Modern Life is RubbishPaul McLoughlin, Clint Derric Egbert, Kiran Jay HaslamPeople may be forgiven if they are being fed mixed messages byadvertisers, politicians and celebrities. On one hand you have AlGore, Barack Obama and Bono passionately telling us how weshould think more about our everyday habits; that every action hasa reaction, and that it’s our fault that the world is on the brink ofdestruction. On the other hand rainforests are demolished, untreatedwaste is secretly dumped into the waterways of developing nations,and disposable products are more than ever before in abundance.A recent investigation showed that 1,400 tonnes of toxic waste wasdumped into the waters of Brazil, with many governments <strong>com</strong>plicitin this action. News reports beaming shots of melting icecapsin the north and famine in the south, are regular images on ourtelevisions, broken up by an interlude of advertisements urging usto buy plastic, burn oil and purchase another tonne of metal.It’s a daily fixture of modern life and runs like clockwork; ensuringthat not one single second from our ‘McMuffin’ breakfast to ourmicrowave dinner is spared. Cleverly crafted advertisementsencourage us to spend, spend again, and spend some more. Moreoften than not it is on things we don’t actually need. 16 billionplastic containers, 92 billion aluminium cans, along with 42 billionglass bottles are discarded in America each year. Globally, wewaste 2.02 billion tonnes of product per year. Fast food restaurantsare the main culprits behind this wastage, with inexpensive foodwrapped in wax-paper, plastic or polystyrene packaging the most<strong>com</strong>mon form of waste on our streets. According to an internalreport, to <strong>com</strong>bat this McDonalds spends a measly RO 500,000a year on processing waste. McDonalds is quick to point out thenumber of initiatives to reduce the amount of packaging used for<strong>com</strong>bo meals, however, the continued aggressive advertising of thebrand for people to buy more and ultimately produce more waste,works against the small token gestures of environmentally friendlypractices the business has been known to highlight.They are not alone. One of the key forms of marketing used today by businesses, is thatadvertised as ‘eco-friendly practice’. Hotels and supermarkets are quick to highlight theirrecycling programmes and caring approach, but the disposal of food that has been deemed‘expired’ means that billions of rials of otherwise good food is left to rot each day. The keyissue here is that this food is more often than not, still fit to eat. Whilst millions of peoplecan’t afford a healthy diet, millions of tonnes of fruit and vegetable, canned food and meats,are being dumped. Rather than clearing it out by marking down the price, these food itemsend up stacked high in landfills today.Landfill and incineration are simple solutions for disposing of waste, but are ecologicallyunsound. Africa has been used as a giant trash can for Europe over several decades. Whilethe developed world turns a blind eye (after all waste has to go somewhere and peopledon’t want to pay more tax), African’s have seen huge dumps built across their continent,covering hectares which could easily be better utilised for farming. This is happening incountries that suffer from ‘terminal hunger’. Children chasing small change, sift throughscrap on toxic waste dumps, instead of attending school to help build a new generation ofeducated Africans. Why is this allowed to continue? The fact that it costs RO 1 per tonneto dispose of waste in Africa as opposed to RO 100 per tonne in Europe; just may havesomething to do with it.So what can we do? In many countries people are taking recycling seriously. What abouthere in Oman? There is little education evident amongst the populous as to what is right andwhat is wrong. We continue to see a passing car’s window go down and a plastic packagebeing tossed out. We see people washing their cars in natural wadis, with little concern forwhere the oil, caustic brake-dust, fluids, and detergents go. It doesn’t dawn on them thatfurther downstream people may be using this wadi as their primary water source. We seepeople open their car doors and drop their litter in the Lulu car park, prior to taking-off. It iseducation, and it starts at an early age, at home and at school.I frequently fight with supermarket staff at check-out counters, as they place individualitems in seperate plastic bags, and then place them in recycle bags that were originally20
“Selfless acts seldom occurin our modern fast-paced world,yet we all want for ourgrandchildren to experienceparadise on earth”Photography by Jerzy Wierzbicki
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