Do You Think About Garbage?

In the course of your day-to-day routines, do you think much about garbage?  My guess is no.  At least not much beyond taking it out to the dumpster (City dwellers) or curb (suburbanites).  Perhaps a little extra thought is given to recycling.

Well, on the island, I think about garbage a lot.  For example:

• There is one dump on the island.  Think about how small this island is (less than 5 square miles) and you'll understand how important it is to contain the dump.  We try to minimize garbage and smells as much as possible.
• If I cook lobster and have empty shells, I carry those down to the beach and toss them in the water.  Anything from the sea goes back to the sea - not to the dump.
• I don't have a food disposal in the kitchen sink.  We try not to waste food anyway, and I have become quite adept at using every little scrap and becoming creative with leftovers.  However, for food scraps that would otherwise go down the drain/disposal, I collect it in a sealed plastic container in the fridge.  When it gets full or after several days, I take it outside, dig a hole and bury the food (compost).  I confess I've been doing this less since the dog likes to dig it up, but that's still preferred over dumping in the trash.
• No garbage pickup services exist for everyone.  In the town center, one man drives one regular pickup truck and collects garbage for the local residents.  Anywhere else, we take it to the dump ourselves.
• Visitors by boat must pay to dump their garbage on this little island! Boaters gather their garbage at sea and dump it when they come to port.  Lots of boaters mean lots of garbage, especially with some of the huge yachts.  The local marina charges per bag, and boaters can throw their garbage bags into a marina cart to be hauled to the dump.

Now that you know the random bits of garbage that I think about, let's put it in some visual context.

On a recent afternoon, I decided to make a run to the dump.  I loaded one bag of garbage into the back of my golf cart, and Angel happily scampered up to the front seat, excited for an excursion.

Off we go!

We cruised down the road, over a little bridge above a saltwater creek, around the airport and down a long road toward the center of the island on the other side.  In my slow golf cart, it was about a 5 minute ride.

The road, just 30 yards from the dump.

I turned onto the dump access path.  From the main road, the dump is not visible at all, thanks to a large berm and it being set back from the road.  However, once I turned onto the access path, scraps of garbage and broken glass became visible.  The community cleans the island several times a year and tries to keep the dump area clear, but scraps are bound to filter out by falling off of vehicles or being blown by the wind.

Starting down the short access path. 

As we rounded the corner, the dump came into view in all its glory.

Circular drive through the dump.

Loose protocol is to throw the trash towards the left in front, place larger (and possibly salvageable) items in the middle or to sides.  One person's junk is another person's treasure?  Some people visit the dump from time to time to see what they might want to scavenge.

Usually much more "stuff" sitting around.  Treasure hunters must have been through recently.

Unfortunately, no recycling program exists on the island.  The interest is there, but it hasn't become a reality yet.  The government does not offer anything, and it's too expensive (and a big hassle) for individuals to recycle:  it would involve collecting, and then shipping or flying the items from the island to Nassau.

Since no good recycling options, bottles go to the dump, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Angel actually obeys and stays on the cart while I add our garbage to the pile.  I don't let her run around with all the broken glass and who-knows-what.  Also, lots of flies buzz around.  Ick.

Patiently waiting, but very curious.

I pulled in and circled around, retrieved the bag of trash from the back of the cart and flung it into the heap of "new" garbage.  From there, it will be burned.  Burning is done ad hoc, but on a day when it is not windy!  Then, a bulldozer or other machine is brought in from time to time to push the dump back and compress it as much as possible into the berm surrounding the dump.

That's my garbage flying in midair.

After my garbage lands, I quickly hop back into the cart and drive off, realizing that I've been holding my breath as much as possible.  Until the next time!