Last week saw a campaign in Amman to clean up the streets. Teams of volunteers brushed and swept to remove tons of rubbish. What a great campaign! But… what about the rest of Jordan?
Visitors always rave about the beauty of the country. And justifiably so: there are amazing places to see and experiences to enjoy. But quite often there is also a sense of disappointment. As one of our guests said this week: “Why can’t they tidy the place up?”
This impression is not good for the tourist trade. Travellers will go home with wonderful memories and impressive photos of Petra, Jerash and the Dead Sea. But they will also recall Wadi Plastic Bottle and Qasr Plastic Bag. This is a shame. And it might prevent them from giving the whole-hearted endorsement of a visit to Jordan to their friends.
The economic impact of this problem is significant. A British businessman, whose company has invested over $10 million in factories in Zarqa told me how distressed he is by the rubbish lining the roads. In a highly competitive market for investment, these impressions affect investment decisions.
We have seen many examples on our own travels around the country. On a trek up Wadi Himara near the Dead Sea last year, we spent the first 100 yards climbing over trash. On a recent visit to Pella we found the roads down to the Jordan valley lined with picnic leftovers and discarded nappies. And walking through the green hills near Ajloun, we found piles of litter surrounding an empty rubbish bin. These experiences are unfortunately not unique.
Of course Britain is far from perfect and I often get cross with the fast-food containers and cigarette ends on the streets of London. But in both Britain and Jordan there are remedies available. And economic advantages from tackling the problem.
Cleaning up the streets is a start, just as we saw last week in Amman. But attitudes also have to be changed to ensure that one week’s clean-up is not replaced by another week’s worth of rubbish. Awareness of the advantages of keeping the environment clean needs to start at school and campaigns can be launched to encourage people not to leave their trash behind.
Everyone has an individual responsibility to be proud of their country and do their bit. Please: take your rubbish home!