Radical culture shift needed in garbage disposal

THE EDITOR, Sir:

OF COURSE, by now some of us would have figured out that banning styrofoam and single-use plastics is not the answer to the huge litter problem that Jamaica and other Caribbean countries face. My belief is that the problem would only be solved by the proposed strategy if the replacement receptacles work similar to the material used in some types of internal surgeries, that dissolve after a while.

For, as sure as night follows day, people will continue to throw their garbage around, as happens presently. My hope is that the replacement will not continue to clog our waterways, especially during the rainy seasons.

At the risk of sounding sceptical, I envisage that after millions of dollars spent in receptacle-change advertising we will be at another ‘square one’. So what is the real problem?

The real problem is that people are throwing their garbage — not just plastics and styrofoam — in forbidden places, thereby causing problems for others and the environment generally. What is needed is a radical cultural shift in our garbage- disposal attitudes.

But cultural changes are not easy to be made; they don’t happen overnight.

I therefore believe that an intense, prolonged campaign is needed (for three to five years) targeting schools, businesses such as restaurants, motor vehicles and traditional agricultural foodstuff markets.