for anyone that was following that compost debate a few months ago...
Thanks, Lani, for the link to this article!
http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/green/bal-md.gr.nimby14sep14,0,1379913.story
I think the clothesline advocacy is very interesting... I am now using clotheslines here in Honduras, but it´s true, people in the US stigmatize its use as ¨just for poor people¨ which is somewhat unfair. Granted, Honduras is a poor country and hardly anyone owns a dryer, but the sun really is extremely efficient here. UV rays are an excellent sanitizer, as well! Plus if everyone does it, it´s much more acceptable. Funny how the process of culture change meets so much resistance.
I´ve been thinking a lot about ¨how different peoples around the world deal with the stuff of living,¨ like laundry, trash, electricity, etc. I suppose you could call it sustainability. There´s quite a big difference in the way trash is dealt with in Honduras and in the states. For example, while recycling facilities do exist in this country, there is no official pick up. In fact, garbage day might as well be called scavenging day. No one separates their trash into recyclables/non-recyclables so there are plenty of people roaming the streets on trash day going through people´s garbage to pull out the recyclables. This would not be so bad, except that people also throw away their toilet paper instead of flushing it, and I personally feel like that´s more of a public health/sanitary issue than trash in the US. Anyway, I personally have started separating my recyclables to at least save people a little dignity. Other folks who go scavenging are looking for something specific to salvage, such as the man asking if we had any used shoes. Overall I think the fact that someone is willing to salvage other people´s trash is a good thing, and there really is a thriving market here for used goods, but I wish that it could be dealt with in a way that really does provide a more dignified income for people. Not sure how that would be... other than having separate bins for things. I think the fact that dumpster diving is illegal in the states is moderately ridiculous. The only reason I can see for the law is to protect people from identity theft, but I feel like if you are too lazy to take something to the thrift store and someone else knows how to fix it/use it, I see no reason to prohibit people from salvaging.
(I´ll probably post some of this on my honduras blog, too)
http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/green/bal-md.gr.nimby14sep14,0,1379913.story
I think the clothesline advocacy is very interesting... I am now using clotheslines here in Honduras, but it´s true, people in the US stigmatize its use as ¨just for poor people¨ which is somewhat unfair. Granted, Honduras is a poor country and hardly anyone owns a dryer, but the sun really is extremely efficient here. UV rays are an excellent sanitizer, as well! Plus if everyone does it, it´s much more acceptable. Funny how the process of culture change meets so much resistance.
I´ve been thinking a lot about ¨how different peoples around the world deal with the stuff of living,¨ like laundry, trash, electricity, etc. I suppose you could call it sustainability. There´s quite a big difference in the way trash is dealt with in Honduras and in the states. For example, while recycling facilities do exist in this country, there is no official pick up. In fact, garbage day might as well be called scavenging day. No one separates their trash into recyclables/non-recyclables so there are plenty of people roaming the streets on trash day going through people´s garbage to pull out the recyclables. This would not be so bad, except that people also throw away their toilet paper instead of flushing it, and I personally feel like that´s more of a public health/sanitary issue than trash in the US. Anyway, I personally have started separating my recyclables to at least save people a little dignity. Other folks who go scavenging are looking for something specific to salvage, such as the man asking if we had any used shoes. Overall I think the fact that someone is willing to salvage other people´s trash is a good thing, and there really is a thriving market here for used goods, but I wish that it could be dealt with in a way that really does provide a more dignified income for people. Not sure how that would be... other than having separate bins for things. I think the fact that dumpster diving is illegal in the states is moderately ridiculous. The only reason I can see for the law is to protect people from identity theft, but I feel like if you are too lazy to take something to the thrift store and someone else knows how to fix it/use it, I see no reason to prohibit people from salvaging.
(I´ll probably post some of this on my honduras blog, too)