If the trash is made of plastic, cut it with a saw, knife, or scissors into pieces small enough to fit in a trash bag and dispose of it with the rest of your waste material. In the event that the trash is a bottle, you may opt to use the 3-R principle: Reduce, Recycle, or Reuse.

Yes, you can edit every single element. This aspect is largely a function of local law. In many climes or advanced countries, littering in public is an offence. If you see someone littering or performing an illegal dumping act, you can report it to your local authority, which can investigate and take action. In the case of illegal dumping, your chances of success are maximised when you are able to produce hard evidence of the illegal act. This could be achieved by using a phone or camera to capture images or video. In this regard, be discrete or cautious.

A citizen’s arrest is an arrest effected by a private citizen, rather than the typical arrest made by a police officer or, in this context, a sanitation officer. Citizen arrests are lawful in certain limited situations, such as when a private citizen personally witnesses a violation and then detains the perpetrator. Effecting a citizen’s arrest has some grey areas and is, therefore, best deployed backed by someone with a proactive orientation or disposition.

Recycling benefits every community and the environment. Recyclable items include used tyres, newspapers, magazines and mixed paper, cardboard, glass bottles and jars, rigid plastic products, metal containers, including tin, aluminium, electronic appliances, steel cans and even food waste.

Energy conservation can be as simple as turning off lights or appliances when you do not need them. You can use energy-intensive appliances less by performing household tasks manually, such as hang-drying your clothes instead of putting them in the dryer or washing dishes by hand.

Environment-benign products are sustainable market-oriented products with significantly reduced negative externalities, i.e. product development processes structured in a way that considers impacts on the environment throughout their life cycle. Classic examples include furniture from recycled materials, cloth napkins, cloth or cotton shopping bags, recycled fabric clothes, rechargeable batteries, reusable water bottles, solar phone chargers etc.

A good starting point is that civil society is maturing. Presently, society’s expectations are considerable and reflect a paradigm shift in the geopolitical landscape since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Post Rio, many businesses recalibrated, focusing on how best to merge economic efficiency with environmental excellence to ensure sustainable economic growth alongside consuming the world’s resources and protecting the environment without compromising the needs of future generations. In this regard, eco-efficiency was adopted, combining environmental and economic performance to create more value for business and, crucially for communities – with less negative externalities. Importantly, social and environmental issues are inextricably linked – each deserving equal weight, particularly so given the human and natural resources management challenges. In the scheme of things, the nexus between scientific knowledge and meaningful policy formulation cannot be ignored. Previously, science and policy were considered distinct disciplines set apart by communication gaps and diverging interests. Lately, the importance of scientific knowledge in policy processes has been virtually undisputed. More significant progress is therefore needed in communication at the science-policy interface.