ON REFUSING OUR REFUSE
ni Gregorio V. Bituin Jr.
When you go to the shopping malls, schools and universities, offices, companies, factories and other related areas of work, there you can see them doing their usual work: sweeping the floors, cleaning the toilets, wiping window glass and the like. They have been doing these everyday in their lives. They are there to help make our working place and our environment a batter place to work in. Yes, they are the janitors. Most of us look down on them because of the nature of their work. Some may think that they became janitors because that was the only thing that they could do, because being a janitor did not require any college degree. Others may think that they are illiterate. That's why they scorn them. They feel that janitors are comparatively inferior to them. No wonder most of them are victims of casualization, subcontracting and other types of workers' oppression. I did not say that janitorial job is a low type of work. I just want to emphasize a point.
I observed a janitor in one of the shopping malls. He bragged while he was mopping the floor. If you will observe his behavior and the expression on his face, there seems a feeling of inferiority in him. As an officer of an environmental group, I want to give emphasis on the situational analysis and background caused by this job. Besides cleaning the incontrollable dust that invades work places, I think that janitors become visible at malls because people do not know how to clean-up their mess. People throw their waste anywhere. They do not even wipe their shoe prints upon entering the premises. In other words, people are undisciplined and uncaring to their environment. That's why the management has to hire janitors who will clean up these people's mess.
Most Filipinos know enough about garbage. The problem is that Filipinos do not know how to apply what he has learned. Most of us know that if we throw our garbage somewhere else, it will only make our surroundings dirty and somewhat irritating to the eyes. Even in comfort rooms, people do not flush the toilet properly. During our elementary days, we were taught by our teachers about waste disposal and how to clean up our mess. Does throwing our waste somewhere else a sign of immaturity? Just asking.
Tell me, who among you are in the right mind to choose a janitorial job as a career? Most people become janitors only because of necessity. It means they have no other choice. In our society in which unemployment is one of the basic problems, it is not surprising that people will accept janitorial jobs just to cope with certain economic difficulties they are experiencing nowadays.
What are the certain factors that affect our daily lives that contribute to the visibility of the janitors? Is it possible to have a society where janitorial jobs do not exist, yet we live in a clean and good society? For some, this is just an issue. For us as environmentalists, this is a critical and complicated issue that should be discussed and addressed thoroughly.
First, we need janitors because most of us do not throw our waste properly even if garbage cans are just around the corner. We can flush the toilet easily but lazy enough to do it. In other words, people like us don't care for the environment and don't have the discipline to clean up our surroundings.
Second, most janitorial jobs are in private or public offices based in the cities. People in the rural poor areas are fascinated by the advancement of modern technology which they can only see mostly in the cities. They think that they can ease their poverty by coming to the cities, but most of them suffer the consequences of unemployment. No wonder, most of them apply in jobs that are not related to their interest like janitorial work in order to survive.
Third, the idea of private property still prevails in our culture. People often think that they can throw their garbage anywhere because it was not their property. Take for example a person who throws his garbage outside his house. He thinks that is not his property. Someone should clean up his mess. If the idea of private property does not exist in his mind, he will probably throw his garbage directly where it should belong because he should cooperate with all.
Most of us probably say that it is better to have janitors in our workplace or in public places because they have been a great help in making the place look clean and comfortable to live in. On the contrary, having a janitor visible to the eyes of the people only produces a psychological impact in the behavior of the people towards his surroundings. Most of them will just throw their waste anywhere because they think that there is always a janitor who can clean it up.
What should we do if there are no janitors in our workplace? What will be its effect on us?
I stayed in Japan as a student scholar for six fruitful months. An on-the-job training in an electronics company there made me observe how Japanese works while comparing it to the situation here in our country. For six months, I traveled places, factories and shopping malls. I observed one thing: the Japanese did not employ janitors just to clean up their mess. They are the ones who clean up their mess after a full day's work. They allot fifteen minutes before their off time in cleaning their work places. As a trainee in machine operation, I work in a very messy place because I deal with oily things, metal scraps, metal press machines, and assembling different moulds for different products. Even in a Japanese-Filipino electronics company where I work for exactly three fruitful years, there is no single janitors assigned just to clean up our mess. Fifteen minutes before our off tome, we clean our surroundings so that the next shift can work in a good atmosphere.
I know we cannot compare the Japanese situation with that in our country because of so many factors. If we can only discipline ourselves, these factors are not a deterrent to make a better site to work in. What are these factors?
First, the Japanese people are very much organized, orderly and disciplined. Probably because, historically and culturally, they were brought up in a shogunate manner, and deep within them is the art of bushido, their code of discipline and the way to preserve their honor and good life. Their nationalism is very much intact in their hand and mind.
Second, Filipinos are divided because of regionalism. Nationalism, as I observe, is just an idea and is not intact deep within us. That's why the force of crab mentality in our culture is very strong. I am not downgrading our race. I just want to emphasize a point.
Third, we have a different climate that contributes much to the behavior of the people in our surroundings.
I do not say that we should emulate the Japanese. My point is this: If we want to live and work in clean surroundings like theirs, we should work for it. How can we do it?
First is discipline. We must be systematic and orderly in our approach. We must learn how to throw our garbage directly in a waste can or fix it to some other places in our room which can be easily cleaned. If there is no waste can around, just hold it until you can find one. In the real essence, your garbage can only become dirty once you throw it away. Anyway, solid waste management is not a hard science to learn. Common sense is enough to understand this.
Second, we should be cooperative with the community, as long as it is for the benefit of all. We should destroy the crab mentality that exists in many of us. Crab mentality only exists in the minds of inferior individuals, or those who are suffering from deep inferiority complex, mental depression, stress, and hatred for someone successful. They are losers in every struggle because of their selfishness. One way to destroy the idea of crab mentality which we can trace from the concept of private property is the spirit of cooperation. In a larger context, it simply means internationalism. International cooperation (not competition) will help us build a better world.
Third, we should work hard for it. Working hard for it does not mean that you have to exert all your strength in doing those things, but by being not lazy to throw our garbage directly in a waste can, flushing the toilet after use, orderly arranging our work, and the like.
Fourth, we should encourage people to separate biodegradable from non-biodegradable waste. The government should be strict in enforcing a law which states that garbage collectors should pick up only those wastes which are labeled separately. This will greatly help us in minimizing the taxes we pay the government regarding waste disposal.
Essentially, we need janitors but we have to help them minimize their work by throwing our waste directly in the waste can and not somewhere else. We cannot control dust and other tiny particles in penetrating our offices, campuses or work places. If we are passionate enough on janitors and can understand their behavior and the nature of their work, we can help them reduce their work load by disciplining ourselves when it comes to our own waste. In this way, we can contribute much in making our surroundings clean and beautiful. That simply means cooperation.
- The Featinean folio, Summer 1997, pages 41-45
ni Gregorio V. Bituin Jr.
When you go to the shopping malls, schools and universities, offices, companies, factories and other related areas of work, there you can see them doing their usual work: sweeping the floors, cleaning the toilets, wiping window glass and the like. They have been doing these everyday in their lives. They are there to help make our working place and our environment a batter place to work in. Yes, they are the janitors. Most of us look down on them because of the nature of their work. Some may think that they became janitors because that was the only thing that they could do, because being a janitor did not require any college degree. Others may think that they are illiterate. That's why they scorn them. They feel that janitors are comparatively inferior to them. No wonder most of them are victims of casualization, subcontracting and other types of workers' oppression. I did not say that janitorial job is a low type of work. I just want to emphasize a point.
I observed a janitor in one of the shopping malls. He bragged while he was mopping the floor. If you will observe his behavior and the expression on his face, there seems a feeling of inferiority in him. As an officer of an environmental group, I want to give emphasis on the situational analysis and background caused by this job. Besides cleaning the incontrollable dust that invades work places, I think that janitors become visible at malls because people do not know how to clean-up their mess. People throw their waste anywhere. They do not even wipe their shoe prints upon entering the premises. In other words, people are undisciplined and uncaring to their environment. That's why the management has to hire janitors who will clean up these people's mess.
Most Filipinos know enough about garbage. The problem is that Filipinos do not know how to apply what he has learned. Most of us know that if we throw our garbage somewhere else, it will only make our surroundings dirty and somewhat irritating to the eyes. Even in comfort rooms, people do not flush the toilet properly. During our elementary days, we were taught by our teachers about waste disposal and how to clean up our mess. Does throwing our waste somewhere else a sign of immaturity? Just asking.
Tell me, who among you are in the right mind to choose a janitorial job as a career? Most people become janitors only because of necessity. It means they have no other choice. In our society in which unemployment is one of the basic problems, it is not surprising that people will accept janitorial jobs just to cope with certain economic difficulties they are experiencing nowadays.
What are the certain factors that affect our daily lives that contribute to the visibility of the janitors? Is it possible to have a society where janitorial jobs do not exist, yet we live in a clean and good society? For some, this is just an issue. For us as environmentalists, this is a critical and complicated issue that should be discussed and addressed thoroughly.
First, we need janitors because most of us do not throw our waste properly even if garbage cans are just around the corner. We can flush the toilet easily but lazy enough to do it. In other words, people like us don't care for the environment and don't have the discipline to clean up our surroundings.
Second, most janitorial jobs are in private or public offices based in the cities. People in the rural poor areas are fascinated by the advancement of modern technology which they can only see mostly in the cities. They think that they can ease their poverty by coming to the cities, but most of them suffer the consequences of unemployment. No wonder, most of them apply in jobs that are not related to their interest like janitorial work in order to survive.
Third, the idea of private property still prevails in our culture. People often think that they can throw their garbage anywhere because it was not their property. Take for example a person who throws his garbage outside his house. He thinks that is not his property. Someone should clean up his mess. If the idea of private property does not exist in his mind, he will probably throw his garbage directly where it should belong because he should cooperate with all.
Most of us probably say that it is better to have janitors in our workplace or in public places because they have been a great help in making the place look clean and comfortable to live in. On the contrary, having a janitor visible to the eyes of the people only produces a psychological impact in the behavior of the people towards his surroundings. Most of them will just throw their waste anywhere because they think that there is always a janitor who can clean it up.
What should we do if there are no janitors in our workplace? What will be its effect on us?
I stayed in Japan as a student scholar for six fruitful months. An on-the-job training in an electronics company there made me observe how Japanese works while comparing it to the situation here in our country. For six months, I traveled places, factories and shopping malls. I observed one thing: the Japanese did not employ janitors just to clean up their mess. They are the ones who clean up their mess after a full day's work. They allot fifteen minutes before their off time in cleaning their work places. As a trainee in machine operation, I work in a very messy place because I deal with oily things, metal scraps, metal press machines, and assembling different moulds for different products. Even in a Japanese-Filipino electronics company where I work for exactly three fruitful years, there is no single janitors assigned just to clean up our mess. Fifteen minutes before our off tome, we clean our surroundings so that the next shift can work in a good atmosphere.
I know we cannot compare the Japanese situation with that in our country because of so many factors. If we can only discipline ourselves, these factors are not a deterrent to make a better site to work in. What are these factors?
First, the Japanese people are very much organized, orderly and disciplined. Probably because, historically and culturally, they were brought up in a shogunate manner, and deep within them is the art of bushido, their code of discipline and the way to preserve their honor and good life. Their nationalism is very much intact in their hand and mind.
Second, Filipinos are divided because of regionalism. Nationalism, as I observe, is just an idea and is not intact deep within us. That's why the force of crab mentality in our culture is very strong. I am not downgrading our race. I just want to emphasize a point.
Third, we have a different climate that contributes much to the behavior of the people in our surroundings.
I do not say that we should emulate the Japanese. My point is this: If we want to live and work in clean surroundings like theirs, we should work for it. How can we do it?
First is discipline. We must be systematic and orderly in our approach. We must learn how to throw our garbage directly in a waste can or fix it to some other places in our room which can be easily cleaned. If there is no waste can around, just hold it until you can find one. In the real essence, your garbage can only become dirty once you throw it away. Anyway, solid waste management is not a hard science to learn. Common sense is enough to understand this.
Second, we should be cooperative with the community, as long as it is for the benefit of all. We should destroy the crab mentality that exists in many of us. Crab mentality only exists in the minds of inferior individuals, or those who are suffering from deep inferiority complex, mental depression, stress, and hatred for someone successful. They are losers in every struggle because of their selfishness. One way to destroy the idea of crab mentality which we can trace from the concept of private property is the spirit of cooperation. In a larger context, it simply means internationalism. International cooperation (not competition) will help us build a better world.
Third, we should work hard for it. Working hard for it does not mean that you have to exert all your strength in doing those things, but by being not lazy to throw our garbage directly in a waste can, flushing the toilet after use, orderly arranging our work, and the like.
Fourth, we should encourage people to separate biodegradable from non-biodegradable waste. The government should be strict in enforcing a law which states that garbage collectors should pick up only those wastes which are labeled separately. This will greatly help us in minimizing the taxes we pay the government regarding waste disposal.
Essentially, we need janitors but we have to help them minimize their work by throwing our waste directly in the waste can and not somewhere else. We cannot control dust and other tiny particles in penetrating our offices, campuses or work places. If we are passionate enough on janitors and can understand their behavior and the nature of their work, we can help them reduce their work load by disciplining ourselves when it comes to our own waste. In this way, we can contribute much in making our surroundings clean and beautiful. That simply means cooperation.
- The Featinean folio, Summer 1997, pages 41-45
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