jacob
Jacob's Response: The Litter Dilemma
Jacob is 15 years old, Korean-Canadian, from Toronto.
When I first noticed all the litter around the park, my honest first reaction was frustration — not at the mess, but at the idea that I might feel responsible for cleaning up something I did not create. It seemed unfair.
But then I started thinking more carefully. I decided to take a balanced approach: I would start by making sure my own group's area was spotless, and then once we had finished eating, we would do a more thorough cleanup of the surrounding area before we left.
My reasoning was that even if we did not cause the mess, we were choosing to enjoy that park. Enjoying a space comes with some responsibility for it — especially when it is a shared community resource.
What Were the Consequences?
Here is how I thought through the impact of my decision:
Short-term:
- My group spent an extra 10 minutes cleaning before we packed up
- We left the park in noticeably better condition than we found it
Long-term:
- The environment benefited from less waste left on the ground
- Other visitors after us had a better experience
- Most importantly, my friends saw what I did — and a couple of them commented that they had never really thought about taking responsibility for shared spaces before
That last point stuck with me. My behaviour had a small ripple effect on the people around me. And if each of those friends made slightly different choices going forward — even one or two of them — the impact multiplies.
What About "It's Not My Problem"?
The tricky part of this dilemma is that technically, the other litter really was not our problem. Someone else made that mess.
But I think that "not my problem" thinking is dangerous — in life and in business. Consider this: if every person who walked through that park that day said "not my problem," the park would just get worse and worse. No single person would feel responsible. Everyone would suffer.
In entrepreneurship, this kind of thinking can be just as harmful. If a business sees a problem — a product defect, an unhappy customer, a team member who is struggling — and says "not my problem," things deteriorate quickly. The best entrepreneurs take ownership, even when they did not cause the issue.
The Connection to Entrepreneurship
This experience made me think about collective responsibility — the idea that we all share some responsibility for the spaces and communities we are part of.
As an entrepreneur building a project for my community, I want to model that kind of thinking. Responsibility is not just about what you created — it is about what you are part of. When I eventually launch a project, I want it to reflect the same principle: show up, do your part, and leave things better than you found them.