I saw something unusual happening in the jungle on the side of the mountain below the road on my way to work last week: a team of men with sacks and rakes were cleaning up the garbage that has been dumped over the edge of the wall for a long time. I thought this was remarkable because I have never seen anyone doing this activity in the five years I have lived in Mussoorie. There is no municipal infrastructure for garbage collection here, but there is an Eco Task Force (whom I presume has undertaken the cleanup of the hillside). It was so good to see the greening hillside relieved of the blemish of garbage! Shortly after taking note of the good activity of cleaning up the mess, I was inspired to shout down to the crew with the rakes and bags and say “Thank you!” because I was so happy that someone was doing something positive. I thought of putting up a sign that read:
do not litter here or maybe something more forceful, in hopes that the people responsible for the trashing of the jungle would think twice before emptying their garbage cans over the wall. Almost immediately after, I felt the urge to go and grab the people living above the place where the cleanup was happening and show them the result and ask them to keep it this way, and not continue dumping their refuse over the wall. But I realized the futility of such an urge, because my reasoning for why not to litter and why to keep the hillside free from garbage is an alien concept. I could almost hear the response of a person shown the cleaned jungle: “Well of course, they should be cleaning it. What would they have to do for work if I did not dump my garbage over the wall for them to clean up?” So instead, I just tried to enjoy the knowledge that someone had issued a decree that the jungle in that place should be cleaned up and that is was actually happening. Who knows how long it will last.
I was walking with two of our interns later in the day, after lunch, to a nearby shop to get ice cream (because it is finally warm enough to allow for such an activity) and we noticed another phenomenon: two Indian men were installing a stainless steel public trash can on the roadside at another notorious place for garbage dumping! What a concept! The reason people chuck their trash over the wall into the jungle is because they do not have any other convenient way to dispose of it. Again, visions of a sign in lights that reads: do not litter here – use me mounted above the new trash can came to mind. We bought our ice creams and we walking back from the shop, peeling the wrappers of the cones and oh, how I longed for the new trash can to be ready so I could joyfully place my wrapper in it. Alas, I held the sticky wrapper in my hand all the way back to the office and deposited it in the trash bin there. Someday soon, though, I will gladly use the new one.
do not litter here or maybe something more forceful, in hopes that the people responsible for the trashing of the jungle would think twice before emptying their garbage cans over the wall. Almost immediately after, I felt the urge to go and grab the people living above the place where the cleanup was happening and show them the result and ask them to keep it this way, and not continue dumping their refuse over the wall. But I realized the futility of such an urge, because my reasoning for why not to litter and why to keep the hillside free from garbage is an alien concept. I could almost hear the response of a person shown the cleaned jungle: “Well of course, they should be cleaning it. What would they have to do for work if I did not dump my garbage over the wall for them to clean up?” So instead, I just tried to enjoy the knowledge that someone had issued a decree that the jungle in that place should be cleaned up and that is was actually happening. Who knows how long it will last.
I was walking with two of our interns later in the day, after lunch, to a nearby shop to get ice cream (because it is finally warm enough to allow for such an activity) and we noticed another phenomenon: two Indian men were installing a stainless steel public trash can on the roadside at another notorious place for garbage dumping! What a concept! The reason people chuck their trash over the wall into the jungle is because they do not have any other convenient way to dispose of it. Again, visions of a sign in lights that reads: do not litter here – use me mounted above the new trash can came to mind. We bought our ice creams and we walking back from the shop, peeling the wrappers of the cones and oh, how I longed for the new trash can to be ready so I could joyfully place my wrapper in it. Alas, I held the sticky wrapper in my hand all the way back to the office and deposited it in the trash bin there. Someday soon, though, I will gladly use the new one.
