Assalamu alaikum, ya nesan,

Small litter collectors, like the one in the image, will go a long way in keeping our city clean. Ibn Serendib found this one just outside the Havelock post office on Dickman’s road (or Lester James Pieris Mawatha) in Colombo, near some convenience stores where he made a purchase. The effect of its presence is clearly visible in the surrounding area as he didn’t see a single piece of litter on the ground. He feels that if more of these facilities are available around the city, our battle with garbage will be an easier one.

Blaming citizens for littering is easy. In principal we all should not litter. But in our modern consumer-oriented lifestyle, every little purchase we make gives us packaging that we must discard. We could hold on to it if we had confidence a trash can would be nearby, but to this day, you will have to go a long way before you will encounter one. Therefore, the less disciplined amongst us are easily tempted to litter. Problems are best tackled with solutions rather than blame, and these types of small litter bins are ideal to combat our littering problem. The cleanliness around this bin shows us that people are not simply sloppy and will make use of a solution if it is available.

Problems are best tackled with solutions rather than blame ...

The bin in the picture is made of flimsy plastic, so probably doesn’t cost more than a hundred Serendib coins to produce. We have light poles all over the place, so they can be installed there. There are already people who go around our streets to sweep, so they would find it a whole lot easier to empty a series of these bins, rather than sweeping litter off the ground. And the net effect of all of these things will be a cleaner city and country for us and our children.

Therefore, if the esteemed reader has a few moments to spare, draft a letter to our honorable Rosy. Tell her that the Colombo Municipal Council is doing something right by installing these bins, and how much you appreciate them. Every letter counts, and who knows, maybe our tax coins will finally work for us.

... draft a letter to our honorable Rosy. Tell her that the Colombo Municipal Council is doing something right by installing these bins ...

Cleanliness is half of our dheen, and may Allah bless us with it!