Which comes first?

Litter Collected in a Planter Area, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Earlier this week, I reached out to Halla bint Khalid (bint Khalid, n.d.), a Saudi artist and children’s author, to ask if she had written a book about littering or the environment. Part of her reply to me was, “a book would not be enough. It requires a national campaign, fines, and education programs” (bint Khalid, 2021). I was excited to see that she and I are on the exact same page. There must be a shift in the mindset of the people. However, her honest reply started me to wonder which part of her equation should come first. Steven Covey (2020) highlighted “you can’t become principle-centered without first being aware of your paradigms and understanding how to shift them and align them with principles” (p. 169). With this in mind, we have to ask ourselves some probing questions.

First of all, what paradigms exist in Saudi Arabia (KSA) that have led to the existing litter problem within the Kingdom? Interestingly enough, I found an answer to this in my kitchen - at least part of it anyway. Let me explain. After breakfast, my husband sometimes puts his dirty dishes in the sink on the left. In my mind, This sink is reserved for clean dishes, so I arrange the dishes neatly in the sink on the right. This morning, there were only a few items in the sink, but I did not go through the effort it would have taken to clean them because I knew my housekeeper would be down in a little while to tidy the kitchen. This is when I had the realization that this is part of the problem. We make messes knowing someone will be along later to tidy it up. In fact, there is the idea that by leaving a mess, we “are giving someone else a job” - a phrase I have heard often when discussing this topic with other people.

This Morning's Breakfast Dishes, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Another part of this is the idea of making the shift from the current mindset to the idea that we all want the country to be clean, and we are all stakeholders in creating solutions and solving the problem. How can we do this? I believe we can draw upon Saudi nationalism. There is, in fact, already great pride in being Saudi, and in my case, in being part of the Saudi society. We have the community needed, but according to the Universal Wheel of Needs (n.d.) creating a community feel to institute solutions will require interdependence and cooperation. Only then can we tackle this awesome, long standing issue.

Me Picking up Trash in my Neighborhood, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

As Halla bint Khalid (2021) pointed out, there does need to be “a national campaign, fines, and education programs” in order to tackle the issue of litter plaguing this incredible country. The idea that our trash is someone else’s responsibility is just part of the problem. We need to understand the whole problem before we can begin to move forward. Here’s where you can help! We need to understand more about people’s perceptions concerning the littering problem and any possible anti-littering campaigns. To this end, please take this seven-question anonymous survey (2-3 minutes) on Survey Monkey (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/F739XH6). Help us understand the heart of the problem, so we can work toward creating solutions.

References

bint Khalid, H. [@hallabintkhalid]. (n.d.). Instagram. 

          https://www.instagram.com/hallabintkhalid/?hl=en

bint Khalid, H. [@hallasworld]. (2021, February 1). Adventures of a Paperweight,

2008. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CKotnMnBVIX/c/

          18091973077227533/r/17867384576271059/

Covey, S. R. (2020). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: 30th Anniversary

          Edition [Kindle]. East Roseville: Simon & amp; Schuster Australia.

Universal Wheel of Needs: Universal Human Needs. (n.d.). 

          https://i.pinimg.com/originals/93/b8/f2/93b8f299b4fd7521aca3d3b7e2a0798c.jpg

Media Source Credits

All photos created by the author of this blog post.