Friday, August 1, 2008

Out of sight, out of mind...

As I've travelled around the world, and around more remote parts of Canada over the past few years, it has occured to me that Westerners seem to complain alot about litter.

I cannot count how many white-folk I heard complaining about the garbage in India. In Vietnam I was even "lucky" enough to listen to an 18 year-old Australian girl conduct a twenty-minute monologue on how horrible the litter is, and how the Vietnamese should make a law where they can shoot anyone who litters (this young girl clearly thought she was on to something!).

The same holds true for First Nations reserves in Canada - when I visit these communities, I invariably find myself enduring some snide comments from various (non-Native) nurses who are "appalled" by all of the litter. "If only they kept it clean..." they say, in a judgemental colonial tone.

Forget the fact that the average Torontonian creates 365 kg of garbage per year (that's 1 kg per person per day!). And how about the reality that the average North American eco-footprint is at least 7 times higher than the people from "those poor, dirty countries" that we enjoy chastising and feeling sorry for.

No, we're not any better at "keeping it clean" - we're just better at hiding our mess!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Excellent point re: the hidden mess!