Learning about sending waste to poor countries and reading
Flammable makes me think about the Alternative Break Experience (ABE) trip I
went on one year ago to the Dominican Republic. There, we stayed in a volunteer
house in Las Terrenas. The trip included visits to a few shantytowns.
Larry Summer’s suggestion of sending waste to a poor
country, such as one with conditions that resemble the Dominican Republic, is a
horrible idea. Third-world countries typically do not have any form of waste management.
The countries already have trash and waste scattered everywhere, and no one
cleans it up. Sending waste to a poor country does not suggest
that they are going to do anything effective with it. Instead, it could just
collect in their towns, which would only increase the amount of litter and
pollution there. Even if there are laws about pollution, they may not
necessarily be enforced. As a result, if someone decides to dumb their garbage on the side of a road, most likely, no one will stop them.
From what I learned
in Las Terrenas, very few people have access to clean drinking water, so they rely
on small streams or creeks for bathing or washing their food. This water could
very well be contaminated with not only chemicals, but bacteria as well. In
effect, there would be health consequences for those who have to live near the
waste. Giving our country's waste to another country only worsens already atrocious living conditions.
In class, I heard the argument that paying poor countries to
accept our county’s waste could provide money to the country. In reality, the
people who run the government would get the money, but the individuals who live
in poverty may not actually benefit from the incoming money. This same argument
applies to tourism. I have heard that people say that the tourism in poorer,
tropical countries benefits the members of the country because the money is
supposed to somehow trickle down to those living in abject conditions. Based on what I
saw and learned from my ABE trip, this is not the case. The fancy resorts and
hotels keep the money to themselves. If the government of these countries is
managing the money it receives from accepting the waste, it is also possible
they will only become richer and the poor will not be helped by it whatsoever.
Countries, such as the Dominican Republic, have a history of being run but
corruption. Even if there are elections, they may often be rigged. (The non-fiction
book, In the Time of Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez portrays this corruption,
and I highly recommend it.)
I have included some pictures of what I envision the
shantytowns of Flammable, Argentina to resemble. The pictures are from the ABE
trip.
I like your point about how the poorer countries would manage our waste. I never really thought about that aspect of it before. Once it gets there someone has to manage it, and if they do not have effective waste management systems of their own, how can we expect them to manage our waste. It just doesn't seem fair to dump our waste there, knowing it will most likely just sit there and add to their garbage.
ReplyDeleteI also brought up the point that by dumping waste from wealthy and stable nations into others which are substantially less wealthy, you are fueling the poverty and unmanageable living conditions even more because these countries don't have the money or the resources to successfully run their own waste management programs. So, how can you expect them to deal with even more waste? Waste not even created by them? I found your pictures to be very disheartening Jenny. Its sad that people are forced to live in conditions like that while those with the power sequester the money for themselves.
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