OBVIOUSLY, littering has been an ongoing negative activity that Guyanese have been indulging in nationwide, especially, the issue of people dumping solid waste, (garbage), in Georgetown because City Hall was unable to pay the contractors.
Luckily the government bailed the City Council out and now you have a clean environment according to August 11 Chronicle. If the individuals in the capital of Guyana were smart enough, they would know that littering is an unlawful activity that is hazardous towards their health and visitors and in order to be welcoming towards visitors in the country we must keep our environment clean and practice safe sanitation.
Residents have to stop littering In order to avoid making our environment an eyesore. The country belongs to all of us and we need to keep it clean to attract guests and potential investors. Imagine Georgetown is the luxurious city of Guyana and is suppose to always look refined but the people living there have been dumping solid waste, clogging drains, causing a stench to keep away visitors during the month of August. It is not because of the government, you started it. In the first place so you expect the Town Council to clean up after you make your mess like a bunch of babies. Imagine, I was supposed to leave Berbice and take a trip to town during my summer semester break before I start back University in September when I would mostly be busy with my studies, but I decided not to go for now since one of my friends working in town told me not to come that there is garbage everywhere polluting the air and that the flu is going around and that a large population are infected with influenza at the moment. I stopped to think if it is really that bad, but the Guyana Chronicle ront page of Tuesday, July 27, 2010 edition told me everything. Pictures speak more than words. When you can take a look and observe all of what is around you and what you see on the cover of the newspaper, no one has to tell you what it is about, it is obvious. People have to learn to take their  surroundings into consideration and make it first priority by stop littering and dumping solid wastes that are unsanitary, start up infectious diseases and bad odors start to permeate the air instead of the fresh oxygen we are suppose to get from the rainforests our government has conserved for us.
I have even noticed to my surprise that it is not only the uncultured local Guyanese that have been doing the dumping but it is mostly coming from the homes and stores of business people. I was going to the 63 beach one afternoon when I noticed a porter boy who works at a supermarket near the roadside of this area was instructed to take the large heap of rubbish that was in an aluminum barrel pushed on an upright wheel barrow to the beach and dumped in right at the head of the beach. On another occasion my father made a business woman pick up a large bag of chicken guts that she dumped in front of a resort there telling her it was unsanitary, not something nice to do towards the people living and staying at the resort and also it was littering. So she listened and picked it up but she still continues to throw her large mass of solid waste, now at the head of the beach even though she was warned not to dump solid waste on the beach from my father, since we care about the beach and are residents in the area. This lady is also an overseas-based Guyanese who re-migrated to Guyana but is not setting a proper example. Like she never went to the clean parks in Canada, where she is from and noticed the environments there are pristine clean and that people do not litter. Don’t you think tourists visiting the beach would think that this is a real bad eyesore towards the country? It is not the governments fault though it is your decision as Guyanese citizens to know if you are responsible enough to make a difference and advance yourselves in life. Simple manners such as do not litter in public come from the household. I believe most of you were not taught those simple good teachings that parents are suppose to give you in life from small so when you grow up to become adults you transform into a well etiquette and well natured human being. I am even more astonished when I see people everyday traveling in minibuses, cars and other fancy vehicles throwing candy wrappers, cigarette boxes, empty plastic bottles, bags, cups, etc. through the windows of their vehicle. I must comment this is a very dirty act and should be abolished. In order to get rid of littering while traveling in vehicles a new public policy should be passed through parliament that all vehicles should have a small trash container so when its full they can dispose of it in a bag and take it  to their large garbage bin at home then transfer it to their nearest dumpsite for disposal. This method is used in the well established countries overseas and can be implemented here so people will not have to eyewitness eyesores of litter being strewn all angles in public places. I believe also in the idea of a recycling company to be established in Guyana in order to benefit the country’s wellbeing. A recycling plant can be made if not in the countryside but in the city where trucks could travel and dispose of their glass bottles and plastics at the plant where these items would be crushed or reused to make other future items that we need to  use such as rulers, reusable bottles, boxes etc. Since it has been said that having a recycling plant would be too exorbitant for the government to afford, I suggest that the private sector could partner with the public and make Guyana a better and cleaner place to dwell in since the beverage companies are the culprits for bringing in non-returnable bottles into the country that have been evidently strewn along the beach, clogging drains and are a sore sight towards today’s society. I recommend that large trash bins and the regular aluminum drum with the black garbage bag inside need to be placed throughout the entire country to solve the continuous issue of dumping solid waste in beautiful public places that Guyana has to offer. It Is definitely an eyesore to see people traveling from all parts of the country coming to 63 beach every Sunday, have their family picnic, then dump their remainders of Styrofoam boxes, plates, cups, plastic forks, bottles, spoons, bags etc. on the beach when they are finishing devouring their large quantity of eatables and drinks. Do you think that was a nice act committed by people living in the city and other developed areas? I know they know better than that but some people are just acting like their ignorant. My parents and I even tell people to take home their wastes after eating before leaving the beach because if everyone litters isn’t the environment going to look unethical? I do hope some good changes can happen from the public soon and that they can change their behavior and attitude towards life and the surroundings around them. To encourage citizens to stop littering, sign boards along with bins beside them need to be place throughout the roadsides and public places of Guyana in order to beautify our environment.
Dumping solid wastes in rivers, at beaches or the Atlantic Ocean can cause pollution and allow the fish which you buy to consume, become contaminated and hazardous towards your health. The best way that I can see citizens disposing of their solid waste is to do so in their personal garbage dump in their backyards, dumpsites, try not to burn, especially fridges that give out a strong chemical gas emission that thins the ozone layer which is already thinning and making the sun give us direct heat to our skin cells that can cause cancer, also melting the Artic icebergs causing the sea level to rise. We need cooperation with both public and private sectors in order to introduce new measures of avoiding littering b
y enforcing strict penalties that will be placed by police for anyone caught littering in public places. It is also an expense on the government to budget to clean up areas and pay contractors to do so, wasting resources that they could have used to improve other areas. I hope the government considers my suggestions.