“Don’t litter” has to be taught

Posted on February 12, 2023 by Angus Mccoll - news bites

When westerners first travel to Nepal they can find the level of rubbish confronting. It’s not just in Nepal. From my travelling experiences, I’ve noticed a disregard for managing litter a common problem throughout the developing countries of Southeast Asia. Resilient plastic everywhere.

Why these societal attitudes exist in these poor countries is not clear. Perhaps the more difficult life is, the less you worry about things like pollution. And if you are raised from birth in this environment, you possibly don’t see the problem. Familiarity blindness. Litter everywhere is normal.

For what ever reason, it is a problem that needs to be addressed, not just to appease privileged visitors but for the sustainable future and health of communities. One solution is to teach the children in the schools the importance of a clean, rubbish-free community and how to go about achieving that.

For progress to happen there needs to be a shift in attitude and the best way to do that is through education. And thats exactly what is happening at the Batase School and re-enforced by our mentors at FHC. The children are being taught about pollution and the impacts of unmanaged rubbish. Rubbish bins have been installed at the school (thanks to Innocents Relief and funding from Ubuntu) and children are taken on regular excursions to pick up rubbish.