Fix indoor cleanliness, outdoor ‘duttyness’
Dear Editor,
I recently attended a seminar organised by the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET). They were on the road spreading the word on their ‘Nuh Dutty Up Jamaica’ Campaign. I must confess that I had heard about the programme last year when they launched it, and applauded it as I do most initiatives by JET; but then did nothing more. I thought of the campaign as an off shoot of their annual Beach Clean-up, but ‘Nuh Dutty Up Jamaica’ is so much more.
‘Nuh Dutty Up Jamaica’ is about changing our mindset about the waste we create and taking responsibility for disposing of it properly. We Jamaicans, for the most part, are clean people on an individual level. We are almost obsessively compulsive in ensuring our appearance is neat and our homes are spotless, but collectively we seem to have wandered into the twilight zone. We throw garbage from our car windows, into gullies, rivers, and other public spaces naively, I assume, thinking that our single item of waste cannot have a significant impact. Even indoors, we leave plastic bottles on ledges inside stores, in the movie cinema we leave all our waste neatly under our seat all with the confidence that someone else will clean up after us. Yes, someone will in the cinemas, and private places have people employed to clean, but we must take responsibility for our space and keep it clean wherever we are.
For some reason we do not see the conflict with this attitude of personal fastidiousness with cleanliness but public space ‘duttyness’. Each of us needs to take responsibility for our waste and teach our children the same message. We live on an island, a small space, only we can ensure our children’s children have a place to live and breathe. We each need to take the individual attitude of cleanliness we have for ourselves and homes and transfer that to our communities, parishes, and our island.
Years ago, when wearing a seat belt became the law, many shook their heads and said Jamaicans will never abide by that rule. Now we all strap in without a second thought. I believe we can change our attitude towards waste. Let us stop, take a minute, and take responsibility for our country. We’ve all been guilty at one time or another, myself included, and so I pledge to make a change; so can you. Make your pledge today:
www.nuhduttyupjamaica.com
Candis Craig
Montego Bay
St James