It's in the Bag

I don't know if Justin and I have talked about the trash situation over here but it is not pretty. Their system consists mainly of people walking around with push carts collecting trash with their hands, which isn't always bagged, from people's residences. They then take it to some facility where it is put in clear plastic bags and then taken to a storage building. There is one of these storage buildings near our complex that we often pass by and see people in there dig through the trash in the bags. I can't imagine what they are looking for and the filth and smell they are subjecting themselves to. It really puts things in perspective for you. I am not quite sure what happens with the trash from this point but I wouldn't be surprised if they just burned it.

At our house we have a sort of dumpster built into the wall that surrounds our house in the front. Men come by in a small open bed truck and dig the trash out of the dumpster, I think once a week. It is a little more "normal" but a far cry from the garbage collection we are all used to in the states.

People also seem to use the rivers and streams that run throughout the city as a place to dump their garage. The garage will collect in places, like near a bridge, as it flows downstream. It is in these places where you will often find people collecting the trash and burning it. Nice smell.

Now that you have an idea of how trash is dealt with here, consider just how much garbage 10 million people generate. This is one of the aspects of living in Jakarta that I don't like to think about too much. However it does come to mind when I walk the aisles of the grocery store and see liquids, like dish soap, cooking oil and launrdy detergent, being sold in plastic bags rather than rigid plastic containers. Or when I see people on the side of the road drinking beverages or eating soup from a plastic baggie. I have to think it is their attempt to reduce the amount of waste and save some money.

So if you are making a list of how many things you can use a plastic baggie for, add cup and bowl to the list.