Our country’s natural beauty is spoilt when people carelessly throw their rubbish around. Not only does it look ugly, but it’s also unhealthy as rubbish piles up and becomes homes for rats and other pests, says Harry the Hominid, Maropeng’s spokeshominid.
“Litter can also harm the environment by making it dirty and poisonous to animals and plants. Rubbish on streets, whether it is dropped on purpose or falls out of an overfull dustbin, can get washed or blown into storm water drains. The water from the storm drains then goes directly into our river systems, where it can pollute the water and become a danger to water creatures and plants.”
So what can we do to solve the problem? Harry explains that litter is a problem that starts with the action of a single person – like when people throw their fast-food containers or drinks cans or bottles out of a car or taxi window. Dropping papers, packets, plastic bags, or other rubbish while walking, is also littering. “The solution also starts with the action of a single person – you! We need to stop littering and also teach others not to litter so we can all help to keep the environment clean and healthy,” he says.
Here Harry provides some more tips on how to keep our country beautiful:
- Use a litter bag in your car or on buses or taxis.
- Always put your rubbish in a proper container, such as a dustbin. If there isn’t one available, keep your rubbish until you find one.
- If you have municipal refuse removal in your area, put your rubbish out for collection as close to pick-up time as possible. Make sure the bags are closed properly so that other animals cannot get in and scatter rubbish everywhere.
- Support community clean-ups, recycling programmes and other efforts to reduce litter.
