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| A dog sits atop a pile of trash near Sidhbari, India |
Nowhere is the problem of garbage more evident than in India. It's everywhere. The problem is always right in front of your eyes.
While at my home in Minnesota, all I have to do is dump the trash into one garbage can and the recycling into another, and each week it's picked up and well, goes somewhere. It's no longer my problem!
It has only been through my experience in India that I have become aware how my purchasing habits contribute to this worldwide trash crisis. There is no weekly trash pickup. If I have trash, I have to figure out how to get rid of it - and to do it responsibly, which is not an easy task. What to do with the paper (toilet paper included, you can't flush it). Do I burn it? What about the packaging that I do generate? What about the veggie peelings? Yeah, I know I could start a compost pile, but that will attract critters, I fear?
Whether here or there, for me, it starts at the store. I'm becoming increasingly aware of unnecessary packaging including bottles and boxes. This packaging, here in India, too much of the time ends up along the roadside.
And just cause I can't see where all this refuse goes at my Minnesota home, doesn't mean there isn't a problem. It's just, well, out of sight, out of mind.
DISCLAIMER: My ramblings are in no way a representation of this magnificent country and its people. India is a widely diverse country. Cities are vibrant and very modern, but we choose to live in a smaller, more remote area where many of the old customs and traditions are very much practiced. Dharamshala is home to the Dali Lama and the Tibetan government in exile, thus a large Buddhist population. This area attracts artists, musicians, yoga and meditation practitioners from all the world. It is also home to many important Hindu temples.
