Why Littering in Pakistan Is No Big Deal!
I am from a country which bears a name that literally means 'Clean Land'. Mounting the irony would be going deeper into the history and seeing that the foundation on which it was founded deems cleanliness as half of the faith. It is indeed needless to mention that we often forget to delve into details when chanting 'Pakistan Ka Matlab Kya?' 'What Does Pakistan Mean' on the adrenaline pumping occasions. Ironically, cleanliness is a distant reality for the dwellers of 'Land of Pure' and the citizens of the 'Clean Land.'
I have several times stopped to analyse the very basic thought that triggers an educated and apparently sensible person's action who rolls down his car's window and drop the can of Coke which he has just finished and moves on with his life.
Just Like That.
Insomuch, I have several times come across the limited-to-my-house-approach of someone who keeps her house spick-and-span and scrubs her kids morning and night but not cares a slight bit where her daily garbage is dumped off by her cleaning lady.
Bemusing.
Compounding it all with the utmost disgust is the spillage of rubbish around despite the placement of huge trash cans in the public places. Throw-In sign is usually read as the opposite of it or may be the local administration is far too busy to take a serious notice of the situation.
Obviously, exhibiting such behavior is not a big deal and would barely catch anyone's attention as our priority list doesn't posit calling out anyone who is not harming our private property or as long as the stink of garbage doesn't have to be smelled by us.
Worse-still, we come across a series of harrowing news flashes every now and then that horrify us sometimes with the sea food becoming inedible with too much of contamination or habitants of different cities getting inflicted with chronic illness due to high level of arsenic in drinking water. Yet, we are not too concerned to deal with it because in essence we have pushed cleanliness and purity to the bottom quartile of our priority list because its issues like Imran Khan's to-be third marriage that occupies the major chunk of our attention.
We on a larger scale have withdrawn ourselves from any sort of social/civic responsibility because either we are too busy or are too cool to clean up after anyone else's rubbish. According to the 'bystander effect' theory, we are not only hesitant to act first but the greater the number of people not doing something, more we feel we don not have to either.
At the same time volunteer work like Fix-it campaign that took place in Karachi recently is highly commendable but I think is not as lasting if the ever burgeoning population including the administration is not acquainted or reinforced in adopting a careful and methodical approach towards working for a cleaner space and environment.
Developed countries around the world that are endevoring to deal with the climate issues had started out with combating the littering first. Structural reforms and policies basing on the well-being of the citizens via formulating different course of actions to be followed by them have been on their top most agenda.
Upon careful consideration, I believe where education may play a pivotal role in shaping our behavior, it is without an iota of doubt that a trickle down effect usually reinforced from the policies by the Government are mandatory to implement a change. I have found it phenomenally interesting when I see the people in power talking and claiming big things while overseeing the smallest and basic of elements that define us as a society.
Contamination of food or the hazardous discharge by industries, waste disposal or land pollution, will get in order via recycling and using the biodegradable products effectively once the behavioral pattern is set on a large scale; to an extent that it becomes the core of our culture and society.
I see no reason to not to have a law implemented that addresses the fundamental issue of littering and recycling. A legislation that stems the basic information about the effects of littering and how not to make your future generation fall prey to the trap that they would consider set by you. For once, we most definitely need to make littering a monstrous offense.
When littering penalties shall start being imposed on the offenders or when they will be asked to volunteer for a week and clean up a specified location that is when we will realize 'Pakistan Ka Matlab Kya.?' 'What does Pakistan Mean?'
About the Author: Believes in herself!
I have several times stopped to analyse the very basic thought that triggers an educated and apparently sensible person's action who rolls down his car's window and drop the can of Coke which he has just finished and moves on with his life.
Just Like That.
Insomuch, I have several times come across the limited-to-my-house-approach of someone who keeps her house spick-and-span and scrubs her kids morning and night but not cares a slight bit where her daily garbage is dumped off by her cleaning lady.
Bemusing.
Compounding it all with the utmost disgust is the spillage of rubbish around despite the placement of huge trash cans in the public places. Throw-In sign is usually read as the opposite of it or may be the local administration is far too busy to take a serious notice of the situation.
Obviously, exhibiting such behavior is not a big deal and would barely catch anyone's attention as our priority list doesn't posit calling out anyone who is not harming our private property or as long as the stink of garbage doesn't have to be smelled by us.
Worse-still, we come across a series of harrowing news flashes every now and then that horrify us sometimes with the sea food becoming inedible with too much of contamination or habitants of different cities getting inflicted with chronic illness due to high level of arsenic in drinking water. Yet, we are not too concerned to deal with it because in essence we have pushed cleanliness and purity to the bottom quartile of our priority list because its issues like Imran Khan's to-be third marriage that occupies the major chunk of our attention.
We on a larger scale have withdrawn ourselves from any sort of social/civic responsibility because either we are too busy or are too cool to clean up after anyone else's rubbish. According to the 'bystander effect' theory, we are not only hesitant to act first but the greater the number of people not doing something, more we feel we don not have to either.
At the same time volunteer work like Fix-it campaign that took place in Karachi recently is highly commendable but I think is not as lasting if the ever burgeoning population including the administration is not acquainted or reinforced in adopting a careful and methodical approach towards working for a cleaner space and environment.
Developed countries around the world that are endevoring to deal with the climate issues had started out with combating the littering first. Structural reforms and policies basing on the well-being of the citizens via formulating different course of actions to be followed by them have been on their top most agenda.
Upon careful consideration, I believe where education may play a pivotal role in shaping our behavior, it is without an iota of doubt that a trickle down effect usually reinforced from the policies by the Government are mandatory to implement a change. I have found it phenomenally interesting when I see the people in power talking and claiming big things while overseeing the smallest and basic of elements that define us as a society.
Contamination of food or the hazardous discharge by industries, waste disposal or land pollution, will get in order via recycling and using the biodegradable products effectively once the behavioral pattern is set on a large scale; to an extent that it becomes the core of our culture and society.
I see no reason to not to have a law implemented that addresses the fundamental issue of littering and recycling. A legislation that stems the basic information about the effects of littering and how not to make your future generation fall prey to the trap that they would consider set by you. For once, we most definitely need to make littering a monstrous offense.
When littering penalties shall start being imposed on the offenders or when they will be asked to volunteer for a week and clean up a specified location that is when we will realize 'Pakistan Ka Matlab Kya.?' 'What does Pakistan Mean?'
About the Author: Believes in herself!
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