Cyprus Editorial: One picture is worth a thousand words

 
To paraphrase the old adage, “show me your rubbish, and I’ll tell you who you are”, could not be truer of modern Cyprus society, that is consuming more than ever, and despite campaigns to recycle and re-use, continues to dump its rubbish everywhere else, generating a Nimby (not in my back yard) culture.
Our education system has a serious problem as it has failed to convey the message that keeping the country clean starts from the home, while parents have simply become careless, relying on the excuse of “if my neighbour is doing it, why shouldn’t I?”
Kudos to Friends of the Earth Cyprus and Let’s Do It Cyprus, whose volunteers “dressed up” in their overalls and followed the Limassol parade, collected recyclable materials. In all, they collected 250 bags, 30 of which were aluminium cans, while the rest were spray cans, with an estimated 15,000 collected after the parade.
Cans for Kids, the oldest environment-conscious charity in Cyprus, will receive the aluminium cans that will constitute a significant fund-raiser for their community projects, mostly children’s cancer wards in our hospitals.
Perhaps keeping Cyprus tidier in the future will be a better reflection of who we really are…