Trash

I started writing this post some time ago. I found other things to write about and lost interest. Consequently, it’s been unfinished until now. My friend Barbara posted a picture and on Facebook which prompted me to renew my interest (click on the picture and it will take you to the site)

A couple of weeks ago I read a post on Facebook written by another friend, Kristi. She was watching Earth 2100, a documentary about the earth’s future. It became too frightening to watch and she turned it off. I do the same thing. It is so out of my control.

Before I left the United States, I would carefully separate my trash, wash recyclable cans and use caution to not waste water. Last night, my son Jay told me they are under emergency and mandatory water rationing; our lawns can only be watered twice a week and only after 4:00 p.m. Before I left, I watched with curiosity and judged a neighbor harshly for watering her driveway every morning.

Today, it’s different. I chuck cans into the garbage along with everything else. When I turn on the water faucet 45% of the water seeps into the ground through the broken pipes in the village. Printer Ink Cartridges? Batteries? What else would a reasonable person do with them? In the garbage. But not everything ends up in the garbage. Many times these things just end up by the roadside or down by the sea. People don’t think twice about throwing an empty water bottle on the ground. There is no recycling program here; money is the issue. There is a garbage truck that comes by twice a week. Where does all this stuff go? Well, of course – into the rain forest. I don’t even want to tell you about what goes into the sea.

On the other side of this issue, bumper-to-bumper traffic is almost non-existent. The main highway is a two lane road that travels around the island. I have seen a few cars piled up during rush hour in Castries, but nothing like the twelve lane highways in Los Angeles that are filled to capacity with gas guzzling SUVs at three o’clock in the morning on a weekday. People take the bus here, they hitch rides and share rides with friends.

Things are built by hand. I’ve been watching the carpenters, plumbers, and electricians build a room downstairs. I’ve heard an electric “something” once. The chain on my toilet broke earlier this week. I told Elizabeth, the landlady, that I would pick up a kit in Vieux Fort to get it fixed. She looked at me like I was crazy. All that plastic and casing is fine – it was only the chain that was broken – and likely that could be fixed.

It may be incredibly distasteful for us to see all the trash and lack of recycling programs, but think about it: where does our waste go? Sure some of it is recycled, but much of it is sent overseas to poor countries. So here’s what I think. We all leave a carbon footprint. While I may be appalled at the trash along the road, the bottom line is that it’s easy to “see” the damage that people are doing on this island. We cover our damage up.