Litter, litter everywhere …
Well-known environmental activist, Terri Sweringen once warned us that ‘we are living on this planet as if we had another one to go to’.
Driving along the streets of Joburg, one can scarcely miss the litter between blinks – and I am tired of it. People throwing things out of car windows, leaving bones and boxes at picnic spots, discarding bottles in the parks – what have we become?
I have heard the argument that littering is job creation because someone needs to clean it up. Utter nonsense! You are not creating jobs, you are making a mess.
Come on Joburgers, I challenge you – get out there and clean up. Here is the deal – send me information about your community cleanup, and I will personally see to it that a representative from your local newspaper will be there to join in – no matter how big or small. We will get our hands dirty with you to get our city cleaned up.
Businesses, get involved – send us photos of your cleanups and challenge other businesses to get involved too. We will publish these photos so you get a little punt, and we get a cleaner city – it’s a win-win.
The only cure for litter, is us. Let us start small by cleaning up our neighbourhoods and taking some pride in our surroundings.
Perhaps we can get the ball rolling and encourage others to join us. Let’s educate our children the way we were educated. Let us make the small change to our daily routines, clean up around ourselves – it’s a mindset. Perhaps it is the first step towards bettering our beautiful city.
Email me at aimeed@caxton.co.za
