The curse of Polyethylene

It’s the 2nd day of Feb today and I went for a run. The weather was rather good, as there were dark clouds rolling in before the run. And I was hoping it would not rain. A bit humid, a bit breezy at times, and a bit of sun before the clouds totally covered the sun. That’s Singapore weather for you, eh?

I was quite sure it was going to be a good run, and it did turned out to be! Most prob because of the amount of carbohydrates I had ingested for lunch! :p As usual, I ran through this ‘green’ area around my place. Where there’s a canal running through the place and where there’s lots of wild dogs and lately, also some illegal immigrants? Saw some blue groundsheets up and hanging in the bushes and there are some self-erected tents. Mmm… They have found this ‘haven’ of mine… I certainly hope they are not the ones setting fire to the several bushes I saw today. They are already charred and this is not the 1st time I saw this kind of scenario. Hopefully, it’s due to some bush fire that ignited due to the extreme heat experienced this couple of weeks.

I have taken some photos of this area last year when I just gotten my digi cam. But haven’t found the chance to post them online. Always too busy writing about something else or posting some other photos. This area that I always go running in is actually a canal that connects Choa Chu Kang and Bukit Batok. It’s close to lots of greenery! And I’ve seen many different birds (kingfishers, warblers, egrets, some bright yellow birds and even a juvenile eagle today!), a rabbit (most probably released by some irresponsible pet owner), small hens/chickens(?), a dead, small snake hanging by the railings, a dead dog decomposing in the canal for 1 week, and even a monitor lizard scurrying away as I approached! What a place with an abundant wildlife! Spotted some beautiful sunsets here before as well.

I was pleasantly surprised when I chanced upon this ‘green haven’ last year while running. The key to the ‘wildness’ found here is because of the fact that the area is actually a military area. An army trunk just rolled past in front of my path today. And I have certainly seen those trucks more than once!

However, the sad thing I want to point out in this entry today is actually the amount of RUBBISH I saw in the canal today. As I ran towards Bt Batok, im actually running upstream and the water should be cleaner. It’s always cleaner! It was such an eyesore as I saw so many plastic bottles in the stream of water that was flowing down… So many NON-BIODEGRABLE PLASTIC BOTTLES. Plastic again… This material is really a nuisance when it’s not properly disposed of. And there were many huge clumps of leaves, I suppose. I concluded that garbage bags full of leaves and plastic bottles which were placed by the side of the roads after the cleaners finished work were dumped purposely by some pranksters into the canal. If u guys notice, especially drivers, there are often these black garbage bags by the roadside which are actually meant for the garbage truck to pick up at the start of each day.

It’s really a sorry sight. The water is no longer clear at its ‘source’, and it did not flow smoothly down each section whereby there’s a ‘kerb-like’ edge. Leaves, waterbottles, plastic bags are all stuck there! Plastic bags are strewn all over the place as well, especially the part where I first entered the canal route. Why? Because there are so many dog-lovers who would bring the wild dogs food in PLASTIC BAGS and sometimes STYROFOAM BOXES (???!!!!) and as they’re not civic-minded enough, not Nature-lovers, don’t give a damn about the environment and about the pollution they have actually caused, they don’t pick up the plastic bags to throw them away!!!!!!!!!! ARGH!!!!!!! ‘Dog-lovers’, my foot!!!!

I felt such exasperation and anguish, but I could not do anything! Could I like call up the Ministry of Environment to clear up this mess or something?

Please, please everyone, I really hope that you would always think twice before deciding to do something like that. And everytime u decide to use an extra plastic bag or buy a plastic bottle of drink, please think twice. Reuse that plastic bag or bottle if u really have to. We are all educated people, we don’t need anyone to tell us about the greenhouse gases released by burning plastic or the many marine animals that die each year due to improper disposal of rubbish in the oceans. Don’t think that you are not making a difference, everything u do actually impacts in an indirect, if not direct way! And if u do not need to think twice the next time u’re making a decision, I certainly hope it’s because it has set in subconsciously and it’s a HABIT! Then u will be able to influence other people and the list goes on…….

Quoted from a source I read recently, “We don’t INHERIT this Earth from our ancestors, we merely BORROWED it from our children.� Ponder on this, fellow earthlings…

"Nature provides us a free lunch, but only if we control our appetite."
-William Ruckelhams