I totally get what you mean. It saddens me and I can't wrap my head around it.
I stayed on El Hierro - have you been there? - for six months, from last September onwards.
It was promoted as very clean and 'green'. I soon discovered the dark side.
It seemed normal for people to just throw their trash, especially cans and empty cigarette cartons out of the car window and the recycling really was a joke. There might have been different containers for glass, carton, organic, etcetera, but people didn't seem to care about the container's labels.
Also, when the North African wind blew the big containers over (which happened twice), it took a week or so for anyone to put them back on their feet and clean the garbage.
I felt kind of disillusioned when I discovered this dark side of the island and couldn't understand why people do this to a place so pretty. I also decided to bring a garbage bag with me on hikes and fill it up. You need to start somewhere, right?
Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work!
P.S. This is yet another reason for me to migrate to Portugal (or perhaps Spain) and try to live a self sustained, no waste lifestyle.