Trash Here, Trash There, Trash, Trash Everywhere

We take the cleanliness of America for granted: trash cans are placed in every public area, street-sweepers are seen cleaning the roads, and trash is removed from the highways by organizations; we have products like Swiffers, Clorox wipes, and Windex for our houses, and we abundantly use paper towels and napkins at meals and in the kitchen. I used to always criticize America for its wastefulness of these very items and way of life, but I have come to miss them. This cleanliness issue has always been lurking in the back of my mind, until an incident that occurred today.

I was sitting in the car waiting to leave the second school when Anamika climbed in holding a paper package. Curious, as always, I asked her what it was, and she responded that it was a used needle. I was confused, because what on earth is a used needle doing in an elementary school? I was even more shocked when Anamika went on to explain how she had found it. Supposedly she entered a classroom where the teacher, having found the needle on the floor, was threatening the children with it in order to make them behave. Upon seeing this, Anamika took the needle and wrapped it in paper in order to dispose of it when we returned home, as there was no proper place to dispose of trash at the school or in the surrounding area of Secunderbad, which is also probably the reason the needle ended up at the school. Trash is thrown over walls and into gutters and alleyways, instead of in trash cans to be collected later, thus littering public areas. I had noticed the trash lining the roads, but I had never really given a thought as to how dangerous it could be. Many diseases, including AIDS, can be transmitted easily via used needles and syringes, items that should be disposed of in trash cans and areas not populated by children. This realization, and then fear for the children that we teach, hit everyone in our car on the way home from school. We were all on edge just to have the needle, wrapped in paper, sitting in our car. I wish there was more of an emphasis on trash disposal and responsibility of used items so that situations like today’s do not happen again.