Loving Earth By Taking Care of It

Is this the world we created
We made it on our own
Is this the world we devastated
Right to the bone
If there's a God in the sky looking down
What can He think of what we've done
To the world that He created

Those words came from a song I first heard sung by The Corrs although I just found out that it’s not one of their original compositions :p

Anyway, what I want to say is, it’s so depressing how some people treat the earth shabbily. Just this afternoon, as I was on my way home from buying groceries, I had this fellow passenger in the jeepney who was eating a hamburger and drinking something from a plastic cup.

photo borrowed from cnn.com

I was deep in reverie, thinking of my upcoming interview for an article I am writing, when there was this awful clatter that had me snapping my head towards the sound. It turned out that the woman who was eating a while ago threw her food wrappings outside the jeep’s open door and the loud sound came from the plastic cup falling on the middle of the street.

I was so enraged at the blatant disregard for the environment that I almost shouted “You’re such a pig!” to the woman. Not wanting to appear crazy, I had to be content with eyeing her malevolently for a few seconds.

My husband and I are advocates of recycling and waste segregation, which we really apply at home. Our kids are trained to hold on to wrappers when inside a public utility vehicle or anywhere outside the house if they can’t find a trash can immediately. They know enough to directly throw their scratch papers at the sack we designated for paper products or their fruit peelings at the compost bin.

photo borrowed from blauearth.com

Once when I fetched the kids at school, I saw Joshua walking around with a candy wrapper in his hand. I broke off my conversation with some moms to ask him why he seems to be walking aimlessly around the playground. He answered me with “Cause I’m looking for a trash can Mommy.” And I saw amazement in the other parent’s faces. That moment sure made me proud.

So imagine my disgust at seeing a grown woman acting more immaturely than my kids. Sometimes I despair of not ever seeing clean streets in my country. Oh, but I loved Davao City when I went there before (circa 1992) because that is one clean place, with citizens disciplined enough to throw their trash in the proper places. I hope it’s still that way there now and I just wish there are more Filipinos who care for the environment.

While driving on the highway, we often see windows of fancy cars like luxury sedans or SUVs opening and a hand would pop out to throw away something. *sigh* Even rich people just don’t care enough.

photo borrowed from sodahead.com

And that is such a sad thing. I wonder how else I can educate these people aside from ranting about them in my blog and writing magazine articles on the subject? Hmmm, any ideas?