So we went home, grabbed some gloves and big trash bags when my brother said he's going to join us when he finishes his lunch. The area around the playground was not maintained for a while so there was a lot of tall grass around it and around the benches. Trash cans that were once there got destroyed and then removed. During the summer a lot of young teenages gathers around here and they leave a complete mess! Broken glass from the beer bottles smashed on the concrete playground, trash from the snacks and soda/beer cans, a whole lot of cigarette boxes cigarette butts. Couple of days ago all the grass was taken care off and during that process, a bigger and stronger mowing machine they used ripped to pieces all the trash that was hiding in the grass, especially the cardboard material.
Somewhere in the middle of our mission, my niece said "This is a hard work!" and I agree. I had mixed emotions where on one side, I wanted to whop the butts of those who left this behind, thinking how this was not our "job" to do but on the other side, I was hoping that at least this would be a good lesson for my niece and myself too. I say this because I don't want to pretend I am perfect, I threw a few chewing gums and bus tickets in the grass before. And yes, I do regret it and I think it's bad but unfortunately, I cannot change what has been done.
I am not proud to say that scenes like this are not strange at all in Serbia. A lot of young adults are destroying the environment in one way or another - you can see the benches that are also ruined, a lot of kids playgrounds end up the same... I guess kids should be taught from the young age basic manners at home and later reminded about it at school, at least that's my opinion. But I also see adults throwing away trash on the streets, it's usually small pieces of paper or something like that so the youngsers are not the only one to blame.
Another problem we have here in Serbia is very poor, in small places like mine even non-existing recycling system. We also use a lot of plastic in general and this is something me and my family are guily of. Plastic bags, bottles and packages are probably the main things that end up in trash, without recycling. I do use tote bags for shopping and try to re-use a plastic bottle as many times as I can (I need to buy a good quality reusable bottle) but I guess I could do more. Anyways, maybe this is a subject for another post.
We'll see how long the playground will stay somewhat clean. We also attached one bag for trash at the place where once the trash can was. Hopefully, they will not be lazy to get up and despose the garbage instead of just leaving it everywhere. If nothing else, I just wish that nobody will ever have to pick up trash after my nieces and nephew, and maybe my children someday. :D
I would love to hear from you, how would you handle situations like this? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments.
Some of my previous posts:
That is good education
Thank you! :)
Respect for teaching the little niece about Our world and making it a cleaner place !
Thank you @brittandjosie for your kind words!
Omg! Niko, youre amazing. I must confess, thats big time hardwork, i mean cleaning other peoples mess, but you thought your niece a powerful lesson. I celebrate you.
And the park looks so clean,
Thank you so much @t-flames! It wasn't easy but so far is looking nice and clean! :)
Congratulations @nikolina! You've got an upvote coming from the @ecotrain thanks to @eco-alex! This upvote is part of the Community Support Initative to help encourage you to keep writing great posts! Thank you for being such a positive part of the Steem Blockchain!
Thank you @ecotrain and @eco-alex for the support! <3
Beautiful clean up job. But you are just being a maid to these bums. They will just trash the place again and expect someone like you to pickup their trash.
Thank you!
That's kind of how I felt but it got to the point where we had to do something about it since we live so close to this playground. I passed by today, so far it's nice and clean! :D
I don't blame you. When some good people see trash on the ground they think it's alright to throw theirs down, but if everything is clean they will think twice and put the trash in their pocket. :-)
you guys did really well there!
what a good example :):)
we have a similar situation at home PH and even in Bulgaria
We all need discipline and teach our children not to throw rubbish every wherewhere. In developed countries, recycling is just a normal thing
is it something to do with it? Education?
It should start from home - I think this is the key and awareness.
very touching post, wish could give you more upvote:(
have a lovely day my beautiful friend
Thank you so much, dear @sunnylife.
I totally agree with this! Teaching kids from the young age and then whatever they learn in schools about this topic, would be just a reminder.
True! When I was in Switzerland I was fascinated by their recycling system and awareness.
Thank you again for your lovely words! Much love! :)
Bravo, girls!
Thanks! :))
What an awesome example you are to your niece and to the rest of us! Great job!
Thank you so much for your kind words @snowpea! :)
very nature loving and a good example your niece has to see , great job my dear @nikolina
hello cutie niece 😘❤️❤️❤️
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Thank you so much, my friend! <3
Hugs from us! :)
Wow, so commendable and encouraging to see such a young person like your niece take this initiative.
Good upbringing :)
Thank you so much, I was surprised myself with her suggestion, to be honest! :)
Good job teaching your niece to be a good citizen
Or maybe she is teaching you :p lol
I guess we are teaching each other, haha. :D
But this was her initiative/idea at first place which I was very proud of. :)