It is simply about clean living. We do not want to be surrounded by waste. Most of us would like to be in a place where there is no trash. Nobody likes to step on something slimy while walking on the street. A heap of trash in a corner is simply a sight of disgust. To be in a world we enjoy and like to live in, we need to be following a basic rule to always throw waste where it belongs i.e. in a bin. It has been taught to us since we were toddlers but we often forget to follow this as we are too busy or too ignorant or simply serving some other bigger purpose in our lives.
Have you ever noticed that our eyes love to view a clean sight. Places which are trash & dirt-free will always have more appeal. Trash is ugly, clean is beautiful. Why do you think is that? Why do our brains find sightings of trash unpleasant? Our minds and bodies have evolved over years to like what is best for our growth and survival. We will naturally loathe things that are harmful to us and hence no one finds the sight of waste lovable. We should respect these signals that our mind and body give us time and again as it is for our own sustenance. Putting trash away from sight inside bins is the right place.
Putting waste in bins just does not have sense, beauty and hygiene values but it also about sustainable living. By making sure that the waste goes into the bins we are also making sure that waste is managed for re-use and better handling. I will discuss this in detail in another post about waste segregation. Adding waste to bin adds value to it by making it a resource for re-use.
At home, we ourselves or someone in the household will put waste in bins but biggest problem of not putting waste in bins happens outside homes. Trash in tourist places is a common sight in most developing nations. It happens because of the following two reasons either we do not find bins in plain sight and the task of looking for one and managing waste is simply too much of a hassle or we do not feel a sense of personal responsibility to keep the place clean. If there are no bins where you are or you cannot locate one a good idea is to always carry the waste with you back home or until you find one. I always carry extra small bags with me where I can put all waste when I am traveling or hiking. You can always put it in pockets or your shirts or stuff in your bags.
The way to change things would be to add some reasoning and thought into the simple process of throwing trash. Waste has to be viewed outside its lifecycle of serving its “purpose to us”. Once something is waste to us, we view it in our limited scope and “getting rid of it” is the only action we associate with it. Thinking about where that waste will end up and how it will impact our lives again gives us perspective. A simple way to practice this would be by picturing the place (parks, roadsides, pathways, hills, rivers etc) where you are about to add waste with multitude of trash already collected. Looking at plastic bottles and wrappers in those places is not a pleasing sight, is it. If only people had imagined Mount Everest with waste they would have put a little bit of an extra effort to bring it back with them and leave the mountain beautiful for climbs to follow.
While some of us are creating mess there are some warriors and vigilantes who are saving our pristine natural habitats by cleaning them. These noble people collect waste they find in places “where it does not belong” and bring it back from their trips. These people are just another set of travelers, mountaineers or daily walkers. It is not their job to clean but they understand the consequences of ignoring waste. We can only do our part and not throw waste in these places in the first place.