There is a general attitude, in western society that flippantly discarding spent and used items is not a big concern. When going to the store, one finds shopping carts that have been emptied and left a various locale away from the corral. The pandemic has revealed that people find it too difficult to ‘properly’ dispose of their masks. Even from Mt. Everest expeditions, refuse has been piling up for years. It seems that humans, as the ‘most intelligent species on earth’ are content to just leave things in places. These instances of disregarding those little things cause one to ponder humankind’s reaping some sort of recompense.
Why is it that people in western society feel no remorse when they refuse to return or dispose of various items after using them? The pervading nonchalant manner in which items are strewn about or displaced occurs as if it were natural. People do not consider that these items would be better placed in or returned to the locale of origin or an appropriate waste or recycle receptacle. The attitude of not needing to return or properly dispose of items is evident as one looks about wherever they (may) traverse. There is this concern about the way that humankind disregards the integrity of Mother GAIA. Yet, a major segment of society just does not care.
Returning a shopping cart to the corral or, better yet, back to the store is a challenge for some. This challenge sets a blemish on the populous, per se. Many people have no issue or problem with returning a cart to the designated areas. The effects of minimal physical activity are evident when looking at the general populous. One sees that many might benefit from the few extra steps required to return a cart. Nonetheless, a pervasive attitude exists that “Someone else will pick up this cart: Why should I return it?? This is a completely dismissive attitude that can possibly spread to other areas of conduct. It may also similarly influence the actions of others.
The mandatory use of facemasks has helped to stave off major surges of COVID-19, yet there is tangible evidence of these same masks as one walks to and fro. People (just) throw these things on the ground. These masks are dotting the landscape on a consistent basis. One wonders why people won’t simply dispose of them in proper fashion. Again, this is an exercising of non-concern. The proliferation of these masks can pose problems for small animals. Animals might not be able to remove these things if they were to become lodged onto their faces or around their necks. Properly disposing of these items makes great sense.
Even those who would be considered health and nature conscious are not immune to this phenomenon. Those who have hiked up Mount Everest have left items, liquor bottles, spent oxygen cylinders, etcetera on the mountainside. Sherpas conduct ‘annual clean-up’ expeditions to restore the sanctity of the mountain. This is good; however, the question to be asked is, “Why do well to-do people litter up the mountainside with items that would be more suitably repurposed at lower attitudes”?? Why are rich people too lazy to bring their trash down from the mountain?? A sense of non-caring and entitlement is prevalent even in this arena. It is regrettable that this attitude is part of the fabric of society.
People in society carry on with daily activities heedless to the small actions indicative of dismissing responsibility to the earth. These small acts reveal a cancer that undergirds the sanctity of the earth. The expansive prevalence of little acts, leaving things strewn about, discarding things inappropriately, are but blemishes reflecting a deep disregard for how the earth is conceptualized. The earth, our home, is not held in reverence, as the ground that supports our everyday activities. Instead, the earth is taken as something that is flippantly utilized, with no cognizance of how similar action might collectively reveal how mankind regards and treats the earth, and by proxy themselves.
