by Gulrukh Tausif

Created on: May 18, 2010   Last Updated: May 19, 2010

♦ “I did not drop it. It’s not my problem.”

♦ “Who cares? I am here for a little while only.”

♦ “No-one’s looking and the trashcan is too far away.”

♦ “What are sweepers for anyway?”

Littering has become a common habit and the evidence is everywhere around us. Have you been to park recently or a busy market area? Perhaps you have gone to the stadium to watch a game or had a seaside picnic? Do you know what all these places have in common?

Lots of people come here for fun, work and entertainment and when they go back home, they leave behind a mountain of smelly trash and dirty rubbish behind them.

Our good and bad habits have a severe impact on our environment. Littering is a terrible habit and yet we do not seem to care. Go to any public place and you’ll find cigarette butts, broken bottles, plastic bags, sweets and chips wrappers, half eaten food and rotten fruits thrown carelessly on the ground, parking areas and sidewalks. What does all this tell us about our civic sense and social values?

Many people think that it is all right to litter as it is the duty of sweepers to keep the area clean. Some think that since they are visiting for a few hours only, it does not matter what condition they leave the place in. Others feel too lazy to walk up to a trash can to deposit rubbish in it.

Some people try to check how good their aim is by trying to toss a sticky chewing gum or an empty juice bottle in the bin and consequently leave scattered garbage all around it. And some people just do not think at all!

Everywhere we go, we create a mess and we do it all the time without even considering our actions and its consequences. Trash that is left around to accumulate and rot attracts germs, flies, mosquitoes and rodents.

Rotten fruits and decaying food stuffs give out toxins and bad odors which are extremely harmful for our health. But worst of all, it gives the entire area an untidy, smelly appearance which reflects badly on us individually and collectively as a nation.

Many people argue that there is already so much rubbish on our streets that one more chocolate wrapper or juice bottle would really make no difference at all. It is a sad fact that people usually do not feel guilty about littering in areas where garbage is already scattered around.

Littering shows that people lack national pride and have little interest in preserving their environment and ecosystem. The truth is that if everyone makes a little effort to find a trash bin or just hold on to it till they can dispose it off properly in garbage bins, our planet will be a much cleaner place.

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