Hi Lisa
I have lived in South East Asia for 15 years, so I know exactly what you're talking about. It's such a beautiful region and it's so sad too see what's happening with rubbish, other forms of pollution, and habitat destruction.
I think you've asked a very important question! Interestingly, my home country Australia can provide an encouraging example of the improvement that's possible. When I was much younger, it was common for Aussies to throw rubbish in the streets or waterways. As a result, there was a lot of litter everywhere. It wasn't quite as bad as what I see in South East Asia today, but it wasn't good. Now, I'm happy to say that Australia is among the cleanest countries in the world!
So what caused this remarkable transformation? Well, back in 1986 a guy called
Ian Kiernan participated in a round the world yacht race. And was horrified by the huge amount of rubbish he saw even in the most remote parts of the ocean.
So in 1989, Ian founded the
Cleanup Australia Campaign. It involved an annual event, Cleanup Australia Day, plus a range of ongoing projects to encourage better waste management. It was a huge success and became the catalyst for various government sponsored initiatives including large scale community education programs and substantial fines for littering.
I can't claim to have deep knowledge of this specific campaign. However, my personal feeling is that this it succeeded in creating meaningful change because it changed Australian culture surrounding the topic. It used to be OK to throw stuff on the street, but now it's socially unacceptable – and I think that's the key!
There is also an offshoot global campaign called
Cleanup The World which attracts many millions of people for its annual cleanup event. But as far as I know, it has not had the same effect on cultural values as it did in Australia. So what did Australia do differently? I think the main difference it that there was also a substantial community education campaign by the government. Maybe 30 years later, I can still remember the TV ads, and I believe they were effective because they appealed to our sense of national pride.
I suspect that countries with a bad litter problem could have similar success, if they organise:
- large grass-roots volunteer cleanup campaigns
- large government-sponsored community education programs
- environmental education in schools for children of all ages
- substantial fines for littering which are actually enforced
- efficient and affordable waste collection and processing.
Of course, all of the above takes a lot of time, effort, and money. But my point is that the Australian experience suggests that it is possible to change people's behavior and those changes can be long term.