National Park Service officials at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico had a humorous yet serious message for visitors after crews rushed to clean up the impact of a bag of Cheetos left inside the cave.
In a Facebook post, the park shared an image of the discarded bag of Cheetos in the Big Room area of the cave system, emphasizing the importance of being mindful of our impact on the environment.
The post highlighted the positive interactions rangers have with visitors, as well as the negative impacts of littering and not respecting the natural surroundings. The park noted that while some impacts may be unavoidable, others, like leaving trash behind, can be completely preventable.
The park explained how the humidity of the cave softened the processed corn in the Cheetos, creating a perfect environment for fungi and microbial life to thrive. Cave-dwelling creatures like crickets, mites, spiders, and flies can then spread nutrients from the snack throughout the cave, affecting the ecosystem.
To clean up the mess, park rangers spent 20 minutes carefully removing the foreign detritus and molds from the cave surfaces, emphasizing the importance of leaving the world a better place than we found it.
While the incident may seem trivial on a human scale, the park reminded visitors that even small actions can have a significant impact on the delicate ecosystem of the cave. Let’s all strive to be more mindful of our actions and leave the world a better place for future generations.
