more than double.

Around 1000 children die in India every year due to diseases caused from the polluted water.

Have I gotten your attention yet? This pollution epidemic is horrific.

Pollution is something that we, as humans, have the biggest impact of changing.

You can simply recycle for starters. It is easy and most cities around the United States offer a great recycling program, making it so easy to recycle.

Stop wasting – 40% of the food produced in the United States is wasted every single year.

It’s time to get our act together and do something better for our world.

A little bit of work on your end can make the biggest difference in all of our lives.

Seeing images like these are heartbreaking, especially when we are the ones causing the devastation.

Innocent animals and children are being affected because of our lack of not taking the time to reuse and recycle.

Don’t stop at recycling. Start using a bike or carpooling to work to help lower air pollution as well.

It’s just not fair to the innocent lives that our pollution is affecting.

These pictures are here to prove the negative effects that not taking the time to recycle and reuse can and have been doing. And the biggest problem, it is only going to get worse with a growing population. It’s time to take a stand and fight against this tragedy that is taking place.