Open burning: I frown and growl at it

Okay, so there’s someone in my neighbourhood who’s burning rubbish and causing the whole are to stink up. Smoke intruding into my house and stinking up all the wet laundry outside. Ugh, don’t you just hate it when your laundry smells like smoke, instead of softener? Haha.

Let’s face it. We can’t stop open burning from going on. No matter how many warnings or campaigns the government launches, there is still going to be people who openly burns their grass, rubbish, mother-in-law(oops), and more rubbish. And, I noticed that the majority of people who burns their rubbish are the elderly people and of course, the illegal immigrants. People have been reminded not to carry out open burning but, as expected, nobody gives a hoot about it. It’s the mentality of the people themselves.

And, of course, there will be people who will think the opposite. They might say :

“What should we do with the dried leaves then? Collect into heaps and let it become breeding gounds for rats, snakes and other pests? A little burning by your neighbours is not going to degrade the air. Just drive around the industrial areas and you can see large clouds of dirty and chemical-smelling smoke being release. Don't be selfish and unneighbourly.”

“Kenapa sibuk-sibuk sana?It is only one little fire, cannot hurt anybody. Friends must give face la.”

Firstly, there are alot of ecological ways to dispose of dried leaves. Rake and bag up the leaves instead of raking it up and burning it on the spot. Do your own research if you really care for the environment. Secondly, we care about our health and the health of our earth. Just because the guy next door is doing it, doesn’t mean that you can do it as well.

**Joanna**