Some Novel Ideas on Garbage Removal
You’ve got blokes not using the bins at the park. We all see it all the time. Usually, we think to ourselves, “What a jerk!” but we don’t actually pipe up and tell him what we think of him. What is the reason we don’t speak up? It takes a lot of self psychoanalysis to think of the real reason. It may simply go back to childhood. We learn it’s best to say nothing and just fit in. However, this rubbish removal blight problem is getting worse, not better. It’s affecting our children and our grandchildren. So, why don’t turn the tables on what we learned as kids growing up with all that peer pressure and make it so that the person who litters is the one left out? Why don’t we do this by speaking up in unison, in a very clear voice, with a very clear message, that we drive home over and over? Why don’t we make up a few catchy lines to use, that we can all use, perhaps a Twitter style hash tag that we actually speak out loud, or a slogan for our cause? So, the next time we see someone littering, we walk over, litter pick the rubbish removal they just threw down, and say, “Man am I bitter about litter!” or more simply, “Litter is bitter, can’t you do better!” and then bin it in front of them if there is a bin nearby. Or how about, Turning the tables on the societal norms may be the only way we really make a dent in our rubbish removal blight problem. Our council police can’t be everywhere at once. They can’t catch every fly tipper in the act. They can’t fine everyone who liters because they have to actually see them in the act or prove they did it. There just aren’t enough of them or hours in the day to do so. No, it has to be about actually changing attitudes and making it known that if you are so selfish, so low, as to tip your rubbish removal in a public place, not in a bin, then you have now cast yourself as a societal ogre who will be called out by your peers. Your behavior will no longer be accepted or tolerated. You will be confronted and shunned for your bad behavior. People WILL speak up in unison and you will be branded as a fellow human who should be tribally ostracized for your despicable act! The pub chat produced another novel idea too. It was another method of public shaming! You know those motion sensitive wildlife cams that people use to capture wildlife shots in their backyard? Why not set these up in the park and in other public areas where litter appears. Have volunteers go through the captured shots and anyone caught in the act of littering would have their picture in the act of committing this crime placed on a public website for all to see. Your spouse, your mother, your employer, and your friends might see it. Then the super novel part of the idea above came up. Those who get their picture put on the public shaming site for illegal rubbish removal could only have their picture removed if, and only if, they take a day long seminar on why it’s so important not to litter! There were be presentations, slide shows, video, documentaries, and role playing exercises to drive the point home. They would also have to publicly say they were sorry and promise to never do it again. Only upon successful completion of such a redemption class, with a positive and reformed attitude, would their picture be taken down from the “Hall of Litter Shame!” Here’s another brilliant idea. Instead of giving a fine to someone who litters, require them to face a full grilling by school children, who can be much tougher than adults, especially since it’s their future the litter bug is ruining! It could be an after school program, closely monitored by concerned parents and school staff, but put the kids in charge. Kids can really make an impression by the very honest questions they ask. They also have a way of boiling things down to simple terms, rather than making them so complicated that the most important points get lost, as adults often do. The litter criminal would be required to answer the kids’ questions and fully engage in the process or face a double or triple monetary fine, as determined by the kids based on what they perceived as his or her attitude. Okay, these were actually the best ideas we had to reduce rubbish removal blight on the landscape. We had others but now that we attempt to write them down, we know you can come up with better ones. So, the next time you’re at the pub, ask your mates what we can do about our growing rubbish removal problem. If you come up with some great ideas, please post them to Clearabee’s Facebook page or tweet them out to Clearabee’s Twitter feed. It may be time we try something totally new to change our societal attitude about rubbish removal blight!
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