Day 24 - A Picture of Something You Wish You Could Change

A portrait I did of my cousin for my thesis. 

In this country, people think that being "environmentally-aware" is only for those that belong in the upper-middle class or the upper class citizens. That is the mentality of our people: something goes wrong, blame it on the government.

I can't say that the government is totally blameless either. They should hold more awareness campaign regarding responsible trash disposal, and particularly the dangers of smoking.

Smoking. Our tiny store does not sell any cigarettes so people regularly asks us "why?". Just that single word tells a whole lot about people's ignorance of its effects on themselves as well as those around them.

Littering. An excuse commonly used by those who litter is that "there's no trash can". If there's really no where you can dispose of your garbage properly, put it in your pocket. If it's too big for your pocket, you can put it in your bag or you can just carry it around until you find a trash can. There's a mall here in Cebu that doesn't have any trash can every few meters so my sister and I had to walk from the annex to the main part of the building just so that we can throw whatever it is we were holding. And I can tell you that it wasn't a short walk. Again, in our store, my mother charges an additional 2php when children (that lacks common sense and over-all manners. I'm blaming it on the parents) wants their sodas poured in a plastic. One kid protested that he won't throw his plastic in front of the store but "there"--pointing at their area at the upper part of the street.

"Still," my mom retorted, "you're just going to throw that on the street."

"No, I won't", the kid said. "I'll throw it in the canal."

Makes you want to do a facepalm, eh?

Spitting. Why do people spit on the streets? Don't they know that that's one of the reason why diseases spread. They would have saved a lot on hospital bills if they just disciplined themselves better.

Awareness. Our family supports the "Earth hour" movement. As I've pointed out a couple of times in this entry, we have a store. It can easily be noticed that our store had it's lights off during the one hour duration of the event. Almost everyone that came to buy asks us why our lights were off. We patiently tell them that it's for the "Earth hour" campaign. Guess what? They gave us blank stares with an accompanying "what?"

All in all, I don't think that it is because of poverty that people are not conscious of the environment; it's because they refuse to care and be responsible because they are poor or that because it's the government's job. News flash for them, the government is not a super hero. We still have to do our share since we are a part of this country; what affects one, affects us all. Don't even get me started on people rallying to stop oil price hikes. gah!

So I want to change this picture. Instead of only one caring for the environment, I want everybody to join in.

I wish there was a ghost that haunts people who litter and smoke. >8D

My sister during one of our impromptu photo shoots.