So the other day, I used a public bus in Lagos Nigeria. I had this sweet treat in a paper bag I munched on throughout the journey to my destination, trust me, eating in the bus can be a worthy distraction too from the hassles of a congested Lagos traffic.
Let me not digress… As per my usual self, I NEVER throw trash out the windows of a moving vehicle. I’ve been an environmentally friendly individual since time immemorial. Ok, I held the waste wrappings of my treat, which included plastic and alighted at the bustop. I walked into a Mobile Money/POS shop to collect some money, you all know how cumbersome it is to get money from the ATM this post-COVID period.
As I proceeded with my transaction, I asked for a trash can, indicating with a show of my hand’s content, I needed to trash something. Boom! The stare and response of the sales persons shocked me. They were like…. ‘Ma, are you just entering the country?’ . They were obviously taken aback because I didn’t just throw the trash on the ground anywhere before getting to them.
It still amazes me that we cannot discipline ourselves in areas like cleanliness but we clamor for a society like the western world with good sanitary culture to speak of. What I experienced back right there in that POS shop is a reflection of the mindset of the average Nigerian. We are gradually destroying the environment with our filth.
I look forward to a time when more organizations like Planet 3R and entrepreneurs will embrace the business of recycling and upcycling wastes. Can you see the product of pure water sachets upcycling by Planet 3R into a school bag? There are lots of other ideas that can be both brilliant and super useful.
Greatness and change comes and starts from the individual. You want a better society? Apply a little more level of self discipline. When you have waste on transit just like I did, pack them properly, keep in your handbags and dispose off properly when you get to your destination.
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