Garbage and mindfulness

By Suryamithra Vishwa 

The past week saw the miracle of spick and span garbage-free roads in some parts of Colombo and reports that garbage was cleared off roads within two hours in areas of Maharagama on the directive of the new President of Sri Lanka. In this backdrop, this brief article looks at how we have become mindless to how we treat our two homes; our country and our planet. 

This writer on Thursday had an interesting conversation with a person who drives a three-wheeler. He was commenting on the phenomena of garbage being thrown by Sri Lankans driving posh vehicles who take great care about the cleanliness of their luxury houses but do not hesitate to throw their garbage onto roads or dump them near other people’s walls. This shows us how poor and polluted we are in our self-awareness which should not be the state of a people who live in a country where the predominant philosophy is Buddhism. 

The gentleman who made the comment about garbage being dumped from cars also confessed that he, as a daily habit throws anywhere he pleases, the plastic or paper cover used to wrap his lunch that he buys from roadside eateries. However, after the seriousness displayed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on the issue of garbage, he stated that he has, for the first time in his life, taken the paper and the plastic lunch covers home to dispose. He then went on to opine that Sri Lankans are ‘a bunch of fellows who can only be governed by fear-based discipline’. 

Later in the day attending a climate change and environment focused seminar, one participant in a detailed personal conversation expressed similar opinion. The question is – is this what makes us who we are? People who are addicted to consumerism, who will ruin the country with mindless actions, infuse our minds and our country with garbage and who will not use the rational power of thinking which should be a predominant trait of a Buddhist. 

If we look back, we can see the difference between our values and those of our ancestors who were not products of the modern rote learning machinised ‘education’ set by an imperialist system for a particular goal that had nothing to do the wellbeing of this country or the people. 

It is therefore time for all of us Sri Lankans to ask a few questions from ourselves. Below is the attempt at self-striving and self-questioning that this writer has used to evolve into a thinking being:

Do I need all the things I buy? 

Yes, I want them, but is that not greed and not a need? 

Where will they end up after I throw them – is there not a better way for me to mindfully dispose of them after I use them?

Can I think of reusing them – like our grandparents did – where a shirt becomes after usage a pillow case and a dress gets a new life as a cloth bag?

Why cannot I refrain from wasting food and if there is excess, why cannot I use my mind, to find simple ways of disposing them that will enrich instead of harming – such as putting them near a plant root and covering it with soil so that the earthworms that nourish the soil could consume them or why am I not making a simple plan to eliminate waste altogether by cooking and consuming mindfully and if at all there is a surplus, such as after a function why am I not exercising the concept of ‘dana’ by gifting it to the many people who are in need of food, by planning ahead how I will do this? 

When I throw things in a decomposed state am I not being selfish and uncaring, where I have no thought for the fellow human being collecting my garbage – hence where is my concept of loving kindness central to Buddhism or the common values of love preached in all religions?

If some of the above questions are infused in our mind and if we attempt to live our everyday life with awareness, we will be responsible for the cleanliness of our minds, our country and our earth whether there are strict rules pertaining to it or not. May we function as mindful beings at all times and take responsibility for our actions. May we be true patriots of our country.