A thought on reuse/recycling and waste

Many used things that are thrown away in western countries reach new customers in the developing world. I see cars, tires, batteries, broken windshields, phones, electronics, fridges, furniture, clothes, accessories, shoes, dishes, books and many other things being sold on the streets and in the markets in the Gambia. Old computers, equipment and other things are being donated by the charities and NGO to the local organizations, schools and individuals. The new owners use these things until they are hopelessly impaired. What is next? The dump, which is located on the street, around the corner, in the yard, in the local open dump site, stored at the house or office. To me it looks like this became an efficient way to pass the ownership and disposal of the useless things onto the “weaker players”. Just dump them there under the name of charity, support or another fancy word.

Don’t get me wrong I am glad that things find new owners and are being reused/recycled. What angers me is that those countries are being used as a dump sites. There is no proper waste management there, no understanding within the majority of the community about the waste harm to the environment and human health. There are no regulations in place and there are no funds to establish any type of waste management system. Also people throw things on the ground the same minute they become trash. The concept of garbage can is nearly non existent. Well, you have to look very hard to find a public garbage can. It is a very complex issue that has to be addressed from the bottom – sanitizing people, altering their behaviors and knowledge in regards to trash and its disposal, providing means and help in disposing trash; and creating an effective infrastructure to collect and dispose it in urban areas. It asks for a large task force and funds. But who wants to support the trash? There are so many other problems to be solved that this issue is moved to the bottom of the list of the problems.