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Christmas is a standing offence to environmental friendliness

Dec 13, 2012 Letters

 

 

DEAR EDITOR,
Christmas is a standing offence to the idea and practice of environmental friendliness. Almost the entire population launches upon an orgy of gift-giving, card sending and rubbish-throwing, abandoning any traditional good practices such as the recycling of used wrapping paper, Christmas cards or binning seasonal refuse for eventual collection and disposal.
After all who can know with any certainty exactly where this or that mountain of rubbish came from.
It is December again and here comes a whole array of environmentally unfriendly acts in which Georgetonians are doing no more than trying to keep their immediate patch spotless so as to impress friends, relatives and visitors from abroad. The idea is to earn, or rather finesse goodwill, create social impressions while denigrating the government, the M&CC and those dirty folk down the road. Foreign psychologists call this ritualistic behaviour of always finding fault with others while claiming perfection for ourselves, ‘playing blemish’.
Here it is called ‘playing rubbish. We see everyone else as having the responsibility to pick up after us while we continue to indulge in rubbish roulette. Some of us have become so good at it we plan to approach the Olympic Committee. We are pitching in the world of refuse-dumping and rubbish relocating without any thought for consequences, except a combination of trust and instinct that our sallies will pay off and go unpunished.
Some people believe it is ok to buy, beg or steal to acquire Christmas gifts. Some they keep and some they pass on to relatives and friends. But herein lies a great paradox. How do we let our neighbours know that we have been well gifted without reducing Christmas to a mere show and tell occasion thus contributing to the season’s devaluation?
Short of mounting a visible display of all the gifts we received on our bridge, in the driveway or on our front steps and earning the sobriquet ‘churl of the world’ (pronounced as we do), the next best thing is to make sure the rubbish heap nearest our house is impressive. This rubbish piling is fast becoming a status symbol, as neighbours can judge us by the quality and volume of the stuff we publicly discard. Torn wrapping paper, used gift tags and ribbons take pride of place. Ripped product boxes (with non-degradable stuffing) send a powerful message. Our status achieves its highest point when we display all the old items we replaced at Christmas by the roadside. So pile on the obsolete appliances, battered toys, beat up furniture, outdated garments, also the badly discoloured sink and toilet bowl we no longer need. It all sends an unequivocal message.
What better means is there than dumping it all on the roadside close enough to our house to suggest ownership but far enough to confuse the uninitiated and the fussy. Rubbish is faceless and too much like a bad smell – there, but better ignored until time and tide take it away.
In the animal kingdom, those species that have the capacity to hide their waste matter rather than expose their nasty habits to each other gain an evolutionary advantage. What has raised human society above animal barbarism is the capacity to consider our surroundings and treat our proximate environment as an extension of our homes. This type of sociability is propelled by the economy of regard. Maintaining a clean home and a pristine environment is a form of gifting. Such gifting is appreciated by entire communities and can be life saving. It should be practiced by all persons young and old and in all environments.
So stand your friends another round of beer ensuring the empty cans are not thrown in the trench, on the road, parapet or behind the sea wall! Bin or take home your empty food boxes. Environmentally speaking these are the best gifts you can ever give and to the largest number of people. A happy and rubbish-free Christmas in the economy of regard.
F. Hamley Case

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