Look around and what do you see: cigarette butts, abandoned flyers, the occasional beer can. Is it a big problem? No, I won't say so. But why, why with all the above conditions, do people still litter?
The most common reason we heard is that there isn't enough bins. But this is not the case: NEA often hold stakeouts in hotspots and catch these litterbugs in action. In many of the cases, the culprit was not more than 5 metres away from a bin. Yet, they unhesitatingly and unceremoniously litter the floor.
It's clear that it's more than just a question of the placement of bins but rather the mindset of the people. People who felt that it was inconvenient to take a few steps, people who felt that it doesn't matter, they won't get caught anyway and people who just don't care.
How can we then truly make Singapore into a 100% clean city if Singaporeans themselves possess such filthy thoughts?
I am not looking for why people litter, that has been done many times. What I am looking for their justification (or lack of) for such reasoning. It is easy to say "oh there are no bins nearby" or "it is more convenient" but is it really worth getting fined $200 for "convenience"? No. I believe the true reason is something deeper in our minds. As such, the survey will focus on the "whys of whys". Why do you think that? Can you hazard a guess why would people think that? What do NUS students think about the most common excuses Singaporeans come up with for littering?
The objective of this research is to determine the opinions of NUS students towards some of the most common excuses used by litter-bugs.
People don't usually think too deeply into their actions. This is normal but sometimes if we want to change ourselves, we need to think and look deeper into ourselves.
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3 comments:
Thus your survey is aimed at finding out attitudes towards littering? Will you be examining existing measures too (mainly disincentives)?
What will you do with your survey results?
It’s interesting to see how different people of different countries actually behave differently. If I’m not wrong, there are actually no rubbish bins along the roadsides of Japan. However, you do not really see rubbish being dumped all over the place. I think it is matter of the mindset of the people.
I think it is not really clear what the problem and purpose statements are and who are your potential and target readers. Thus, stating them explicitly will allow us to have a better picture.
Just a suggestion! (:
Thanks, Weili, for bringing up one of my gripes about Singapore nowadays: the amount of litter that abounds. There is a problem with this discussion though: you don't give me any details regarding your research framework! How can your group members evaluate your proposal in this case?
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