“What I do, quite honestly and seriously and not in any way being humble, is not as important as what the garbage collector does.”
—James Caan, 1940-2022, American actor
“Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global garbage cans.”
—Jacques-Yves Cousteau, 1910-1997, French naval officer, oceanographer, diver, explorer, writer, filmaker
“To me, I think people who don’t think it is a big deal to toss a plastic bottle in the garbage are not only being irresponsible, but I think they are being disrespectful to all the other humans on the earth.”
—Sophia Bush, b. 1982, American actress
Barcelona’s Trash and Recycling System
Generally speaking, Barcelona doesn’t do too badly as far as most big, dense, busy-bee metropolitan areas of the Earth go.
The city has an army of folks who descend on the metro area daily and nightly, rotating through the different barrios on a regular basis, sweeping up, dumping out the small trash cans found on most every corner, cruising the street gutters with their vacuum mini-trucks, plying their assigned routes with big green and white Medi Ambient dump trucks to empty the giant, bulging bins, and so on.
My big happy hat is off and waving joyfully at these unsung heroes (not paid enough, surely) who keep us from being buried in waste.
Then there is the recycling system. Nearly every person in Barcelona has, within a block or so, a set of bins for recyling: yellow for plastic and metals, blue for paper and cardboard, green for glass, brown for organic material. These bins get emptied nearly nightly by big trucks with automatic hydraulic lifts. (Now, how much of what gets thrown into these bins is actually recyled is another question, but generally folks are pretty good about putting things in the appropriate container.)
My Complaint
My gripe is that many residents seem to rely way too much on this taxpayer-supported system and, consequently, often just throw crap on the ground, often in the tree wells or the gutters, knowing that within a day or two the faithful Medi Ambient Army will be along to clean up their mess.
In the meantime, we all get to look at it, there on the ground. If it rains, smaller debris gets flushed down into the underground drains, some of it likely even making it to the sea.
There also seems to be a cultural thing going on… that is, if something is on the ground, leave it there, don’t touch it, it’s dirty.
Here are a few images of things I have seen within just a block or two from where we live. Now, mind you, none of this stuff stayed there for more than a day or two–the city eventually came by to sweep it all up. But while it remains it is quite the insult to the senses…
A Special Case: On Cigarette Butts and Their Packaging
This deserves a special mention.
I’m not sure when it happened, but somewhere way back in the dark and smoky history of tobacco and cigarettes, someone decided that the detritas associated with said activity would not be considered trash. It became OK to simply throw cigarette butts on the ground. And here in Barcelona, that seems to also include the cardboard carton cig pack and the plastic wrapping. WTAF! (Feel free to Google that acronym.)
Aside from the unsightliness of it all, the butts contain toxic residues that eventually end up in the soil, in the sea, in fish and animals, and in the food chain.
The plastic cig pack wrapping also may end up in the sea (see the Great Pacific Garbage Patch), or even in our own bodies in the form of microplastics.
Here is my visual comparison…
Yep, I consider the cig trash to be just as offensive as dog shit. (To be fair, here in Barcelona, folks are generally very good about picking up after their dogs–the totally gross shit shot above was a rare and disgusting find.)
The Solution
How about if each of us, individually, do just a tiny bit to leave the places we go just a smidgen cleaner?
Here is what you and I could do to help:
- Recycle (yes, even if you know that not all of it gets recycled–keep the system greased!).
- Make sure your trash makes it completely into the bin, no spillage. If it falls on the ground, pick it up.
- Use compostible trash bags as much as you can.
- Make it a challenge to select one piece of random, visually offensive trash to pick up each time you leave the house.
- When you go for a walk, carry a bag with you and even a cheapo pincer type thing (grabber, trash picker) so you can pick up trash along the way.
- Adopt a small area, street, trail, vacant lot, or corner that you commit to regularly keep free of debris.
- Keep a trash picker and some trash bags in your car. Whenever you stop at a rest area, parking lot, or a view point, pick up a bit of trash.
- Organize a neighborhood, natural area, or trail sytem trash pickup day.
- If you are a shop, business, café, or restaurant owner, sweep off your sidewalk regularly and keep your lot free of trash. It is also good business–people are more attracted to a place that looks nice.
Lets all work together–many hands make little work!
I have a theory that keeping our streets, neighborhoods, and natural areas clean is just the tip of a huge philosophical iceberg and is a metaphor for many other things–like environmental consciousness and respect, mutual kindness and respect between humans (and animals!), respect for our only and unique nest (the Earth), an understanding of how all things are connected on this Earth (water, air, plants, soil, animals, humans)… Perhaps there is even an indirect relationship between litter and corporate (ir)responsibility and political corruption.
And just maybe it all starts by simply picking up the trash.
It’s just a thought.
What I always have in my car:
