Trash is the thing that no human has liked. We do not want it, we throw it away, we don’t keep it in our home. But the sad thing is that we do not see the earth as our home. We only see the small space that we sleep in as our home compared to the large space that earth has to offer.
Hence, many of us throw away waste irresponsibly as long as it is not inside the house that we live in. We throw it away anywhere, waiting for somebody else to pick it up.
However, we are glad that there are different groups of people that are concerned of the bigger part of the world. These community decided to gather and get themselves dirty to clear up the waste and make our space cleaner.
Kaki Clean is one of the mindful group that took such effort recently and made a difference in Penang. Although they have just started not long ago, they have manage to keep the program going on consistently.
Last 16 April 2023, The Kaki Clean Up Team has cleanup the GSD Cycling Park at Bayan Lepas. With a manpower of just 41 people and not even an hour, they have manage to collect 88.795 kg of trash.
The team even amazingly segregate the waste and this is what they have found:
Cigarette buds: 956 pieces
Cigarette box: 10 pieces
Lighter: 19 pieces
Plastic straws: 46 pieces
Styrofoam: 24 pieces
Plastic bag / boxes: 164 pieces
Plastic bottle cap: 83 pieces
Plastic bottle: 71 pieces
Aluminium can: 3 pieces
Tetra pack: 2 pieces
Face mask: 11 pieces
Textile / clothes: 16 pieces
Glass: 8 pieces
Batteries: 4 pieces
Banner: 4 pieces
The collected waste has obviously shown that it is all caused by us, humans. Within such a small area, the Kaki Clean team has collected so much waste which shows how crucial is the problem to our environment.
However, the team of Kaki Clean team alone can only do so much to keep several places clean. Every single one of us in the world has to play our part to help them and in fact, it is to help ourselves so that we can live in a better earth. To reduce the waste issue from growing, there are several effort and awareness that we should keep in practice.
- Reduce single-use packaging items
There are many single-use packaging items that we can reduce such as paper cups, plastic straws and plastic bags. When we change it by using a reusable cup, metal straws and reusable bags; we will reduce the waste by tons. - Reuse & Recycle
If there are items that we can reuse such as plastic bags and cardboard box, reuse it wisely rather than throwing it away. If it is of no use, segregate the waste and recycle accordingly. - Throw waste in a proper trash bin
Seriously, it is not that difficult to find a trash bin. If not, we can always keep the waste in a plastic bag until we see a trash bin. It is a waste from us after all, holding it for a while more won’t make us any dirtier. - Clean up our neighbourhood or join Kaki Clean to clean up as part of the bigger community.
Let’s put our hands together and keep this issue in check and make waste lesser.
