Talking Rubbish

Travel broadens the mind. By visiting different countries you can make comparisons and learn about how those countries handle big issues.  You can also start to appreciate and understand your own country better. One issue which hits visitors abroad is the way a country handles rubbish.

I have just returned after two weeks on the west coast of Canada.  The whole of British Columbia, notably Vancouver and Whistler makes a lot of money from tourism and the area presents itself to outsiders in a very favourable light. 

One aspect that made a strong impression during this visit was the way the country handles litter (or trash, as the North Americans call it). In the pristine countryside, in small provincial towns and in the high-rise cities we saw no rubbish on the streets or on our walks. No plastic bags abandoned after picnics, no plastic bottles thrown aside once finished, no empty cigarette packets cast out of car windows. Indeed, nothing to sully the beauty of the place. 

This admirable discipline also applied to recycling. On the campsites, in the parks and on the streets there were plenty of places for glass, paper and plastic to be recycled. And people made good use of them. 

To our surprise, this approach  even extended to wildlife. Most recycling facilities had bear-proof bins where rubbish could be left but which the bears couldn’t open. The reason was to protect wildlife: if the bears become dependent on human food, they will be unable to forage for their own food in the wild. They will then become aggressive and dangerous. 

The importance of avoiding littering is widely accepted in Canadian society and not questioned. On one occasion we saw a polystyrene coffee cup that someone had exceptionally thrown aside in a provincial park (it was perhaps the only bit of wanton litter we saw).  While we were walking, someone else picked up the cup and carried it to the nearest bin. 

This act highlights one of the important contrasts with other countries: the sense of collective responsibility when it comes to the environment.  All Canadians are affected by litter; so throwing an empty can on the street or leaving behind the detritus of a picnic in the countryside would not happen. Littering has become socially unacceptable. People take their rubbish home: it’s good for them, but they know that it is also good for the community as a whole. 

Giving visitors such a strong confirmation of the importance of the environment is no doubt a source of pride; but it is also good for tourism and the economy. More people will come to visit if they feel good about such issues. 

Other countries can learn from the way Canada handles litter. In this respect British cities like London are far from perfect and could do a lot more to clean up their streets. 

Jordan too can learn a lot to convince tourists and visitors that it is protecting its environment and heritage.  People visiting Jerash and Ajloundo not want to see rubbish around the entrance to the ruins. Tourists going to Petra want to be convinced that those who earn a living from this amazing place are protecting it. And no-one walking in the beautiful countryside and wadis wants to have to climb over abandoned rubbish before starting their trek. 

Keeping a country as clean as the places we visited on the west coast Canada is not difficult.  But it requires planning, education and enforcement of the rules.  If people recognise that they have a role to play in keeping their city or country clean, realise that it is in their interests to do so and know that they will be fined for failing to do so, those are strong incentives for taking rubbish home.