Littering is becoming a habit of all the citizens of Pakistan irrespective of whether they’re wealthy or indigent; literate or illiterate. Seeing people on high positions throwing their trash on the ground leaves me enraged and disgusted. Someone has to come in their way when they do so.
Two things are important to bring this awful and unacceptable practice to an end. First of all trash cans should be placed on the streets every few kilometers. Secondly, the police should fine those who throw trash on the roads.
Parents and teachers should set a good example for kids by never dumping their garbage on the roads. Whenever you take your kids on a drive around town and buy them snacks on the way, make sure they don’t toss their wrappers out the window. Keep a shopping bag inside your car and empty it in your garbage can when you’re back at home or throw it in a waste bin you find on the way.
Teachers can also arrange trips for students and take them to polluted natural sites and explain how inappropriate and miserable this is. Then they should order their students to help keep the environment clean by gathering the litter they encounter on that site and disposing it of properly. They should advice their students to discard the rubbish they come across while they’re walking down an alley or a street. Teachers should ensure that their students clean up after themselves after their break from class. They should be asked to tidy up the part of the classroom where they sit, after school.
The sanitary rules you implement at home shouldn’t be shrugged off when you’re on the road. When you’re outside your house, you’re still in your country; it is still your home. Even if you’re abroad, you can’t deny the fact that you’re still in your planet; it’s still your home. It is not just the municipal corporation’s responsibility to keep your country clean. As a Pakistani it’s your job to ensure that your country is tidy and unpolluted.
Huma Ansari
Azad Kasmir
