Karachi Sojourner

I just took out the rubbish today and while doing so, Eureka, something struck me. With all this fuss about climate change and minding our carbon footprints, we have surely overlooked an important factor ie the rubbish disposal system of different countries.

Let me explain. I am familiar with rubbish disposal in three countries, the US (Philadelphia), Singapore and France (Paris). In Singapore the PAP (People's Action Party or ruling party) has pledged to introduce a system where rubbish is collected daily. (Singapore is a very hot country and therefore such a frequency is not at all excessive). Here in the suburbs of Paris (where the weather is cooler) my rubbish is collected three times a week without fail (if rubbish day falls on a public holiday like Assomption yesterday, the collectors come the next morning). In addition, once a month, non-domestic and bulky rubbish is collected. In Philly where I stayed 2 months last year with my second daughter, Meera, rubbish is collected once a week.

When I was in Philly, (which gets as hot as Singapore) my daughter and I resorted to freezing our perishable rubbish, like left-overs and raw food to avoid stinking up the house. We know of at least one friend who would regularly dump her left-overs and cuttings in the public dustbins on her way to work. Philadelphia is a city that stinks in summer, they say because of rotting rubbish everywhere.

Now this is where the connection to global warming comes in. Imagine if everyone froze their perishable rubbish, what extra electricity would be wasted! No wonder Americans have such giant-size fridges and freezers! For me it was one of the craziest things I ever experienced; having to freeze prawn shells and chicken skin just because rubbish collection is of such low priority (is this because of stinginess or capitalist attitudes towards taxes and government spending?).

I am very fond of my rubbish collection team (éboueurs) of mostly Northern African immigrant stock. They do their job efficiently and cheerfully and with minimal noise, perhaps because of their state-of-the-art equipment that the municipality is able to supply, thanks to our local taxes (taxe d' habitation). They are also perhaps more cheerful then their American or Singaporean counterparts because although they earn the SMIC (minimum wage) and stay in Trappes (yes one of those awful inner-cities towns where they like to burn old cars when provoked), they have health coverage, their children go to school and can, in theory at least, aspire to do better then their parents.

Once, not knowing where to throw an old car battery, I put it in a cardboard box and dumped it with the bulky rubbish which was collected once a month. Two days later the battery without the box was politely deposited back at my doorstep. Wow what efficiency! I still haven't gotten to the Mairie (townhall) to find out how to dispose of the battery, but I was really impressed. It is no wonder that I look forward to Christmas time when I can express my gratitude with a hefty tip in exchange for a broad smile and a calendar from my favourite éboueur!

Horrors of horror. According to news reports, the UK is going to reduce its rubbish collection from once a week to once in two weeks. It makes me wonder whether I ever want to visit my youngest daughter, Rika, who is going to set up house in London with 5 other friends come September! The Labour government claims that this is to encourage recycling. What utter neo-con rubbish! Us poor Frogies went into recycling several years ago and it is running as smoothly as clockwork or french cottage cheese! (Smirk). In fact the third weekly rubbish collection was converted for recycled rubbish.

A Bientôt

Ivy Goh Nair

http://www.donotknockfrance.com/

NB:
We started recycling in March 2003 without fuss, fanfare nor extra charges. It went so well that a private company has now taken over.
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I noticed this summer when I was in Singapore that they had just introduced the exact same models of rubbish bins as ours. Perhaps the Singapore govt sent a team over to study the French rubbish collection/recycling system!

British people shouldn't always swallow wholesale what their govt or media tries to sell them.

A bientôt