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WonderSeeker

My city is getting trashed

4 posts in this topic

In the city I'm currently living, people are generally pretty green, being eco-conscious and ready to protest something at a moment's notice. However, we have a pretty serious and subtle problem that nobody talks about, which I call "unintended litter." I live in a very windy city, and every Wednesday when people take out their garbage to the curb (in these open bins), the wind topples the bins over and blows the trash all over the place.

Although there are implications this brings for the quality of the ecosystem at large (this city borders a large lake which is already polluted), there is a meta-problem to consider:

  • "Whose responsibility is it to clean up?" (At the root, everybody living in this city is responsible for this, because it's a process-related issue. The way we dispose trash is not in congruence with the weather we receive, and therefore not in congruence with what we value: a clean habitat for ourselves and wildlife.)

The problem is, how do we get people to become aware and take responsibility so that we can create a better process, as well as clean up what has already been dumped?

I've called our mayor's office but haven't heard anything back yet. Even though activism is strong in this city, I have always thought that holding up signs doesn't really do anything to solve any problems. I want to work on a creative solution, but am having trouble creating the right mindset to most effectively get this problem solved.

On the one hand, I think it would be cool to design a new process through the creative process. On the other, I want to see if I can work with local government and the 

I think that so few of us on this forum want to get involved in societal issues, as we are preoccupied with our own development. In a way, I understand that strategy, because the more developed you are, the more effective you can be at solving problems, therefore raising the consciousness of others. However, I think more strongly that the old saying of "chewing bubble gum and walking too" has a place here. 

What do you think about approaching societal issues such as this one? Looking for inspiration. o.O

Edited by WonderSeeker

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@WonderSeeker

Part of the problem is the way we treat material goods in modern society.

Ideally, most things wouldn’t things wouldn’t get thrown away after they are used. They would be more of a circular economy where goods are recycled. Because even if your whole city does not litter, eventually it will end up in a landfill. Which means you are littering.

There is no such thing as throwing something “away”. 


 

 

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@aurum The used materials that are getting blown around are recyclables (I should have worded that more accurately). But you're right; we dispose of waste far more than we renew and recycle. 

Would you say that using more reusable personal containers for things like food and hygiene products could be part of the alternative? Many people don't want to sacrifice convenience, but I don't see many other solutions yet.

2 hours ago, aurum said:

There is no such thing as throwing something “away”. 

If everybody understood this, ... :x

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A relatively simple solution would be to change the design of your bins, to make them less likely to blow over, and with lids. But you're right, there's a long-term issue of people's feelings towards their own home area. Leo mentions in his holism video pt2 about people littering because they don't feel connected with nature. 

We have a littering problem in my country too, and I get pleasantly surprised when I go on holiday to Mediterranean Europe how clean and litter free it is compared with the post-industrial landscape I inhabit. 


Relax, it's just my loosely held opinion.  :) 

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