The sign board reading ‘keep clean’ and put at the corner of that school has remained a dead sign which is ignored and abandoned. The sign has been there for quite some time and the garbage also has spread there for the same period of time. Apparently every body passing that sign has lost the sense of the message contained in it.
The mounting garbage at least represents and reaffirmed the statement above. The swarming flies invited by the horribly bad smell produced by the rotten garbage fail to attract people to pay their attention of dealing with the present problem before their eyes. Many of us think that it is clearly
somebody else’s matter. Because it is not in my backyard, so it is not my problem. Is that true?
The mounting trash existing in many places all over the city has been an epidemic problem. Addition to that, the people easily litter everywhere. The education background has not determined the probability of someone’s not throwing garbage, not to mention also the life style or living standard. The habit is existed in every walk of life and everywhere; city and villages.
The habit has been almost a culture of the nation. It has run in their blood. No matter when, no matter where they litter. But at the same time actually they scream and complain out loud for something they have done; something about themselves.
A dangling question in my mind is of why someone is so easily throwing garbage without ever thinking of the effect to others and the environment. The act of throwing garbage is not a wrong act for those people. They probably have no awareness of the need of taking care of the environment as the global warming issue has been dangling around for many years and at the same time of thinking of somebody else’s interest.
Then I remember one statement saying it’s all about mind. It is all about what you have in your mind. What you have in your mind will determine how you act, react, work, view the life, and many more that turn into a habit or character. Regarding the habit mentioned above, the doers must have something missing in their mind. The things implanted in their mind have missed one part. From my personal experience, I can share you a fact that it is very hard for me to litter.
I can not do such an act. I will keep the trash till I find the trash bin somewhere. Sometimes I have to keep it in my pocket or my bag. There is a strong thrust in the back of my mind that commands me not to litter. The consciousness on the bad effect to the environment keeps me from just throwing it. It has been there I think. No matter where I am I will do the same. Even though the place is dirty in terms of that garbage spreading every where, I still do the same, to throw the garbage in the garbage bin or dump.
I implant this value to other kids that I know. I practice this in daily basis that the people around me sometimes feel strange with this habit. Every time I explain the reason why I do such thing, it will be seen as out of sense. To me, to keep clean and not to litter has part of my life. It is there and will always be there. I will not change the habit because it is well-implanted.
Though people look strange at me, I give no care. Because I have a belief that such doing will create a clean environment and in return the environment will do good things to us. Probably people do not see that what is happening with the planet is part of their contributions and habits of life. They feel that they are not responsible for that. The littering habit will remain there. They seemingly can not change that.
Another question is whether the habit happens just like that. It roots back far to the childhood time when we are still like a blank paper waiting for being written on with good things or bad things. This time has been the determining time when a child will be equipped with the personalities that will be nurtured until they are mature and when the personality has been well-implanted and it can not be changed anymore. What is ingrained into their mind will lead them to create the habits or character. The place where the process of creating the characters and personality happens is the school.
