What would it take to have a clean environment?

IF you travel along Guyana’s coastline, you would notice on both sides of the road trash of all sorts: plastic bottles, empty food containers, and so on. This trash is not there by accident. It is a human creation, albeit for the wrong aim and purpose. People simply buy whatever they need and whenever they are finished with the contents, be it food or otherwise, the trash is dumped out of moving vehicles. On other occasions, some individuals would stop their vehicles and throw out their trash as if they are at a dumpsite.

I think the dumping of trash by our fellow citizens of a land of many waters and many people, slated to be the most developed country in the Caribbean in a few decades, is a misguided rather than a deliberate behaviour. I say this to provide some hope so that we can tackle this environmental malaise head on. The fact that individuals are dumping trash away from their own space to “not their environment” demonstrates inadvertently that they believe in cleanliness. The difference is that they simply do not believe in dumping trash in their own or designated space.

Indeed, Guyanese tend to maintain clean vehicles, homes, and other personal possessions in immaculate ways, revealing a sort of Mr. Clean competition. Yet, this penchant for personal cleanliness is not applied or extended to their surrounding environment. It is a paradox, if not a pity, to see well-kept homes alongside piles of garbage. When asked how come your home is so clean and just outside your yard is so dirty, the response is: that is not my problem. It is a government responsibility to keep the environment clean. To be sure, local administrative units are actively involved in keeping the side of the roads clean, but individuals continue dumping trash.

The challenge then is not that Guyanese do not embrace cleanliness. Rather, the challenge is how to channel environmental cleanliness to desirous ends, namely, not only how to make Guyanese understand the benefits of a clean environment but also how to fight for a greener future. For this to happen, two actions are required: awareness and application of environmental laws. Although Guyanese are aware of the importance and significance of a clean environment, more rigorous programmes of awareness should be practised in every urban area and in every village. There ought to be more environmental leaders in these mentioned communities. Guyanese should be told consistently that a clean environment creates a happy and healthy life, free from contaminants and toxins, because people who live in clean environments, are most likely not to experience water-borne diseases and respiratory problems. Further, a clean environment builds self-confidence and reduces depression and anxiety, and more poignantly, has a copycat effect insofar as influencing others to strive for a clean environment.

The other requirement is that environmental laws must be practised and obeyed. There is no shortage of laws to protect and respect the environment in Guyana, but they are often not observed and applied. Rarely is anyone in Guyana fined for littering, an unfortunate laxity, which provides fodder for continuous environmental degradation. People engage in certain behaviours simply because they can get away with them. I suggest developing a local environmental force to ensure environmental laws are respected. I remember in the 1970s, the villagers, in desperation to meet the challenges of hardships, turned to the mangroves for firewood. A local environmental network was developed to curb this problem, and although not one hundred per cent effective, sure sent a message that the mangroves ought to be protected. I am convinced that Guyanese do not understand the full benefits of a clean environment because environmental degradation has been inter-generational. Guyanese also believe that whatever illness they experience, they are not related to an unhealthy environment.

I know what I have said above might be a figment of imagination, given that some Guyanese do not follow environmental rules and regulations. We have seen this behaviour among our political leaders in other domains, and the attempts to not accept the will of the people in the last general election is an example. Unfortunately, such a behaviour reinforces advocacy among citizens to act as their leaders, not to live up to basic responsibility. This is not au fiat.

There is hope even if all that is said above does not materialise. In environmental circles, there is something called Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). Notwithstanding the criticisms of the EKC, the main argument is “pollute first, clean up later”. While the EKC argument is more related to macro-environmental concerns, it can be applied on a micro-level. It is believed that the environment will experience rising environmental problems initially, but as the income of countries rises, the environmental problems will be reduced. People will become more conscious of their environment as other fundamental necessities of life are met. Of course, we cannot wait until Guyana realises its dreams of becoming a developed country. But there is hope. In the meanwhile, we should do our individual part to respect the environment: do not litter (lomarsh.roopnarine@jsums.edu).

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