Ending littering in Guyana: A hopeless delusion or a promising reality? Part 1

Jan 08, 2023 News

By: Richard Francois

Kaieteur News – One of the grave ills currently affecting our society is the careless abandon with which Guyanese litter. The ease with which garbage is flung from vehicles, dropped by pedestrians, and dumped by paid ‘handymen’ on parapets and various sites around country is disturbing and offensive. It is long past the time for Guyanese to develop a consciousness of respect for their surroundings, and treat the environment with care. Littering is dangerous to the environment on many levels and must be curbed and stopped if Guyana is to be taken seriously as a leading global player in environmental protection and sustainability.

A garbage heap in Georgetown

Garbage in a Georgetown trench

Litter is not only harmful to the environment, it is harmful to humans and animals, and can pollute the air, water, and land. Litter can also attract pests, such as rats and cockroaches and result in the spread of diseases.A complete cultural reorientation is needed at a national level from the bottom up and across our society where littering is concerned, so that collectively as a nation, we can be more responsible when it comes to waste disposal.

Littering is often described in environmental literature as a form of pollution. Apart from litter negatively impacting the aesthetics of a community, it is a burden to taxpayers since extra funds have to be spent on additional garbage removal. If waste is properly disposed at designated areas by the public (like in strategically placed bins), then cleaning the waste becomes relatively easy and cost effective for the concerned personnel. However, when litter needs to be cleaned from random areas like parapets, drains, trenches, rivers and creeks, extra funds are required to employ additional personnel and equipment to clean-up the littered areas. Thus, litter clean-ups costs the economy more than cleaning up waste disposed of in the proper manner by responsible citizens.

Some of the harmful effect of litter

Education is an essential tool that when used properly can dispel ignorance and myths about littering. There is even literature that speaks to the fact that people who are made aware of the dangers of littering are often likely to make more of an effort to always seek to dispose of their trash in the correct manner. Therefore, I urge that you share this

A garbage heap on a parapet in Georgetown

article with family and friends, so that each one can teach one, so that together we can eradicate the national problem of littering.

Have ever wondered about the severe impacts litter can have on the environment? If so, this piece will give you a bit of an insight, so as to bring about a heightened level of consciousness that hopefully can result in some amount of changed behaviours among Guyanese.

Flooding, air pollution, fires, and water pollution can all be caused by littering.

Flooding

One of the most visible effects on littering that is relatable to most Guyanese is flooding. Every time it rains, flood waters rise. And while there may be contesting reasons for the rising flood waters, one of the primary reasons for flooding is the proliferation of garbage that is found in drains and outfalls throughout the country. There is the eager temptation for many to immediately blame the Government or the City Council or the Neighourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) for not doing enough, but perhaps there is need for some thorough self-examination into our daily actions, to see whether if we the people are not the architect of our own problems of flooding.

Plastic bottles, cups, Styrofoam food boxes, plastic bags, mattresses, chairs, and other debris don’t just magically appear in drains, trenches and on parapets. The litter we see is as a result of deliberate human actions. Guyanese need to learn to properly dispose of their trash in a responsible manner.

Perhaps a national public education campaign on littering is needed to raise awareness of the dangers of littering.

Air Pollution

Littering can lead to air pollution. This pollution often occurs when litter decomposes and releases hazardous chemicals into the air. Human exposure to these chemicals may result in the development of many respiratory problems. In some extreme circumstances, certain cancers may also develop.

There is some research which suggests that more than 40% of litter burned gets mixed with the air we breathe. Burning litter can release significant volumes of toxic particulate matter and gases into the atmosphere.When we inhale polluted air, the likelihood of sickness amplifies. This situation is something we should all be most concerned about, especially since we breathe in air to maintain our existence. If the air we breathe is getting polluted to the extent that it can cause serious health hazards to humans, then greater efforts must be made to stop the burning of litter/garbage in the open.

The open burning of garbage is a practice that must stop. Guyanese need to understand the harmful effects of this practice.

Fires

When litter is composed of combustible flammable materials, a small spark or even lightning can immediately start a fire. Such fires can become uncontrollable and lead to great losses of property depending on the proximity of the fires. Wildfires can also result from accidental or deliberate lighting of litter/garbage. Waste burning is a significant source of dangerous carcinogens like dioxins and furans, and black carbon. Particular care must especially be taken when disposing of aerosol cans.

Do not set litter/garbage on fire.

Water Pollution

Items such as plastic bags, bottles and styrofoam containers become suspended in the water and do not decompose. When trash, chemicals, and any other improperly disposed material make their way into drains, they pollute the water. From there, the polluted water makes its way into nearby trenches, rivers and creeks which can affect our sources of drinking water which results in additional costs to the authorities to not only remove the litter, but to purify water for drinking. And if the polluted water makes its way into rivers and creeks where communities depend on that water for their livelihoods, the harmful effects can be catastrophic.

Polluted water also has a devastating effect on aquatic life. According to Britannica.com, sewage can promote algae growth, which can eventually result in eutrophic “dead zones” where aquatic life cannot survive because of a lack of oxygen. Micro-plastics are often found in marine wildlife and can become concentrated in humans who consume seafood because of bio-magnification. So, you see the negative impact of littering have far reaching consequences.

Addressing the issue of littering requires the combined efforts of every one of us. Focusing on prevention will surely help reduce the cost and boost the overall impact of our anti-litter efforts. That is why it is important that we all do our part as citizens, and not rely exclusively on Government, City Hall or NDCs to do everything alone. We ALL can play a role in keeping our streets and parapets clean and keeping litter out of our waterways.

Next week I will look at some of the local laws regarding littering, as well as simple and effective ways to create and spread awareness about the dangers of littering and ways in which it can possibly be eradicated from our society.