Pollution, it's more than we learn in school.

Can somebody please tell me..

What is the difference between polluting by throwing garbage on the ground (illegal) versus polluting by throwing it in a garbage can to travel to an even larger pile of garbage to sit there and rot with the rest of our filth?

Out of sight, out of mind ???

A littered street or park is visible to everyone, but toted away and hidden from sight makes it aesthetically more pleasing.

But there's more to it than that........

Have you heard the expression "garde a l'eau" shouted out while walking down the street ? Probably not.
Chamber pots would be emptied into the streets in medieval times so that the waste would run down a open gutter or trough in the street. This was a cause of the spread of disease, not to mention the constant stench.
Dumping your turds in the front of your house will get you arrested today.

Some of the waste collected on garbage day is now burnt in plants that produce electricity, and a large portion of what we throw away is redirected to be recycled.

Even leaves and grass clippings are collected with the tea bags and potato peelings in my city to be composted and given back to the people as a rich soil additive for our gardens.

Glass, metal, plastic, paper, etc...
All these items are collected, separated, and sold by the city to be returned to production facilities to make new products. So in fact, they don't just go to a big heap to rot with the rest of our filth.