Am I alone in being offended, infuriated and utterly frustrated by people who think nothing about dropping their litter wherever they please?
March 31st marks Earth Day.
Yet last week, more than 200 kilograms of waste was cleared from the ledges beneath the summit of Table Mountain, Cape Town
The massive clean-up operation, which was organised by Table Mountain Cableway, was supported by 60 volunteers, hikers and climbers from the South Africa Mountain Club and the University of Cape Town’s Mountain and Ski Club Outreach Programme, Siyenyuka.
The ledges are inaccessible to the cableway’s cleaning staff so the expert volunteer climbers used their abseiling skills to reach the areas polluted by visitors.
The volunteers collected enough waste and litter to fill six large industrial bins.
Plastic bottles accounted for most of the waste collected but other items such as hats, shoes, umbrellas and litter also added to the large amount of waste.
I wonder though whether encouraging awareness of the environmental effects of litter is just not working.
Perhaps we just need to be tougher on those that think nothing of just trashing plastic bottles, cans, food wrappers wherever they please?
This is what happens in Singapore…
The running joke is that Singapore is a “fine” city. To maintain the clean and green city, there are strict laws against littering of any kind.
First-time offenders face a fine of up to S$1,000. For repeat offenders–it’s a fine of up to S$2,000 and a Corrective Work Order (CWO).
The CWO requires litterbugs to spend a few hours cleaning a public place, for example, picking up litter in a park. The litterbugs are made to wear bright jackets, and sometimes, the local media are invited to cover the public spectacle.
Naturally, the authorities hope that public shame will make diehard litterbugs think twice about tossing their scrap paper or cigarette butt on the roadside.
Meanwhile, Machu Picchu in Peru has become so damaged by the amount of litter strewn about that it has become necessary to limit the number of tourists allowed on the trail each day.
Do we really need to have an army of enforcement officers issuing fines and worse for littering?
Cannot we simply educate ourselves to understand that nothing is actually ‘disposable’ at all ?
And if so, is there enough time for the latter ?
