A question of mind over matter

I had really thought the time for political pique and communal vandalism was well and truly over until I heard some people speak on one of the political radio stations about a plot to sabotage the new eco contribution laws by littering and illegal dumping. How simple can minds really become?

Do we really want to go on living with the ever increasing threat of a larger and more volatile landfill problem? Do we honestly care about what happens to the garbage we have accumulated through indiscriminate purchasing and modern consumerism? Do we honestly feel we can contribute to a cleaner and fresher Malta and Gozo?

For once in our long history of political strife, division and mud-slinging we have actually experienced a government which has taken the bold steps to rectify this problem once and for all, and what do we do? We (or, at least, a few of us) accuse the government of imposing these contributions on us without warning. If this were the case, then I suppose those commercial entities and wholesalers who had taken measures to introduce degradable and eco-friendly containers have based their strategies on some extraordinary form of extra sensory perception (ESP).

Anyone with an iota of civic mindedness would have perceived the dangers of over-indulgence in dangerous substitutes for packaging and waste materials a decade ago. I have been using the cloth bags now for nearly 10 years, having introduced my family to the benefits of these reusable carriers since I first came across them in Europe.

The eco contribution rates can by no means be seen as an outright restriction on consumer's rights to purchase any item they wish and which is available on the free market. It simply puts a cost to the issue of waste management - as Nature Trust so very aptly put it, this is a good example of the application of the polluter pays policy.

What we need to consider now are the concepts of innovation and proper management when it comes to business and household issues. For years, we have tended to take a backbench approach to the burning issues of waste and litter - this fact is very obvious if we only look around us. We have been apathetic in changing our mentality and culture for buying or selling on the market. I will mention a very simple issue. Over the past five or six years we have become accustomed to buying food or beverage from take away catering outlets where all items are wrapped very hygienically (as they should be) in disposable receptacles.

We carry them in paper bags and we eat them with plastic cutlery. Once we have finished with these items, we find a waste bin (or some kerbside) where to dump the garbage, ready for collection and adding to the landfill problem. Would it not make better economical sense if the outlets offering this service put an extra charge on the take away concept and reduced the price for those customers who choose to dine in and dispose of their waste in separate and proper receptacles?

There are hundreds of other innovative and cost effective ways in which we can all contribute to a better environment on these islands; ways in which we can consider what and how we purchase goods and how to dispose and recycle the waste we generate from such purchases if only we thought more about these solutions using our minds instead of our hearts - a question of mind over matter, if you like!

Mr Zarb is a tourism journalist, chairman of HCIMA Malta and president of the Malta Tourism Society.

Jzar1@di-ve.com