Hey everyone! Since I haven't been on any trips yet this year (#budgetingto or otherwise) I was kinda at a loss to decide what to write - and then it hit me.
KABOOM!
Trash.
And not just any trash either. I'm talking about the disgusting plastic and polythene stuff that is left behind by my fellow (I'm ashamed to admit it) human beings. I have thought long and hard about it and I've come up with some reasons why people feel compelled to litter where they shouldn't. Just to be clear, I'm not talking about cities and towns. That's to be expected since that's where we live. I'm talking about Mother Nature with a capital MOTHER. Yeah, that's where we litter.
Anyways...
Reason #1: Our Kindergarten/Nursery/Montessori Teachers
Bits of paper, bits of paper
Lying all around, lying all around
Makes the place untidy, makes the place untidy
Pick them up, pick them up.
Being a teacher myself, I completely accept that our students don't like listening, learning or paying any damn attention to us. But we still try to teach them all the right stuff. Don't fight. Don't be mean. Don't litter. But when our KG teachers teach us the above song, you can understand why they grow up to become nasty human beings who go to Ravana Falls and leave shampoo sachets and water bottles in the water. Bits of paper??? Teach them to pick EVERYTHING up, dammit! EVRYTHING! Otherwise, we end up with this:
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| Spot the Coke, Sprite and water bottle if you can |
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| Why do you need a toothbrush??? |
Everybody picked up the paper. They forgot the polythene. Well done teachers.
Reason #2: We Mark Our Territory
Dogs and cats piss around their homes as a sign, "Don't come near my territory or you'll be sent home with an ear missing." Now either human urine doesn't smell that strong (coz I've seen men urinate in all kinds of weird-ass places) or we needed a better way to mark our territory. And some genius thought, why don't we leave behind our litter? Y'know, like Hansel & Gretel with the breadcrumbs except they were in mortal danger??? Idk why, but people seem incapable of keeping their polythene bags, lunch sheets, toffee wrappers, chewing gums, bottles and whatnot to themselves. Instead they throw them out of trains, cars and alongside the road:
These are from my Pattipola railway hike last December, on the way to the railway summit. We were unfortunately too busy to take pictures later, but our campsite was more like a dumpsite. We had to clear away rubbish for 4 f***ing hours before we could put up our tent. What's more, we saw soiled baby diapers, panties, boxers, handkerchiefs, lunch sheets, lunch boxes and the list goes on. Eww.
Reason #3: We are an Evolutionary Dead End
Bear with me here. We learn over and over again from the media, from schools, from elders and the internet that harming Nature is bad. Littering causes pollution and damage to the environment which in turn can kick our asses eventually. But we never learn. Case in point: we saw the disappointing Bambarakanda Falls in December and underneath the viewing platform was a whole slew of beer cans and arrack bottles, because it's really smart to get drunk near water. Well done humans!
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| See it? |
When a rat realizes that there is a trap in the kitchen, it avoids it. When a dog gets a treat after performing a trick, it will repeat the trick. Basically, animals adapt in order to survive. We don't. If we keep littering despite all the warning signs and the information, then clearly we are pathologically incapable of learning and adapting, which means we are an evolutionary dead end. Man will soon be unable to survive their toxic environment and we will die in the same sh*t we helped to create.
Happy surviving everyone!
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