Many of us don’t think about what happens to the trash after we dispose of it. Our dustbins and rubbish chutes seem like magical black holes that swallow everything up, turning it into nothingness a few days later.
That’s why we dispose of our rubbish indiscriminately like sociopaths; food, plastic, glass, poop (from a baby, I hope), wood, and liquids all go into the same disgusting place.
But what about the person at the other end of the chute? What about the people who actually have to collect your garbage?
It’s not an easy job, and it can even be dangerous, as this next story shows.
S’pore Waste Collector Rushed To Hospital After Getting Cut By Glass Shards In Rubbish Bag
One trash collector in Singapore was recently sent to a hospital after he was cut by exposed pieces of glass from a broken mirror in a trash bag.
On Saturday, (Ocr 26), Ms Karen Wong shared a post on the 50 Shades of Singapore Facebook group detailing the incident which happened to her friend.
According to Ms Wong, her friend, who works for a waste disposal company, picked up a garbage bag and was badly cut by exposed glass shards from a broken mirror inside the bag.
The cut was so deep that it “sliced through” his anterior artery and muscle tissue. This led to a severe loss of blood.
Rushed to hospital, needed 10 stitches
Due to his severe injuries, the waste collector was rushed to the hospital and had to undergo emergency surgery.
In her post, Ms Wong said that the doctors were even considering a blood transfusion because the man had lost so much blood.
After the surgery, the man received 20 staples on the outside of his leg, and 10 stitches inside.
Ms Wong added that her friend will have a scar on his leg for the rest of his life, because of “someone’s carelessness.”
Urged S’poreans to dispose waste responsibly
After recounting her friend’s ordeal, Ms Wong urged Singaporeans to dispose of waste more responsibly.
“If you need to dispose of glass, or anything else that is sharp or fragile, please put it in a cardboard box and label it.”
She also implored Singaporeans to show waste collectors more love and respect because of the laborious job that they have to do every single day.
“Many people overlook the fact that there will be one more person handling their garbage before it goes to the dump, and they don’t wear suits of armour. These guys are up at the crack of dawn and work in pairs, shifting between driving and picking anywhere from 15 to 30 tons of garbage by hand (that’s up to five elephants – for size comparison) everyday”, she wrote.
Ms Wong definitely has a point.
Waste collectors, sweepers, and construction workers; these are the people we often walk past without even registering their existence. We not only withhold our care and concern but we hardly even offer up our smiles.
As Ms Wong, said, let’s start thinking more about these hard-working people who clean, shape, and build the city we live in.
