I am genuinely tired of it. Daily, in my neighborhood, the North Brabant countryside, I see how humans are careless with their garbage. As if the roadside is the dustbin, as if nature can be used as a dumping ground for free. I just need to enter my front yard, and already I can gather something someone else discarded there. And on walks with the dog, it's especially depressing: every two meters, something is there that doesn't belong. Bottles, cans, bags, packs of cigarettes. An infinite parade of rubbish.

And then I listen to people talk about sustainability, the climate, and how much they think nature is important. Nicer words, perhaps, but meanwhile, many behave like pigs. For if the man who tosses his trash along the street, or flings it by the open wastebasket, has no regard at all for his environment, this is no minor mistake; it's uncivility.

Basic decency is not an option

This is not about complicated policy or expensive solutions. It's not a big thing: it's about clearing up your own mess. Full stop. No one else should have to put up with your rubbish except you. No one else should have to pay for your laziness except you. Your can, your bag, your bottle, it's yours, so take it home and put it in your own bin. It's simple.

But it doesn't get done. Why? Because laziness prevails. Because people think, "Oh well, someone else will clean it up." They think that because something has been there, something else can go there too. Because they are anonymous in a car or on a lonely road. It is the attitude of turning a blind eye, of passing the buck. And that is precisely what is slowly deteriorating our society.

The price of laziness

Carelessness has a price. Every year, governments, both national and local, have to invest millions of euros to clean up all that trash. Ultimately, you pay for it anyway, because national and local taxes are only getting higher. It wouldn't be necessary if everyone took responsibility for this. And I haven't mentioned the many hours of volunteers' time. And not the least important, nature incurs the highest price: an animal that ingests a plastic bag or a can, a bird that's caught up. It's truly appalling how often we use nature as a trash dump.

Sometimes, however, the price hits much closer to home. One day, while I was walking my dog, a sharp piece of carelessly discarded glass, buried under the snow on the sidewalk, suddenly found its way into her paw. It completely severed one of her toe tendons. The result? It cost me a rib from my body by forcing me to make an expensive and essentially unnecessary, but now necessary and unpleasant, vet appointment. It cost my dog ​​weeks of recovery and a piece of freedom. An animal that has never harmed anyone, yet blindly fell prey to someone else's careless neglect. I never want to see that happen again. And I'm sure I'm not the only one. But still... It's been years since this incident with Myla, and I still see the garbage piling up in places where it shouldn't. The problem only seems to be getting worse! How many more birds, cats, dogs, horses, or children have to get injured before we actually address this problem?

The "it's already dirty" rationale.

One of the most annoying excuses is: "It's already trashy enough around here." Like that is a license to dump more trash there. That's the logic of rot: once the first window gets broken, more will get broken. The moment the first garbage materializes on the pavement, it turns into a mountain. But nobody is immune to their own fault. It's precisely then that you need to think: I'm not part of this.

Parents and schools

Then I sit there thinking: where's it going wrong? Don't children learn these days not to leave their rubbish on the pavement? Sure, there are campaigns, there are lesson plans, and there are cleanup days. But somehow the message doesn't stick. Because if I look at how much trash winds up on the roadside every day, I can only draw one conclusion: parents are either doing a bad job of parenting, or parents' role modeling is abysmal. Children learn primarily through observing what their parents do. And if they simply leave their trash lying around, children learn from that.

Freedom without responsibility is selfishness.

What I believe annoys me the most is that people confuse their freedom with non-commitment. Absolutely, you're free to enjoy the woods, free to ride the roads, free to live in this country. But that freedom also brings with it a responsibility: you don't leave your rubbish lying around anywhere! Freedom without responsibility is not liberty; it's selfishness. And that is precisely what you see in every roadside filled with cans and plastic.

Time to turn norms around.

We need to get rid of this mentality and finally consider our responsibility. It's a huge social problem because it's about something much broader: the breakdown of basic decency. It's about being considerate of others, taking good care of where you are, and giving as well as taking.

It starts with upbringing, with education, and with imposing. But more importantly, it starts with YOU. It's not difficult. It costs you nothing. It just requires a little discipline and respect.

My point is simple: I'm tired of having to shovel other people's trash out of my front yard every day. I'm tired of finding more trash than flowers when I go for a walk. I don't want to take my dog ​​to the vet again because someone was so rude as to throw their glassware in the countryside. Everyone can drop off their glassware for FREE.

And I'm also completely tired of hearing, "That's just the way it is." It's bad enough that it's like this now, but... just think, it doesn't have to be this way at all! So clean up your own mess. Throw it in a dumpster or take it home with you.

It's your trash, so it's your responsibility. Period. And for those who think that's too much to ask: know that you're not only harming nature and your fellow human beings, but also yourself. Because decency and respect for your environment and nature create a society in which everyone can live comfortably.