Waste is a problem that is growing by the day. Bigger towns are facing this problem more seriously than the little ones.

As towns grow, the problem of waste will be a general narrative of our fast-changing society. That is, if we do not look out for ways to address the problem that is just beginning to show its head.

How effective have been our laws and regulations that relate to safe and effective disposal of waste? Is it that as an environmentally-conscious country we are blinded so much so that we do not see our own shortfalls?

Look at our drains and our roadsides. There is the real picture there. Refuse of kinds and kinds clog our gutters and there are mountains of waste lying by the waysides. We cannot blame certain group of officials entirely for the state of the matter as they are. The question is: are we thinking individually for the benefit of our society?

The problem – of waste – that we are facing today is because we are a selfish people. We do not think about the long-term consequences so long as our single act benefits ourselves.

That’s why there are bags of waste strewn all over the valleys and mountains of our legendary green society. What is eminently visible is that a majority of our waste is plastic that we have made so much effort to ban the use of it.

Plastic waste forms the majority because we failed to implement the ban on plastic even after we made international headlines as one of the first countries to ban use of plastic bags. Who ought to take the blame? People will continue to use available means if we do not give them effective substitutes. The real question is: if we cannot manufacture the right substitute and keep the ban alive, why ought we unabashedly to wear a mask to hide the true colour of our soul?

We are a people eminently good at framing laws and regulations. But we are so pathetically poor at implementing them. Duplication of responsibilities stops our progress as a society. We know this all too well, still we let it be.

When a society loses its mind, whatever face it chooses to wear matters not at all. Perhaps the problem is that we are destined never to be a manufacturing country. Thus, we end up importing waste from across the borders.

This ought to be reason enough for authorities relevant to grow their teeth and stop this nation from getting buried under the mounting waste.

If duplication of responsibilities must be ironed out, do it now, before it is too late. Agencies with the mandate to address the problem of waste must feel the pain more than anyone. Wake up and do your job. Equally important is that every citizen of this country must play their part.

Waste is a problem that we let grow. We can root it out too, altogether. Let there be clear springs and lush meadows in this country, free of contaminating discards.