Apulo Sumi
Every New Year, many of us step out with happiness and hope. We look for a clean place to celebrate a quiet riverside an open space where we can sit, eat, and relax. We also choose these places because they are peaceful, beautiful, and clean.
However after the celebration ends what is left behind is often disturbing: disposable items non- biodegradable materials, polythene bags, food waste, and alcohol bottles are scattered everywhere. Rivers that looked clean in the morning carry plastic by evening. Places that were once calm and untouched are turned into dumping sites within a few hours. Do we want cleanliness only for our enjoyment, or do we also feel responsible for protecting it?
Most picnic spots located near rivers, wetlands, forests, and other fragile natural areas are increasingly being covered with waste. This lack of civic sense not only pollutes water but also affects humans, fish, animals, and the land itself. Local communities who rely on the ecosystem services of these natural landscapes such as agriculture, clean water for household use, irrigation of cropland, fishing, and rearing livestock are adversely affected by the environmental damage caused by the reckless behaviour of some picnic groups. Over time, these small acts of neglect has accumulated into lasting environmental damage, damage that communities eventually bear through polluted water sources and degraded natural spaces. Civic sense is not enforced only through laws; it is reflected in everyday behaviour.
Not everyone behaves carelessly. Many people do clean up, but the concern is growing habit of leaving waste behind shows a lack of civic sense among us . Real civic sense is about respect, respect for nature, for other people, and for future generations.
We must ask ourselves:
Can’t we take back our waste and dump it at proper dumping sites?
Can’t we leave the place as clean as we found it or even cleaner?
Can’t we think of others who may want to enjoy the same place tomorrow?
Change does not always require big actions. It starts with small steps: Carry a bag for waste, take everything back, do a final check of the area before leaving, and remind friends/ families to do the same. When we practice small acts of care, the impact is powerful.
Let us celebrate, enjoy but leave behind a liveable place for all.
