A part of the western lifestyle that I seldom gave a thought about was waste disposal. We simply throw the multitude of bags from shopping, plastic and paper packaging, napkins, bottles, cartons, leftover food and just toss into the garbage. Easy. Out of our hands...disappearing into the abyss of trash land...wherever that might be. Likely a landfill. Okay, so some of us recycle, reuse, etc but it was not until I came to Vanuatu that I worry and think so much about the plastic bags and packaging I use.
I have one trashbag for paper products and one for plastics. All paper trash is burned. Plastic is buried (better than burning b/c breathing the fumes are way worse than it eventually* biodegrading) *many, many years, but it's also been debated with other volunteers that Vanuatu being such a small place that the burning would not affect us as it would if people in NY or even Port Vila, the capital burned their plastics...both methods are un
So, I have yet to bury my 3 bags of plastic trash I've cumulated in the past 6 months...and I've cut down on the amount of foods I eat that use packaging but man, I need some cookies or crackers sometimes! As for cans or bottles, there are no recycling facilities here but there has been a push to build cement wells to place all cans and batteries in. While tin tuna and fish are frequently eaten, the amount it still no where close to the amount of waste that the "western" world uses. Nonetheless, it's difficult to not recycle. Brianna (volunteer nearby) and I plan to work on getting a recycling program in Paama....we'll see.
Just think...you really only need one paper towel to dry your hands not 5 (we carry around a hand/dish towel or bandana here). Also, save a plastic tree with resusable shopping bags. None of this is new info but every bit helps, right?
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You are such an awesome volunteer, btw, I like the idea of starting a recycling program on Paama.
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