Why pick up trash?

The simple answer is because there is trash! But why is there trash?

Vung Tau residents volunteer to collect trash on the beach - Photo: LOAN NGUYEN

The answer this time is not simple but full of worries in the context of many countries in the world that no longer have trash, and because education has taught children from a young age not to litter, even to pick up trash and throw it in the bin...

Let’s start today with education, laws, and media to create future generations who will not litter or, if they do, will litter thoughtfully and responsibly. Then we will no longer have to pick up trash.

Littering

My family lives in Vung Tau, a place famous for its long and beautiful beaches. Nature also gives this place fresh air and green mountains.

I came here from the North to start a business in the year 2000 when the roads along the coast were still deserted and clean during the week. On holidays, tourists flocked but there were no traffic jams like now. And no matter how hard it rained, the streets were never flooded.

Now, on holidays and weekends, Vung Tau is crowded with tourists. And with that comes trash: trash everywhere, on the streets, in the parks, along the beach… The trash is mainly plastic, disposable cups, straws, candy and food packaging, fishing nets, styrofoam boxes…

In Vung Tau, trash cans are located throughout the parks and many streets but are rarely filled. People can stand up and leave a styrofoam box with leftover food, a plastic cup and a straw on a park bench.

It is not uncommon to see plastic bags and water bottles suddenly flying out of moving vehicles on the road.

On the beach, it is not uncommon to see people eating and drinking and then casually leaving trash right where they sit, even in front of children. I wonder what lesson children will learn from this action?

Along the road to Hai Dang Mountain or Viba, it is not difficult to see piles of garbage consisting of large items such as mattresses, sofas or styrofoam boxes… These types of garbage take hundreds of years to decompose. They are like ugly scars on a beautiful face.

No need to look far, right at the beginning of the street where I live, there is an empty lot, every morning when I wake up, open the door and step outside, walk a few steps to the beginning of the street and see new garbage, mainly large waste. Within just a month, the garbage dump got bigger and bigger, I reported it to the neighborhood, a few days later the land was cleaned up.

But just a few days later, big bags of trash appeared again. Night is the easiest time for people to take out the trash.

40 hours accumulated

People want to keep their house and car clean but are willing to dirty the environment of which they are a part.

I think of Australia, they put up signs that make readers think: "On the beach and in the sea, animals do not leave trash, humans do. Please behave like animals". What a meaningful and profound message!

We often join volunteer organizations in Vung Tau to clean up, mainly collecting plastic waste. When waves bring in a lot of duckweed, the government will mobilize many forces from the army, youth union, women's union to join with the environmental company so the beaches are quickly cleaned up.

But we are only solving the tip of the iceberg. The question is how to avoid picking up trash, and the simple answer is that if you don't throw away trash, you don't have to pick it up.

I was quite happy to read the news recently that Hanoi is on track to completely ban single-use plastic products. Previously, some tourist areas in Quang Ninh and Da Nang had also banned their use. It will take a long time to change, especially consumer habits. Until then, we need to continue to classify and collect waste properly.

And perhaps our problem is that there is no combination between theory and practice. The current activities of volunteer organizations are based on voluntariness. Should we make it a compulsory content in general education?

As far as I know, in the province of Ontario, Canada, in addition to completing a certain number of credits as prescribed, students must also complete 40 hours of volunteer work to be awarded a high school diploma. They can help out at the school they are studying at or help out in churches, care for the elderly, participate in social activities of the city...

Students will be given a document issued by the school. After each activity, the program organizer will confirm the number of hours worked and the time of participation. In this way, students accumulate throughout the four years of high school. 40 hours is not much, easy to do, especially during holidays and summer vacations when students have a lot of free time.

That is a good method that we should learn. And when we do it, let's do it for real, with a sense of responsibility and love for our homeland. Any call will be meaningless if we do not take action.

Littering pays.

A relative of mine who lives in Tokyo, Japan said that every time she litters, her whole family has to be very "tormented" and "careful" because it is not easy to litter.

Large household waste must be registered in advance and scheduled for a certain time. When arriving, it must be placed in the designated location for each type of waste and… paid to complete the job. For special types of waste such as broken glass, aluminum and tin corks, it can take months for them to be collected.

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LOAN NGUYEN

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tai-sao-phai-nhat-rac-20250813092301295.htm