What in the world is happening to us? The revelation that nearly 80kg of rubbish was hauled from the Wailea St trashboom by the second day of cleaning is quite scary.
We realise it exposes the scale of illegal dumping, with more than 30kg of diapers, 29kg of PET bottles and plastics, among the debris.
The big question is: what are we doing about it?
Trashboom Pacific environment data officer Bernadette Thomasina said the scale and nature of the waste highlighted the urgent need for a change in attitude towards rubbish disposal.
Nearly 80kg of rubbish had already been collected from the trashboom, she said.
Workers had collected about 30 bags of PET bottles, along with syringes.
Workers found a bottle filled with syringes the previous day, and six more in just 10 minutes.
Workers had to proceed slowly and carefully because they were working in contaminated water.
She warned that workers were risking their lives by entering contaminated water.
Ms Thomasina said recyclable materials were separated and sent for recycling, while other waste was disposed of appropriately.
She said our mentality had to change if we wanted a better environment, stressing that people could not simply throw rubbish wherever they pleased.
She urged people to consider the environmental and health consequences of dumping.
She reminded us that what we throw into the sea can come back to us through what we eat.
Ms Thomasina also reminded residents that those caught dumping rubbish irresponsibly face a $200 spot fine.
If we leave the fine aside, we are left with a lot of irresponsible people around.
It makes sense.
Rubbish will not just find its way to our waterways. It somehow gets there, and that means someone, or many people, are being irresponsible and indiscriminately throwing rubbish anywhere. They are being irresponsible.
They are probably ignorant of the negative impact. And that has to cut through somewhere.
There has to be a sense of responsibility so that we are accountable and feel duty-bound to protect our environment.
We have got to appreciate common sense and be aware of what is happening around us. We have got to be proactive, vigilant and protective of our environment.
We must take ownership of our country.
The Wailea St trashboom is a reflection of how we treat the country we call home.
And it is a very poor reflection.
We cannot expect clean waterways, healthy communities and a safe environment while treating our drains, rivers and seas as dumping grounds.
Change must begin with each person disposing of waste properly, while authorities enforce the law and educate.
Our country deserves better.
