An outdoor incident which created an impact

I am a nature lover and wild life enthusiast. I frequently go trekking to forests and mountains. It was in one of those trekking expeditions the incident occurred. I usually trek alone but once i had to accompany a group of people on trekking in the mountains. I have 2 liters water bottle with me in my bag-pack and the bottle is refilled when ever i find a water source. There were 10 men in the group and all were in their thirties. They were working as software engineers at different IT companies in Bangalore. After trekking for 3 km from the base of mountain we went deep into the forest area. All of us were thirsty. I quenched my thirst by drinking water from the metal bottle. The others had purchased plastic water bottles of a reputed MNC. All of them emptied one bottle each. Then the plastic bottles were thrown haphazardly on the ground where we had all sat. Being an old man and having seen the world i was not surprised by their action. Out of concern for environment i asked them why they had disposed the plastic bottles in such a manner. One of them said "I can see a heap of empty water bottles 100 yards from here near the large tree. It means that the bottles can be thrown any where. Why should we carry the empty bottles. We have many bottles with us and these empty bottles will unnecessarily add extra baggage to us. We have not done any wrong act. Other trekkers have also dumped the bottles and other trash here." The other persons in the group supported him. I asked them whether they were aware of the fact that plastic was non-biodegradable and it is harmful to the environment. All the persons just laughed and one of them said that they were aware of the facts. For the sake of convenience they had to throw away the plastic bottles. In the jungle they had freedom to do what ever they wanted and there was no monitoring authority to keep their activities in check. They had come for enjoyment and for recreation only and not to conserve the environment. The incident taught me many lessons. Some Indians require constant policing to behave like civilized people. Most of the educated people in the country care little about the environmental issues and give excuses for not maintaining cleanliness in the environment. They are intentionally ignorant and justify their action on clumsy grounds. I questioned myself whether these people were educated in the true sense. They had a university degree and a job in IT sector. They badly needed education about the environmental issues.