Pondering Thought #4: Hoarding and A Trash Pileup

Where is the line between conserving and hoarding?  I find myself keeping empty peanut butter jars (cleaned out obviously), small pieces of twine, plastic water bottles, old toothbrushes, plastic bags (from the supermarket), etc. ‘just in case’ I need it for something.  But I’m not really finding a use for any of it.  I have actual Tupperware for food storage; I have cups and Nalgene water bottles for drinking; plastic bags I reuse occasionally but not very often.  So instead of finding a new purpose for these random items, they collect dust in a corner of my house.  I don’t think I qualify as a hoarder yet, but it would be a shame to waste a perfectly good piece of twine.

So what’s the alternative?  What else could I do with all of this junk?  Throw it away, you say?  Let me explain the trash situation in Uganda.  

Trash is everywhere.  Every street and dirt road is lined with trash, and it's scattered across the open fields.  The only way to actually dispose of something is to burn it in a trash pit or pile.  That’s not a problem for office papers, newspapers, and leaves; and Mother Nature takes care of food scraps – but how do you burn an old toothbrush?  Or a metal tomato paste can?  Or a glass olive oil bottle?  Every plastic granola bar wrapper, plastic shampoo bottle, plastic bag/packaging, etc. must be burned or it will all just float around the country until it eventually breaks down after 500 years. 

I’m okay burning paper/cardboard in my trash pit (it gives me something to do and is a little therapeutic), but I’m not comfortable burning plastic and releasing toxic fumes into the air around my house.  I’ve somehow managed to find another way to ‘take care of it’ – I bag the plastic/glass/metal stuff and take it to the trash receptacle at the hospital or in town.  Yes, there are actual garbage bins around, although very sporadically.  I don’t know who collects the trash or what they do with it – maybe burn it in an incinerator somewhere (?) or maybe there’s a landfill in Uganda (?).  I realize that this is the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ philosophy, but I don’t know what else to do.  And a lot of times people will rummage through the bins (after I leave my trash) and take it.  Hey, if someone else wants the empty bottle from my multi-vitamins, they can have it.

One more thing:  During my grant research for updating the office computers at Kuluva, I asked the technician what to do with the old computers and printers.  His response . . . nothing.  There is nothing we can do with old electronics in Uganda.  Business/schools/etc. can only store them in a backroom (somewhere) for  . . . eternity (?).  Kuluva currently has 11 monitors, 8 CPUs, 1 photo copier, 2 printers, and a huge box full of keyboards that are broken or completely out of date.  The library is cluttered with useless electronics, and there is a closet full of old printer toner cartridges.  If I purchase new computers for the school office, I am just creating more electronic garbage that will be stored in the library.  It’s a huge dilemma.  If someone wants to help Africa, set up a recycling program!!!  Plastic, glass, metal, electronics – ALL OF IT!!!  Plus that will help create jobs.

(I recommend watching The Simpsons episode “Trash of the Titans” [Season 9, Episode 22] where Homer gets elected as Sanitation Commissioner.)

This is one thing I think people take for granted in America.  All you have to do is put your trash and recycling in a bin and set it by the curb.  Then it’s gone – out of sight, out of mind.  It isn’t until you have to burn your own peanut butter jars that you become a hoarder.