the lack of garbage separations in the third worlds - impossible to organize them all?

Question

Indonesia, phillipines, vietnam, iran, pakistan, malaysia, Africa

should they learn from us?

Answer 1

NO I don't think they should learn to create non functioning voluntary industry recycling programs for the purpose of avoiding meaningful legislation. They can do better on their own.

Answer 2

A friend of mine who was a military brat (child of a military family) was living in some third world country (I can't recall which one) and there was TOTAL separation and recycling. There was no garbage pickup. People threw their trash in a vacant lot and hoards of poor people came by and picked every usable thing out of that lot, and then brought in their animals which ate all the discarded food, and that vacant lot was totally clean the next day. Now THAT is recycling. But it required grinding, degrading, horrible poverty to work. Is that really what we want?

Answer 3

Are you on your namesake? the lower paid members of these economies make a living by recycling. In the west with our multiple planet lifestyles we're in no position to teach anybody anything.

Do you not realize that recycling only goes a fraction of the way to mitigating the environmental impact of the consumerism that necessitates tha recycling. If you didn't consume, yoiu wouldn't need to recyle.

The mantra is Reduce , Reuse, Recycle. That's in order of preference.

Stop winding us up and get a life.

Answer 4

They have been! We taught them the appeal of the "Throw Away" Culture in the first place!
It takes time and money for things to change.
They have just learned that disposable products are available. Next, they need to know how to dispose of them and a bit of cash incentive (like some pennies back on recycling a bottle etc) would help lots.