Tag: littering

Are You Cleaning or Dirtying Me?

March 15, 2008 • Blog • 5 comments

One of the things which irk me each time I return home is to see this.

I know that you are trying to clean the common stairwells of my flat, and I am eternally grateful for that. However, must you leave such a spotty and blotchy messy at my door? I don’t think it would hurt to bring along a cloth and wipe the exterior of the doors which you dirty while cleaning the stairs would it?

Of course, nothing beats this eye-sore which I spotted at a common recycling bin just a block away from my home.

I wonder if one should be deliriously happy that the oft-ignored recycling message has finally hit home – to overflowing effect – or sob at this monstrosity of mankind’s messiness.

Caught in the Act!

September 10, 2007 • Blog • 27 comments

Evidence that demands a verdict?

This morning, as I was taking the lift from my home downstairs, I caught a man red-handed as he nonchalantly tossed a burning cigarette butt on to the floor. He probably didn’t see me coming from behind.

I immediately asked him in a polite but firm manner, “Excuse me sir, did you just throw that cigarette butt on the floor?”

Let’s Go Green 2 – Using Recyclable Bags

July 10, 2007 • Blog • 9 comments

Have you started using recyclable bags for your shopping needs lately? It isn’t that difficult to tote a few grammes of light woven bags wherever you go. Not only does it help to burn a little more calories, they are also easier to carry around compared to lots of plastic bags. Most can be slung around the shoulder and you can look fashionably chic while doing your bit to save our world.

The damage caused by plastic bags and other non-biodegradable items are far too huge for us to ignore. Just look at this example here. Plastic makes up 80% of the volume of litter on roads, parks, and beaches and makes up 90% of floating litter in the ocean (BEC). Each year, an estimated 500 billion to one trillion plastic bags are used worldwide, with billions ending up as litter in landfill sites. What’s more, it takes at least a century (yes 100 years) to degrade them!

Let’s do our part folks.

Weapons of Mess Distraction

May 28, 2007 • Blog • 23 comments

As I was walking back home, I spotted this incredible array of strewn flyers, newsletters, bills, envelope covers and goodness knows what else on the floor near the letterbox. Obviously, some of my fellow neighbours are waiting for the contract cleaners to pick up after them.

Just outside my lift landing, I spotted these supposed tools to help clean up the mess which ended up being litter themselves! A very picture of irony wouldn’t you say?

Sigh…….

Are We Pigging Out?

April 24, 2007 • Blog • 20 comments

Grrr…. I just realise that my home has been downgraded lately – from a HDB flat to a pig sty! Obviously, we need a lot more public education efforts to support the recent Earth Day celebrations and Bring Your Own Bag (BYOB) campaigns.

Our problem of littering isn’t fresh news. In fact, it has been happening all this while. The reason why our island still remained clean and green is largely due to the huge army of contract cleaners and waste management workers that we employ. Without them, I shudder to think what state of decay and filth we will end up with.

I took the following photographs a couple of days ago to show you what I mean, and I didn’t even have to travel far from my flat.

Are We Still Clean and Green?

November 20, 2006 • Blog • 3 comments

It is sad but true. Singapore’s claim to fame as a clean and green city may be under threat if we do not buck up.

In a recent news report on Channelnewsasia, it was cited that littering is on the rise in Singapore. In the first 10 months of this year, a staggering 4,800 were caught littering compared to only 3,800 for the whole of last year! One only has to look into the grisly photos submitted on STOMP to verify that we are indeed degenerating in hygiene and civic mindedness.

What is alarming is that education apparently has little impact on “filthy” attitudes. A recent Straits Times poll show that more than 50% of youths are nonchalant about littering and feel that it is either the government or somebody else’s job to clean up after them.

Certainly, they cannot plead ignorance. A recent study conducted by the National Environment Agency cited that most students were aware of environmental issues, scoring 90 out of 100. Yet, it seems that dirty habits still persist.