Hello! Thanks for taking your time to read this blog! 🙂
My name is Keichi Tan and I am an undergraduate who is majoring in Psychology in NTU. This blog is created as part of my project for the Conservation Psychology module.
The reason why I choose to talk about the littering problem in Singapore is due to the fact that it is one problem that everyone seem to overlook. I have been seeing litter almost everywhere I go to and it made me wonder as to why people do it.
In the area where I live, I have seen empty packets of food and drink cans at those shelter areas where people hang around to chill. I have even encountered used sanitary pads on the floor (like why?)… and it was not just once.
Experience in Singapore VS Japan
This experience I have in Singapore and what I have experienced in Japan is probably the major reason why I was so interested in writing about this topic. I have lived in Japan for a few years and littering was definitely not an issue there. It was really uncommon to find litter in Japan even though the litter bins in public were not as accessible as compared to Singapore.
In the place where I lived (Tochigi prefecture), there was a specific day in the week where items in your home can be thrown away. For instance (not the actual days because I’ve forgotten), Monday is general waste day so you take your general waste bag out for the truck to collect. And on Wednesday is glass collection day, so you take your bag filled with glass items for the truck. (The truck will not take the bag if the items are wrong so you have to bring it back home).
I really like this concept as it really helps to reduce our waste generated unlike Singapore where we have the common chute. I believe that littering behaviour is cultivated since young therefore, just like the culture in Japan, we should aim to cultivate young generations to engage in anti-littering behaviours!
Start by reducing our trash and be responsible for it! You may just influence others to engage in anti-littering behaviours too!
I hope that this blog has provided some information that you did not know about littering and somehow has motivated you to start making some small changes in your life to help make a change in Singapore. 🙂
Here are my social media where you can contact me or ask any question regarding the information on this blog. 🙂
