日本語↓This month, we returned to the city with both new and old members to try focusing on the Korea and Thai town area. Things started off slow but as we got down towards Chinatown, there was a significant amount to pick up on Pitt St and surrounds. It was sad to look down the drains and see how much rubbish has piled up there. It wouldn't be there to begin with if people didn't throw it away in the street. The public phone booths also seem to be a 'rubbish bin' for some, and we found someone's whole wardrobe in a city bin, causing it to fill up with waste on top very quickly. While I understand people wanting to throw their rubbish away as quickly as they can, it is lazy to throw rubbish on top of an already overflowing bin. If people held onto their rubbish just a little longer, they'd be sure to find a better alternative. For all of these reasons, Greenbird is playing an important role. When people see us having to remove overflowing rubbish from bins and trying to fish rubbish out from drains, I hope that they think one more time about where they throw away their waste. It's also important to consider how such waste could be reduced. For example, the large number of single use cups could be replaced by people's reusable ones. I do realise we are fighting an uphill battle, but some action is better than none at all. Visiting an island today made me think again about how even one plastic cup lid, one cigarette, one mask or one packet of chips can make a difference to the wildlife living around us (in a bad way). Thank you as always to the volunteers that make this small but meaningful activity into a reality every month.
今月の活動のためにまたシティーに戻りました。今回あまり掃除したことがないワールドスクエア辺りやタイタウンに集中してゴミを拾いました。溝の中を覗く度に積み重ねているポイ捨てされた物を見ながらとても悲しくなりました。それに、公衆電話もゴミ箱として使われているみたいですね。タイタウンを歩くとあるゴミ箱からゴミが溢れ出ていたので、皆で少し片付けてみたけれど、冬の洋服が丸まって市のゴミ箱いっぱいに捨てられていることに気づきました汗。ゴミの山の原因はともかく、その山の上に更にゴミを捨てるのを辞めてほしい！もう少し持ち歩いたらきっと空いているゴミ箱があるでしょう。こういうことがあるからこそグリーンバードの必要性を感じさせます。やっぱり私達があのゴミの山を片付けたり、公衆電話などからゴミをとったりするのを見ると人達は少しでも自分の行動を反省するのだろうと思います。そしてその上に大事なことは、マイカップを使ったり、洋服を少なめに買って大事にしたりすることで、自分で作るゴミの量を減らす工夫をとりあえずやってみることですね。今日は綺麗な島に行きましたが、海辺で使い捨てのマスクを見たら、やっぱり一つのゴミクズが落ちているだけでも風景が変わって、動物に影響が与えられることを再び考えさせられました。小さな行動に見えるゴミ拾いは決して小さい事ではありません。これからもみんなで頑張りましょう！
