Our good and bad habits have a severe impact on our environment. Littering is a terrible habit and yet we do not seem to care.

Go to any park and you’ll find apple cores, banana peels, orange rinds and melon skins that are left strewn around. These make the parks and gardens look like rubbish dumps instead of a recreational place where people go for health and refreshment.

Go to any public place and you’ll find cigarette butts, broken bottles, plastic bags, sweets and chips wrappers, half eaten food and rotten fruits thrown carelessly on the ground, parking areas and sidewalks. What does all this tell us about our civic sense and social values?

Many people think that it is all right to litter as it is the duty of sweepers to keep the area clean. Some think that since they are visiting for a few hours only, it does not matter what condition they leave the place in.

Others feel too lazy to walk up to a trash can to deposit rubbish in it and some just do not think at all while tossing a sticky chewing gum or an empty juice bottle on the roadside.

Everywhere we go, we create a mess and we do it all the time without even thinking about our actions and its consequences.

Trash that is left around to accumulate and rot attracts germs, flies, mosquitoes and rodents. Rotten fruits and decaying food stuffs give out toxins and bad odours which are extremely harmful for our health.

But worst of all, it gives the entire area an untidy, smelly appearance which reflects badly on us individually and collectively as a nation.

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/meadowlark-park-bench-nature-437252/