Why do people seem to be okay with leaving a mess after the Celebration of Light?
Posted July 24, 2015 8:52 am.
Last Updated July 24, 2015 11:50 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Today, the VPD is outlining its plan of how to deal the crowds that will fill the beaches and parks around English Bay and Kitsilano for the Celebration of Light.
China kicks off the three-night event tomorrow.
But what about the garbage that will inevitably litter the beaches and parks once the show is over?
Rima Wilkes, a sociologist with UBC, says once people get into crowds, their mentality towards littering changes.
“It is that thing of when everyone is doing something, you start to think it’s okay. And it’s kind of a bit of a tipping-point effect. Once you see the garbage on the ground, you start to think ‘Well, what’s the big deal if I add one more piece to this pile?'”
She notes that mentality is fairly common.
“They see so much garbage and I think they probably tell themselves a story like, ‘They’ve hired someone to clean it up so it’s fine.’ It’s similar to shopping malls in the food court where you see trays everywhere. Once it get bad, then it just gets worse. Most people now will put their garbage in the garbage, if there’s somewhere to put it. But if it requires extra effort, that’s going to be a problem,” says Wilkes.
She tells us people generally have good intentions, but those disappear once we hit that tipping point; then there’s no reversing the trend.
Road closures (Courtesy Celebration of Light)
