Litter

The other day a woman approached me on my way home about the empty plastic water sachet in my hand. She mentioned how I carry my trash and don’t throw it on the ground and pointed to a bag on the ground to emphasize that people litter. Off the top of my head I said “I want to keep Ghana beautiful”, this might be something I read on a sign or side of a trash container here, or maybe it’s from the old Ontario license plates “Ontario. Keep it beautiful”. I remember that’s what our license plate read on my parents ’83 oldsmobile. Regardless of where the phrase came from, she took the bag from me and said she would put it into a trash can in front of her business.

I’m not patting myself on the back, because regardless of where you put the plastic it will end up either on top or underneath soil, or more likely in the atmosphere after it’s lit on fire – a common practice is burning your garbage. Yet, one of the reasons that I try not to litter is because people might notice. You don’t have to look far to see plastic bags and sachets lying around here, and it’s totally understandable without recycling infrastructure and minimal garbage disposal funds. The way I see it is that people living hand to mouth probably don’t prioritize where they toss their plastic trash. Yet, I realize that just about all my actions and inactions are observed by locals, and even I may be setting an example by not littering but what end does this serve? What changes can come about this? What’s the point? I’m not sure, but I know that people’s lives aren’t going to improve and break through the cycle of poverty if a westerner or members of the community stop littering. I just think that I wouldn’t do it in my home town in Canada so why would I do it here? Maybe if the trash was only found in one specific location then people’s perceptions of Paga might change, leading to….?

I’m just speculating from my western point of view, and outsider and foreigner’s ignorant perspective. I really don’t understand people’s lives here and I don’t pretend to comprehend what people go through on a day to day basis. Hopefully I can learn more by talking with people, and start to understand and empathize. And in the coming month I’ll be staying in a rural village for about a week to learn more about rural livelihoods. From what I’ve seen and heard so far, I don’t think garbage disposal is high on the development list above water and sanitation, food security (eliminating hunger), high unemployment, expensive education fees, infrastructure projects, and so on. At the end of the day if you’re concerned about how you can make enough money to support yourself and family’s basic needs, where you toss your trash probably isn’t an issue.