Trash

A simple observation in countries I've visited:

Greece--lots of small trash cans and a decent amount of large dumpsters in big locations. It's unclear whether the small bins (posted at shoulder height, approximately) have to be differentiated between recycling and non, but it's definitely acceptable to toss organic matter (orange, banana peels, etc.) into dirt, including the publicly landscaped kind. Since there's regular street cleaners and sanitation, stuff's pretty clean, though the large amount of stray animals can cause problems. Like the one time when one died and stunk so bad I started taking a different route to class. No comment on private dwellings.

India--oh boy. Big cities like Mumbai and Delhi don't quite have the same animal problem, nor do they have open gutters and random trash piles anywhere; obviously, I'm mentioning these because some areas do. That would be the rural areas, where it was also impossible to find a real garbage can.

Paris--clean, I seem to remember large trashcans that weren't as frequently spaced as the ones in Chicago.

And yet Chicago's the one with the sidewalks covered in ancient chewing gum and overflowing garbage bins and dancing wrappers and pieces of plastic whenever there's a wind.


In short, Americans produce way more trash than, well, anywhere else. No matter whether we're talking First World or Third World. It's not completely our faults, though; the layers and layers of packaging on stuff combined with a societally enforced compulsion to use new things when the olds could suffice don't help.