The title "refuse refuse",
meaning "reject rubbish",
is the slogan we have chosen to represent Temehu.com's online campaign to Keep Libya Clean.
Traditionally, Libyan women keep their houses spotlessly clean and tidy before visitors arrive. Ask your mum and she will gently tell you Libya is your sacred home!
Libya until recently was clean and as isolated from the outside world as Acacus still is shrouded in mystery today. The side effects of any influx of wealth and progressive economical growth would naturally include litter, neglect and fatigue. But those consumers who are eager to digest and hurriedly disregard neat order for litter & clutter, be ware:
rubbish, refuse, garbage, and waste are piling up even in the most sacred archaeological sites of Libya. (See photos below.)
Reduce-Reuse-Recycle
We kindly urge both foreign tourists and Libyans to reconsider and help keep Libya clean.
Far from being limited to Libya, litter appears to be globally symptomatic of modern industrial life as a whole. Waste is the product of creation; a carpenter's workshop would fill up with wood cuttings and sawdust if no system of keeping the workshop tidy was in place. Our DNA lacks this system as it mutates and thus our genome is more than 90% junk DNA. Good excuse for some lazy people who always prefer to blame others for their reckless actions!
Temehu.com will attempt to graphically project the scale of this catastrophe to the attention of all: Libyans, authorities and foreign visitors; hoping to engage them to reflect and positively react to the actions they occasionally enact, as well as to the consequences they always create but of which they are never aware!
A civilised tourist flies all the way to an archaeological site to marvel at its wonderful beauty and immensely enjoy the magical satisfaction gained from being so close to such a distant past, is fine, and wonderful experience Libya is more than proud to provide. But why, dear friends, curse the sacred ground with plastic and glass?
Why on Earth do that?
I have not thought about it before.
I am an important human who hasn't got a clue as to what to do with the rubbish that was sold to me!
What would I do with my plastic bottle(s)?
"They are "rubbish", not worth a penny, so why should I bother?
I was brought up to care only about valuable possessions.
Let us face it, there is no excuse, but some places do have little litter bins for people to throw their small rubbish in, but these are not found everywhere nor where people most likely would need them more. And if you do find one, it is more likely to be full and overflowing, rather than empty. And if you do do find one that is overflowing and covering its surroundings with black bags and bottles, then what am I left to ponder?
I am walking along the high street, what shall I do with my cigarette-end?
Flick it on the pavement, as everyone does around the globe.
They say smoking in public places is against the law now, in several countries apparently, but streets and roads are public places, are not they?
Logic tells us that streets and roads are more public than pubs and clubs, because everyone uses them to do their shopping and walking, whereas only a small minority visit pubs (short for 'public house'!).
But, yet again, we are also taught that "things are not always what they seem".
By one hand I am holding my shopping bags, full of presents, memorabilia and glossy post cards to take home, and in the other hand I have a state-of-the-art digital camera to take snapshots with of the beautiful places I to visit!.
On the other hand, I suppose, I can carry the bottle under my armpit, can't I?
Or maybe I can entice the local council to purchase more cheap plastic bins from Hong Kong, and have them blanket-cover the pavement in juxtaposition, waiting for junk to arrive only to be disposed of?
Or why cannot I just throw it away?
It is rubbish after all we are talking about, isn't it?
Ok. Let us put it this way.
Why do water bottles have those lines and grooves running across their bellies? (Have a look at the photo above.) Well, these are designed for squashing the bottle all the way down, just like this: remove the top, place your hand under the bottle, then squash the bottle all the way down and immediately secure the top (the lid) back in position.
Like this you will end up with a smaller piece of plastic to carry back with you in your pocket, next to your important mobile, or in the other pocket next to your GPS device. Sometimes you need to put items without value next to other items with value.
I have not thought about it before.
The Problem is People Not Management!
This is a real photo of a group of European tourists in the Libyan Sahara, leaving their rubbish behind after camping overnight.
We have covered the plate numbers and other identifiers bright green in order to keep the identity of the "perpetrators" private and safe with us. Only us and them know this disgraceful secret.
This Western European group of tourists were habitually leaving their rubbish behind, wherever they camp. Not a bottle or two, but bags of it too. When one of our Libyan tour guides kindly pointed out to them that they needed to carry the bags with them to the nearest rubbish dump, say the nearest village or town where one can find a rubbish bin, they took no notice of him. Why should they!
When the guide noticed they do this on a regular basis and blatantly refused to dispose of their refuse each time he asked them to, he waited one day until they all got in their cars and drove away, and took his camera to produce the above live shot; capturing the perpetrators in action running away from the crime-scene, leaving the evidence behind: (two green bags, one blue bag, one white bag, one black bag, yellow plastic, and a solitary can). This is a fantastic photo because it captures the moment we decided to share with you!
We are not running a name and shame campaign. We hope those tourists find this page as it might be of comfort to them to know that their guide had secretly took all that rubbish and disposed of it at the nearest allocated spot.
If the above story rings the bell, then I wouldn't mind pulling another one from the bag.
To reflect, you would need to imagine yourself sitting on one of those lovely white chairs and contemplating on the black graphic on the green bin and ask if the council needs to install a line of bins instead of one or whether it needs to collect a few times a day instead of once! Who do you think ought to answer this question? Can we all, including the council, sit around the empty table!
Many people were accustomed to having things done for them. When they are babies their mothers run behind them picking up all the loose pieces and putting all the toys back where they should be. When they grow up, they continue to depend on "road sweepers" and "dustmen" to pick up all the junk they drop behind. Councils pay companies, and companies pay road sweepers to do the job instead. When the population frighteningly grew in size, they invented machines to sweep the roads, but they still had the sweating sweepers erratically running behind the machine, zigzagging their brooms ahead of them in attempt not to miss any loose dog-ends and to avoid tripping any passers by; sweeping rubbish towards the gutter for the noisy machine to suck.
You see, that is why we pay "council tax", I mean poll tax, in Europe. Basically, the council pays legal immigrants to clean the streets and pavements and take our rubbish away, while we consumers pay to produce more of it. There are even companies that break the rules and dump their waste wherever they like, at night of course; some of which includes toxic waste. Some of the giant players, global corporations, use Africa as a dumping ground, simply because they can pay their way out. So, in short, one can think of waste as a natural by-product of money. And since money is more important than rubbish, then no one really cares anymore. No one cares to pick up their rubbish anymore; but if you pay them money to clean it up, then they will be more than happy to do their job.
This stuff sounds very interesting; let me get this right: are you saying you throw your rubbish behind you in Europe as well?
Of course we do - we are all humans, aren't we?
Go to London and see for yourself.
I bet you wont find a pavement, in the capital, that is not decorated with dog poo, littered with dog-ends (especially so after the new smoking law), shiny crisps packets, receipts, newspaper clips, tins, pepsi bottles, ice cream sticks, cigarette packets, teacup lids, and we even have disposable tea cups.
Is this a rubbish tip or the tip of the iceberg?
Rest to Rust.
This story is different because at least in this one, one can contentedly argue that the cans have decided to disappear by themselves, without any human help, as they slowly vanish according to the cosmic law: from dust to dust. The ground itself is heavily stained with rust.
Mother nature always takes care of her little follies and she is always full of mercy for her foolish offspring tampering with her most sacred secrets. If no one cares anymore to sweep their rubbish off the floors, then nature's wind as always will be there to bury it away. But although nature can handle most types of waste, like paper, tins, cans, wood, biological matter and metal, other types are not biodegradable and even harmful to the eco system of the planet as a whole.
Plastic, for example, would prove more tricky than tins and would resist all attempts of voluntary disappearance, at least for a very long time to come. In fact plastic is now an important element of our beloved diet, as it has shredded itself into our water system, and even fish take it.
So, there we have plenty of food for thought.
Libyan Albayan
A scan of the front cover of the magazine.
The Libyan magazine Albayan (issue: Hannibal 1376 [2008]) is a seasonal, cultural and analytical periodical published by the peoples committee of the Five Points Municipality (Sha'biyyet Anniqat Alkhams) in Zuwarah. In an article titled "In Plastic Farms" the author(s) warn the Libyan people of the dangers of plastic and urge them to pay attention to their actions and help towards keeping Libya clean and safe for our children.
The article particularly focuses on the dangers of plastic as a substance that does not go away even when is shredded into dust and dissolved into the soil. Its microscopic particles remain in the soil and water for up to a century. When taken by plants from the soil and water, and then animals feed on these plants and on the plastic itself, the cancerous particles are transferred to humans via animal produce like milk and cheese.
In Plastic Farms
The article goes on to warn people about the excess use of plastic and asks them to use less of it whenever they can. For example, bakers use plastic carrier bags to sell hot bread to the public, when most people know that heat and plastic do not mix. [Take your traditional straw basket to the bakers with you.]
To reduce the consumption of unnecessary plastic, the article recommends:
Take immediate action right now.
Recycle plastic whenever you can.
Do not use plastic bags to package meat and other animal produce.
Use paper whenever you can.
Avoid buying plastic toys for your children.
Do not buy plastic plates, cups and forks to use for food.
Do not use disposable plastic plates and cups.
Use straw baskets to buy and store food, as your ancestors did.
Boycott plastic products whenever you can.
Let others know about this problem and help spread the word.
Medical Waste
The following image shows the home page of
www.libyanmedicalwaste.com.
Please visit the site for info on how to dispose your medical waste appropriately.
Why for heaven's sake do that?
I suppose people, as ever so busy chasing the precious 'loaf of life', are becoming lazier by the day and care less and less about anything else but being a useful 'bread winner' for the family. Populations around the globe are fast multiplying, while the existing constant space increases in price by the day. Like a helpless sheep stuck between the jaws of a lion, a general feeling of despair blankets the ground like a succubus.
These factors should not be ignored when attempting to understand the phenomenon. Many people do get fed up, feel angry with the world, lose hope, and as a result tend to care less and less about their health or surroundings. They simply do not care. But the contradiction and the logical problem with this approach is that they do care about themselves and the things they like!
The effects of the wind, plenty of it in Libya, can spread plastic bags across massive areas, and in many places one is accustomed to seeing plastic bags stuck in tree branches and power lines.
Libya needs a massive campaign to effectively remove plastic bottles from its vast landscape. It does not look that awful, thanks to the flowers, but it is a shame that these bottles are practically everywhere you go.
There are some Libyans who do care about the problem. The people who put up the above sign are saying:
"the road is a public right for all and so make sure you keep it clean."
While this one says:
"random rubbish dumping shows lack of awareness of its bad effects."
That is the person who is throwing rubbish at random does not know about the damage caused to human health and to the planet as a result. He is probably not aware that s/he drinks plastic everyday as a consequence. I mean look at the sign itself; it rises a number of questions.
Cheers
Did you ever notice that most people and tourists always try to find a hidden corner, a hole or anything to hide their rubbish in. Imagine you are walking with a group of tourists and you just finished sipping your last drops from the water plastic bottle. You slow down to the rear of the group and slot that empty bottle in the nearest niche and carry on as normal.
You would not put the bottle on the ground in front of everyone and kick it really high in the sky, shouting: "let us kick some bottle football", would you?
That would be embarrassing, if not insane.
So why do many people feel the need to hide their habit of throwing rubbish? I mean scared, maybe, because in many countries the police will arrest them and the courts will order them to pay fines, and that is why humans also hide all other law-breaking habits. However, I see this as good news, because if rubbish-throwers feel guilty about their unsocial behaviour(s), then it is not to late to help them.
Why Wait To Take Responsible Action?
Divine help is looming in the horizon; and the angry Sun is about to leash.
If you are a Libyan reading this page now. I mean if you are a good Libyan, because there are not many Libyans who devote some of their precious time to reading about "rubbish". Who wants to know about rubbish anyway?
Can you care to help?
Are you not bothered?
Can you mention it in your local people's committee for discussion and possibly for proposal to the GPS in its next summit?
Or do you have influence to speed up change?
If yes, then your country needs you, now.
She needs the attention of everyone to change their relaxed attitude and reckless actions towards health and hazard matters, and their intentions too. It matters more if people mature enough to take responsible action by themselves and make things happen, and make less of it happen, and widely embrace the importance of this embarrassing situation. All of us need to work together to keep libya clean and tidy.
Are People Right To Blame Bad Management?
We have received a number of feedbacks stating that the issue is an issue of "bad management" and that the government needs to do something about this. We think people are mistaken to think that way.
People naturally would tend to blame others for their faults - it is in our nature!
How can you blame the management for the actions of individuals. Someone throws an empty plastic bottle in an archaeological site, on the pavement, on the beach or even in the desert. And then someone else does the same. As more people throw rubbish RANDOMLY, you will begin to notice rubbish piling up everywhere, as it is doing now. Then all you have to do is put your hands in your poclets and say: bad management? What is this?
The management is doing fine and all it can to keep the country clean of the rubbish produced by people (see photo below). But it cannot eradicate the problem if people do not stop throwing rubbish everywhere. In fact, one can ask: why should the government create a waste management department in the first place?
The answer is that people throw rubbish everywhere they go - lazy people that is!
Reduce-Reuse-Recycle
The Good News:
The Government's Campaign to Keep Libya Clean is Active and Well. Give them your support and helping hand!
This photo shows that the campaign to clean Libyan roads and streets is still active. Workers continue to work along all the major roads, collecting rubbish in bags and leaving them behind for the rubbish lorry to pick up. Of course, people and visitors still need to help by changing their habits in order to keep Libya clean and stop their unacceptable behaviours.
Simply you cannot have people collecting your rubbish forever. It has to stop.
You can spread the word by word of mouth, or you can use your mouse.
Tell your friends about this page.
Help towards making people more aware of the disaster. Some people would stop throwing rubbish at random as soon as they realise it is a problem. Many people still think it is normal and expected from them.
Let them know its cleaning time.
Do you want to say something?
If you have any comments please email them to us.
Readers Comments
17 July 2009:
"I am deeply shocked to hear that civilised tourists do such an awful thing. Thank you for the lovely photos. Amina."
Temehu's reply: "us too!"
17 July 2009:
"Thank you for a very insightful post. This is an extremely important issue in Libya. However there is a lack of waste 'management' by the state. Even when people are careful about their rubbish and put it in the right places, it doesn't get collected. Umm Salwan."
Temehu's reply: "agree with and can see your point regarding "full and over-flowing bins" (like the green one above); but what about those who throw rubbish practically everywhere, even in the heart of the desert? The only waste management there is one's sense!"
5 August 2009:
"This is a problem of management and administration. Basheer."
Temehu's reply: disagree with you. Totally disagree. We think the problem is "bad people"; people, including tourists, seem to care less about the landscape they desecrate every day. Ask yourself the simple question: what would happen if people STOP throwing rubbish at random? The answer is: clean streets. What would happen if smokers STOP throwing their cigarette-ends everywhere?
24 August 2009:
"Thank you for this page Temehu. Rubbish is a huge problem in Libya, and making this website is a step forward. I have a few points to make:1) People's Responsibility: I live in Benghazi and my father and I clean our street every Thursday, sometimes more. We also warn the neighbours to throw their rubbish in the large bins across the street, and not on the street corner! . . . Our street is now one of the cleanest in the area, because of an effort we made. This shows that people can keep the place clean with a bit of effort, but . . . 2) The Authorities' Responsibility: I was very happy to see the second last photo of the men cleaning up the rubbish. I wonder who took this decision, because I know another place where it is needed: I was driving from Tripoli to Misurata (July 2009), and the road side is FILLED with plastic bags. This is a very common tourist route which takes visitors from Tripoli to Leptis Magna. I tried to take nice photos of the landscape but each picture was filled with plastic bags. I felt embarassed to show it to friends back here in Ireland where I live. I know an Irish group who visited Libya, and they were horrified at the state of this road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . At the moment nobody cares about throwing rubbish in the street. Why? because they don't have to care, who's going to stop them, who's going to punish them? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Here in Ireland, I remember an incident where one Friday night, students threw rubbish everywhere in our estate, everywhere. The next day the police were here asking us, "what did you see?", "who's responsible?". The next week the local university published a report in the newspaper scolding the students responsible. They were found, and FINED. . . . . . . . . . There are fines of up to 1000 Euros in some places in Ireland for dumping culprits . . . Look at this British Website:
http://www.keepbritaintidy.org/Default.aspx
. . . . . . . . . . To summarise:1) People of Libya, stop being cynical and lazy and waiting for the government to fix everything . . . 2) Authorities of Libya . . . Start a real, strong and committed nationwide campaign such as Britain's 'Keep Britain Tidy'. You did a great job with the seatbelt campaign, and it worked very well! Now move on to rubbish. . . . "
Temehu's reply: Thank you for your feedback; please accept our apology for editing your comment. You are right in that both the people and the council need to take action and help each other to keep their country tidy & clean. But we still have doubts about whether the campaign to Keep Britain Tidy had any impact on real life or not. We visit London regularly, and we still cannot see the difference: dog poo on every single pavement and cigarette ends everywhere you go. In relation to the fines you mentioned you have in Ireland, even though there is a £1000 fine in London for not picking up dog poo, dog owners still walk away from their crime scenes, and you cannot have a policeman chasing every dog owner in the capital waiting to issue the fine. The problem is located in people's minds. If people do what you did in Benghazi, then the council will have no one to fine! However, there is a fine of one hundred Libyan dinars already in place, for throwing rubbish randomly, but people still do what they normally do.
13 Junes 2010
"Check this link of a hotel made of rubbish: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/news/2010/06/100604_rubbish_hotel_et_sl.shtml
Liz."
Temehu's reply: Thank you for the link. Very interesting project: a hotel made from rubbish collected from beaches has opened in Rome, Italy. The hotel, safely disinfected and supplied with new sheets, is named "Save The Beach", in an effort to bring our attention to the problem of rubbish, daily accumulating around the world's beaches, in a sense that once you sleep in the hotel you will wake up to the sad reality.
This image is a screen shot of the article at the above link, linked to a BBC video about the hotel.
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