Summary

The article discusses the environmental and structural impact of the trend of attaching love locks to bridges, advocating for responsible tourism and questioning the romanticization of this harmful practice.

Abstract

The trend of attaching love locks to bridges, symbolizing everlasting love, has become a global phenomenon. However, this seemingly romantic gesture has significant environmental and structural consequences. The accumulation of locks adds excessive weight to bridges, potentially leading to structural damage and corrosion, while the keys thrown into rivers pollute the ecosystem and harm wildlife. The article emphasizes the need for tourists to consider the long-term effects of their actions and suggests alternative methods to commemorate love without causing harm to historical landmarks, the environment, or wildlife. The author points out that while humans desire to leave their mark, it should not come at the expense of nature or public safety. Cities like Budapest have taken steps to mitigate these issues by providing designated areas for love locks, promoting responsible tourism while preserving the tradition.

Opinions

The author believes that the love lock trend is environmentally damaging and structurally unsafe for bridges.
The practice of throwing keys into rivers is criticized for its negative impact on aquatic life and ecosystems.
The article suggests that tourists should use their judgment and seek alternatives to love locks, such as using trash bins for keys or finding designated areas for lock placement.
The author expresses admiration for Budapest's approach to the love lock issue, providing creative solutions that balance tradition with safety and environmental concerns.
The piece argues that not all traditions are worth preserving, especially when they have detrimental effects on the environment and public infrastructure.
The author reflects on personal experiences, revealing a distaste for the love lock spectacle and its association with a challenging time in their life.
There is a call to action for readers to think critically about the consequences of their actions while traveling and to engage in responsible tourism practices.

TRAVEL | ENVIRONMENT

Why There is Nothing Romantic About Love Locks on Bridges

And why you should stop this trend

A young couple walks up on the bridge. The sun is shining and the skies are blue as they look at each other in love. The guy pulls out a lock they have written their initials on. He fixes the lock on the railing of the bridge and they both hold one key in their hands. With smiling hands, the keys fly off and into the water down below.

A few weeks later, their relationship breaks apart. So does the fish in the river who accidentally ate a small key while trying to feed on some greens. And the bridge is aching under the additional weight of not one but thousands of locks tied to its railings.

Yes, this story is fictional but not entirely. The first part has happened a million times around the world where love birds manifest their love to each other by tying a lock to a random bridge and throwing both keys into the river with the sign of their love lasting forever.

And the environmental damage of thousands of keys at the bottom of rivers and lakes isn’t fictional either. Nor is the additional weight bridges have to suffer under due to a cause of this, excuse my language, stupid trend.

Why is it that humans always have the desire to leave more than footprints behind? Why can’t we go somewhere and not leave a lasting sign behind? Animals use their urine to mark their territory, quite harmless. We spray on walls, cut into the bark of trees and throw rusting keys into a functioning ecosystem.

It has been a few years, maybe even a decade, since I first stumbled upon this what should I call it, spectacle? Hundreds of thousands of locks hanging on a bridge. Initials and hearts engraved into those decorations displaying the supposed endless love of two individuals.

And while it first seemed like a very romantic gesture, I quickly wondered why one had to throw the keys into the river down below. Why can’t you ignore the keys or if you really need to get rid of them then dispose of them in a different way? Use a stupid trash bin instead.

I was in 6th grade when I visited Paris and walked across the famous Pont des Arts where the whole craziness of this trend began. It wasn’t an easy time in my life as you might know, teenagers are cruel and on this trip, I had to listen to a lot of mean comments from boys but also from other girls in our class.

I don’t know if it was because of that but most probably yes that I did not enjoy our stay in Paris nor did I ever have the desire to return to the city. However, I still remembered the love locks I saw on the bridge.

I continued traveling and the older I got the more bridges I spotted with love locks mounted to them. The crazy ritual spread like wildfire across the world and these days many municipalities have to struggle with the same issues Paris was confronted with.

Think of it. Bridges are designed and constructed to hold a certain weight under certain conditions. Adding one lock might not make a difference but add a hundred or a thousand metal locks to this bridge and its construction will be endangered of collapsing in the river below.

Also, most metal locks will begin to corrode with time and the corrosion won’t remain limited to the locks but move over to its railings and eventually the entire construction of the bridge.

And you say what? Have you never thought of that risk? Well, then please start using your brain cells when traveling to new places and not thinking when adapting some random and stupid tourist tradition. Not all trends are good and this one is bad for everyone. Humans, nature and animals.

The above picture was taken in Budapest. It’s a piece of a bridge and its railing that had to be removed from a bridge due to the extreme number of locks on it. Instead of disposing of the piece, they placed it into the city for it to still be visible. The city went even a little further to support responsible tourism. They put up a few more designed fences throughout the city. Places where you can mount your love lock without endangering the safety of a bridge.

Smart people the Hungarians, I’d say because we all know that bans do nothing to humans. Of course, adding locks to bridges is as much vandalism as graffiti and yet it does not stop anyone from doing it. Approaching the topic from a different angle might be the right way forward to protect the stupid ritual and save the bridges.

I have found love locks from Oslo across Europe down South to Malta. I’ve seen them throughout Africa's fragile and not-so-fragile bridges and I have stumbled upon them in the remotest regions of Thailand. I have seen love locks on bridges in the southern Alps in New Zealand and wish I hadn’t.

Maybe that’s why I can’t find more pictures of them.

Because I hate seeing them.

Either way, I hope you didn’t take this piece offensive or personal but after commenting on a handful of bridge stories I felt the urge to write down my thoughts and explain this trend or tradition to the rest of the world. Thinking of the consequences of our actions isn’t always the easiest but it’s necessary if we want to remain on this planet for longer.

This is a writing prompt response to Globetrotter’s monthly challenge on the topic of bridges. While the official submission time is closed for us editors to have a few days to re-read stories and select our favorites, I took the chance to send this one out. Please take the time to read some other submissions to the prompt from our writers:

Ronald Smit with “Some Special Spanish Structures”

Barb Dalton with “Bridges: They Cross Obstacles and Save Us Time”

Tara Torres with “The Bridge That Took Me On A Magical Adventure”

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