Everything in front of me is trash. My cup, my napkins, the kectchup, the lid and straw, the hamburger container, the fry holder and even the paper on the tray are all trash. The family on vacation in front of me has more trash sitting on their table, from just one meal, that I have in my house in a week.
Since moving to Morocco, I have been given a lot of time and opportunities to really be introspective and to think about my life and the choices I make. Sitting at this downtown McDonalds, I cannot help but think about people's relationship with trash.
In America we do focus on recycling, and to a lesser extent, reusing, but in general we have a lot of trash. Most people don't realize the shear amount of trash generated because it is taken away every morning, off to a far away place, never to be seen again. Its a perfect example of "out of site, out of mind".
When I was 15, I was interning at an ecology center in St. Louis and we took a trip to a landfill in St. Louis, just one of the four or five the service the city and surrounding areas. I will never forget the way seeing all of that trash made me feel. The shear amount was overwhelming and watching dumptruck after dumptruck FULL of trash dump their load and then drive off. The landfill was as big as a mountain and made strictly out of stuff we had thrown away.
I have tried hard throughout my life to reduce my trash contribution by trying to convince my family to recycle and causing the uproar in the chapter house after I got rid of styrofoam to-go containers, cups and plates, opting for reusable items but I am by no means perfect. American society generates a lot of trash. A lot of it can be contributed to our high standards of health we demand from our food and the cleanliness we deserve from that. Individually packaging everything is convenient sure, but it also creates a whole lot of trash.
When I moved to Morocco, I saw my trash footprint decrease immediately. This was not because of any great move on my part, but the fact that Moroccans have less trash all around. The main thing is that they buy less "things" and the things they do buy are not always individually packaged. Granted, the villages I have lived in are very poor and they cannot afford to buy many luxury items, mostly just food and household items, so that helps. The other thing is that lots of things sold by the stores are bulk items broken up at the time of sale. For example, if you want beans or pasta, even popcorn, you go to the hanut (shop) and buy 1 kilo or 2 kilos. The shop owner weighs out the amount you want, throws it into a plastic bag and you are done.
There are also a lot more reusable things around here. For example, all of the veggies are in wooden crates, that are reused for years on end, instead of one time use cardboard boxes. The flour sacks are used for all kinds of things in the home and in the shop, including holding bulk items like dried pastas and beans. The coolest thing, I think, is that you can still buy Coca-Cola in glass bottles. It may just be my brain, but I think Coca-Cola tastes better in a glass bottle. I then don't have to throw away the plastic bottle when I am done.
Don't get me wrong, Morocco has a trash problem too but their shear consumption of trash is so much less, especially in the smaller villages. There are a lot of plastic bottles, sardine cans, yogurt cups, candy wrappers and plastic bags floating around the village. Once in a while they will collect them all together and burn them which is just about the worst thing you can do. Burning plastic releases a great deal of toxins and greenhouse gasses that I would rather not see entering the atmosphere but the quantity is so small in comparison to what would happen if we started burning plastic in the U.S.
I wanted to write this because I know a lot of people would come to Morocco and say "wow, your village has a trash problem, there is trash everywhere" but in reality, America has a trash problem too, its just better hidden. I feel better that while I am here, I am using less trash but I also realize that its strictly circumstantial.
I leave you with this, next time you are given the option to use something reusable instead of something disposable, do it because after all, every little bit helps.
I am also interested to hear if Kappa Delta has resorted back to styrofoam in the 2 years since I left. Somebody let me know. :)
Just my trash, for one meal.
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