Campus Cleanliness & Society’s Rubbish

For this being a “developing nation” I’m really impressed by how clean the university campus is. Virtually every morning, I come downstairs to a crew doing yard work around my building. The rest of the campus is the same way. There are always crews of men and women cutting grass, raking leaves, or sweeping sidewalks everywhere I go on campus. There is also a group of people who almost continually monitor the restroom in the middle of campus. That could be true because the water goes out so frequently and the hand flush buckets have to be filled somehow. From what I’ve seen and imagined I thought that I would have to endure heaps of rubbish and clogged gutters. It’s been a pleasant surprise to not have to see those things. The surrounding city areas aren’t as clean, yet part of me was expecting something far worse.

Leaving campus things are a little different. Based on where you are, you could see gutters full of rubbish and large pools of standing water or well maintained streets. It is all based on what part of town you are in. The more touristy parts of town or the better neighborhoods are more likely to be better maintained...not much different from home.

I don’t think that I will ever grow accustomed to throwing fruit rubbish on the ground or the amount of littering I see other people do. Off of campus a little piece of me wants to walk around with one of those “picker-upper” things and just pick up the trash. The problem comes down to where does it go once it’s in the bin. The city has a bit of a waste removal system. Many residents burn their garbage…what little they make that isn’t compost able or reusable. People here are so thrifty. I see many things being reused. Plastic bags from bread get rinsed and dried to be used to get meat from the butcher. Blue Band margarine containers become parts for children’s toys. Soles are cut off of shoes to make stoppers for sinks and tubs. It is truly unconventional recycling.