As a kid, I used to throw the waste anywhere I liked. Whenever I had packaged foods, all I did was eat them and throw the wrappers like I was launching some kind of spaceships. I was not taught to not throw the garbage anywhere I liked or if I was taught to throw them in the dustbins/containers, I was not taught what to do if I do not find the container when I needed to throw the waste. And when I did not find any containers, boom, all I did was launch them like a rocket or tried to bend them like Beckham. And celebrated like I just won the world cup.
One day, as I was strolling around with my brother (who is a environmentalist by profession and studies), he objected my self proclaimed heroics to become David Beckham. He taught me to not throw the wastage in the streets. He taught me how I was making my city dirty. And when I told him that there were no bins around to dispose them, he urged me to simply put the waste in my pocket or in the bag and throw them at the bin once I reached home. He not only taught me to do so, but followed his own words. Not many people do what they say (teach). My brother did. Action speaks louder than words. He led by example and I was moved.
From that day, I have followed what my brother taught me. I am now habituated to put the waste either in my pocket or my bag. Sometimes I come home with bagful of waste that my mother gets more reason to shout at me. 'Please find the containers before you come home. All you do is turn our place into a container of the city.' She does not like how I increase her work. Let's have a little candid confession here. "We all become a tad lazy if we have mothers who do our works." But her rage subsequently flees when I pour honeyed words to her by saying that she is solely cleaning the whole city with her efforts. :)
Today I urge my friends, juniors and seniors, to not throw the waste in the streets. Just learning a good thing is not enough. One should put that in practice and start influencing others. I did the same. My friends are now concerned about the cleanliness of the city. And they have managed to influence their juniors and friends. My nephews, nieces and my juniors do not throw anything in the streets in my presence, today. Maybe they fear me. But one day, they will mature and finally understand the real reason behind it and do it willingly rather than fearfully. Like today, I have understood that my brother did not throw stuffs at the street not just because he is a student of environment science but because he is a good man.
It's time we take some responsibility in cleaning our city. Instead of blaming the government alone, why not change our attitude? Let's influence others to make our surroundings clean. Our future generations will learn from us. What we do today will be followed by them tomorrow. If we make a habit of not throwing wastes heedlessly, our future generations will learn the same and the opposite is equally true. Our neighbouring nation, India, (led by Narendra Modi, their prime minister) has recently initiated 'Swachch Bharat Abhiyan' (Clean India Campaign) to make the country clean. Why don't we learn from our neighbours? Obviously we can start on our own by changing our attitude (with or without the help from our Government). Raise some funds within each community to buy containers and place them where necessary (suitable). Just make it a point to pick up and throw one piece of thrash you see on the street into the dustbin everyday. If everyone does this, we will have clean surroundings in no time.
I somewhere read this:
Stop whining, 'It wasn't me who littered.' Start boasting, 'It was me who cleaned it.' :)
