Not everyone cares about the world the way they care about themselves, that’s why it’s as messed up as it is. We’re all selfish creatures and history has shown that as long as something doesn’t affect us, we’ll be ready to turn a blind eye to it, no matter how bad it is.
All around us, atrocities are happening on a daily basis. But seeing as we’re not affected, we prefer to ignore them and “mind our business”. This is a very terrible way of life because whether we like it or not, we’ll feel the repercussions as well.
Whether we like it or not, we have to step up for what is right. We can’t always turn a blind eye just because we’re scared of what people might say of us. It just makes us cowards. We know the right thing to do, and we’re to do it.
The journey to make the world a better place is not one that a single person can achieve even if they would live a lifetime. It requires all of us to pool resources and work together, playing our little role in taking this world to the place we believe it can be. One tiny thing here, and another there could make all the difference.
The thing is, you don’t have to change the world, just change your community. Start from there and see the ripple effect. As for me, I try my best to do the little I can.
I’m the kind of person that’ll never be caught littering the streets. A lot of people do that and it’s a messed up attitude. I don’t understand how people will eat snacks and then throw the wraps on the floor right where they’re standing. This is illegal, but thanks to a failed system, such crimes do not fancy their interests.
When I eat on the road, maybe biscuits or another form of snack, I either put the wraps in my bag or my pocket. I’ll never just throw them on the ground. I’ll carry it with me some distance until I see a trashcan by the side of the road where I’ll throw it in.
The worst of these are people who throw stuff out of their cars. The funny thing is that they claim they’re being clean by throwing things out, but while their cars are clean, the road they’re driving on is dirty! This is why it’s mandated that every driver should have a small waste bin in their car to store trash (I know of this law in Lagos, I don’t know if other states enforce it as well).
I don’t subscribe to this at all. It’s a very dirty habit. If I eat in a vehicle, I throw my trash right there in the vehicle, and if there’s no trash can, I just drop it on the floor of the vehicle. People don’t know that it’s better to throw the trash in your vehicle than to throw it out of the window. Besides littering the road, you could also be endangering other road users. Try something like this on the major roads in Lagos, it’ll be just as bad as when you run the red light!
I remember some time ago when I was taking the bus to my village. I was sitting by the window and the young guy next to me was eating buns. When he was done, he asked me to shift a bit so he could throw the nylon out. I didn’t move an inch. I told him that throwing it out of the bus was wrong and he should throw it on the floor of the bus instead because the bus didn’t have a trashcan. Or better still, he should keep the nylon in his pocket. But as far as I was seated there, he was not throwing it out that window.
The guy thought I was joking, but when I didn’t budge he realized that I really wasn’t going to let him. I even shut the window, even though the heat was stifling, just so he wouldn’t throw it out. It got to a point that the guy wanted to fight me, he tried to intimidate me, thinking I’d be scared. LMAO!!
Eventually, the driver had to intervene and tried to force me to open it. He was pissed that I wanted him to litter his bus and I fired back that he was supposed to have a waste bin. If he had a waste bin, then his bus won’t be littered at all. I remained fixed on my stance, the guy either put the nylon in his pocket or threw it on the floor of the bus. The guy refused to pocket it, and the bus driver warned him not to litter his bus. Even though there were all sorts of rubbish on the floor already.
It got really bad that the driver had to stop the bus, telling me to come down if I didn’t like the way he was handling things. I asked him for a full refund. But he was too selfish and wasn’t willing to give me! So, he continued the journey. The guy came down before me, and he took the nylon with him. The moment he came down though, I saw him throw it away on the ground. But I wasn’t fazed. At least this was his street he was littering. I succeeded in keeping him from throwing it out the window and littering the main road.
I know this doesn’t feel big, but it got the other passengers talking. Many of them talked about how many people do this on a daily basis and don’t even see it as wrong. People litter even in sacred places. You’ll see them do it in churches, schools, and even hospitals! It’s very sad. And what aches my heart is that while young people mostly do the littering, it’s old people who clean it up.
You see old women working hard as they sweep the roads, old men and women in church bending their backs to pick up the litter dropped by young and vibrant children. It’s always painful watching this. That’s why I always find it annoying when people just litter with reckless abandon. Like, who are you throwing it for? Who’ll come and pick it up for you?
We really need to do better as a people. Besides this being a health hazard, it also spoils the looks of the place. The land pollution we suffer today is because of littering, many streets are flooded today because of littering. From that one bottle to that one wrapper… one by one, until they block the canal!
I really hope the government finds a more effective way of handling this because if care is not taken, it’ll only get worse for us. And I shudder to think of just how terrible that would be.
