Oh India, you really are a striking country but your past and many traditions are not keeping up in so many ways.
The trash issue...it breaks my heart. Beautiful mountainsides are covered with garbage, most of it plastic. It is amazing to me that there is little to no understanding that this plastic with NEVER go away. It will always be there, ALWAYS, on that once beautiful hillside.
This is one hillside on our way into town. Lush, green, and yet look at those steps...coated in garbage. Mussoorie is far (far!) from the worst of it. The big cities, Delhi and Dehra Dun (my only big cities so far!) are blanketed by trash. It is a field day for the monkeys and homeless pigs. Garbage galore! Help yourself!
When Oliver and I first arrived in Delhi, Andy meet us at the airport and we were hosted by two Woodstock parents, Sonya and Vikram. They live in a wealthy suburb of Delhi called Noida. Just looking at the homes in this neighborhood you could tell that the owners were successful, probably well educated and that they could afford very lovely places to live. Yet, there were piles of trash in the street in front of countless homes. Noticing that Sonya's driveway was trash-free I asked her why her neighbors had so much garbage in front of their homes. I could tell this subject frustrated her a great deal. "It's the OLD way of thinking here: 'if it's out of my house, it's no longer my problem!'" She went on to say those neighbors who think this way need to be more informed on what trash does to the environment and water. She also said that her neighborhood has a very well-run sanitation system and that all they have to do is put their trash out in bins to be collected but that so many people view this as an act of great difficulty. Oy.
We were having a snack with our friends this weekend at an outdoor restaurant at the top of our mountain. This restaurant is located near a bridge that goes over a ravine. As we were eating, I watched as our 13 year old server took a box of trash and threw it over the bridge. My heart sank. Who knows if this child attends school, but it clearly showed that little is being done to educate the young on taking care of their environment. There is a fantastic sanitation system in Mussoorie and I am told they even sort through and recycle the plastic and gas (let's hope so!) and there are public garbage cans that are monkey-proof everywhere. But yet, it is so much easier to to chuck the trash down the hill. It makes my blood boil.
Store owners sweep the trash out their stores and into the street gutter. A couple of times we have been walking through town and have had napkins or plastic silverware or paper swept out onto our feet. Have you no garbage cans in your place of business? You can imagine the water situation this creates, but more on that later. So the garbage piles up and up and up... Given that India also views anyplace (a tree, a public street, a sidewalk, a pile of a garbage) as an acceptable place to relieve yourself and that there are no restrictions on automobile emissions, you can imagine the stench in the cities. Oy indeed! Andy has told me that he is quite envious of my lack of ability to smell things, that the odor of the cities (which are at a much lower elevation and therefore HOT!) can be unbearable, stifling.
I just want to shake this country sometimes. WAKE UP! Start to see the big picture and how these practices fit in! Start small, I guess. At least Andy can educate twelve children and hopefully they can go on and educate their parents and a few friends and they can pass it along....and so on. Oh India! So beautiful, so many rich traditions and yet such a hot, dirty mess.
The trash issue...it breaks my heart. Beautiful mountainsides are covered with garbage, most of it plastic. It is amazing to me that there is little to no understanding that this plastic with NEVER go away. It will always be there, ALWAYS, on that once beautiful hillside.
When Oliver and I first arrived in Delhi, Andy meet us at the airport and we were hosted by two Woodstock parents, Sonya and Vikram. They live in a wealthy suburb of Delhi called Noida. Just looking at the homes in this neighborhood you could tell that the owners were successful, probably well educated and that they could afford very lovely places to live. Yet, there were piles of trash in the street in front of countless homes. Noticing that Sonya's driveway was trash-free I asked her why her neighbors had so much garbage in front of their homes. I could tell this subject frustrated her a great deal. "It's the OLD way of thinking here: 'if it's out of my house, it's no longer my problem!'" She went on to say those neighbors who think this way need to be more informed on what trash does to the environment and water. She also said that her neighborhood has a very well-run sanitation system and that all they have to do is put their trash out in bins to be collected but that so many people view this as an act of great difficulty. Oy.
We were having a snack with our friends this weekend at an outdoor restaurant at the top of our mountain. This restaurant is located near a bridge that goes over a ravine. As we were eating, I watched as our 13 year old server took a box of trash and threw it over the bridge. My heart sank. Who knows if this child attends school, but it clearly showed that little is being done to educate the young on taking care of their environment. There is a fantastic sanitation system in Mussoorie and I am told they even sort through and recycle the plastic and gas (let's hope so!) and there are public garbage cans that are monkey-proof everywhere. But yet, it is so much easier to to chuck the trash down the hill. It makes my blood boil.
Store owners sweep the trash out their stores and into the street gutter. A couple of times we have been walking through town and have had napkins or plastic silverware or paper swept out onto our feet. Have you no garbage cans in your place of business? You can imagine the water situation this creates, but more on that later. So the garbage piles up and up and up... Given that India also views anyplace (a tree, a public street, a sidewalk, a pile of a garbage) as an acceptable place to relieve yourself and that there are no restrictions on automobile emissions, you can imagine the stench in the cities. Oy indeed! Andy has told me that he is quite envious of my lack of ability to smell things, that the odor of the cities (which are at a much lower elevation and therefore HOT!) can be unbearable, stifling.
I just want to shake this country sometimes. WAKE UP! Start to see the big picture and how these practices fit in! Start small, I guess. At least Andy can educate twelve children and hopefully they can go on and educate their parents and a few friends and they can pass it along....and so on. Oh India! So beautiful, so many rich traditions and yet such a hot, dirty mess.
I would lose my mind!!
ReplyDeleteWait. You don't have a sense of smell? At all? How did I not know this?!
xo!
Oh Lindsey, it saddens me to read this it really does. At least you can have the peace of mind that you will not be throwing your refuse over a bridge and adding to the "hot stinky mess". I love you and miss you all very much.
ReplyDelete