I Go, Therefore I Learn

The simplest and most sensible things for us are not always as simple and sensible for others. This I learned sometime ago during my stay in Purwadadi in the regency of Subang, a remote area in West Java.
Throwing garbage into bins, where it belongs, and reducing the risk of flood in each rainy season or reducing the use of plastic bag due to its being non-degradable might feel like the most reasonable thing to do for some, if not most, of us. And that includes me.
This was the reason behind my anxiety and confusion when seeing people littering while walking like they were just flicking dust from their clothing or asking for plastic bags after every smallest and fewest purchase. Exactly the behaviors I witnessed every single day during my stay in Purwadadi!
Luckily, not only I had the opportunity to mingle with the locals, I was also always welcome to say I had in mind, so I asked them, some of them were in 12 grade, why did they ask for plastic bags for things they could keep in their bags and why did they seem to "enjoy" throwing things wherever they felt like it. The responses were shocking: "What is the problem with that?" or "That is what we do." or plain stare. Yes, I was the freak for asking. Turned out that they did not have even the tiniest clue of the consequences they might cause by doing such things. They said that they did have signs at school saying: No Littering, but that was it. They did not know why they should not litter. They had never even heard about plastic being non-degradable. They did not even know what degradable was. They thought the things they used were just gone once they threw them away.
I was utterly shocked, and you might still be in shock right now, but it was then and there I learned that not everyone was as lucky to have access to or capability to, by themselves, figure out such knowledge.
That brings me into realization that we, travelers, all share a responsibility to spread general issues in every journey we are on.