Recycling Karma

So as most of you know, I'm pretty obsessive about recycling. In fact, I think I've lost more than one boyfriend over it. :)

So being in a place with litter as bad as it is and recycling virtually non-existent, I am getting paid back for all the times I yelled at a boyfriend, housemate, friend, family member, etc. for not recycling! When we first got here, we bought a supply of bottled water. It kills me to throw them out. I had a moment of insanity where I thought about bringing them all home. Then I decided I would rather bring home things from Malawi. (Although they do make good coffee to-go mugs, since those are also lacking here. Although there is take-away food, I'm glad they haven't discovered take-away coffee. That would just take the litter to a whole new level).

There is actually someone that recycles newspapers where Sam works. One day he took Sam's paper off his desk. Sam quickly told him he was going to take that one home. The man said Sam would have to pay him for it because it was his now! Ok, that's an aside, but I just found it funny. (Sam opted to let him keep the paper).

So, my story is that my first week here I was sitting in the backseat of a car. The woman in front of me, a very sweet, older motherly co-worker, threw an empty box of cookies out the car window! I was shocked. It got stuck momentarily and I nearly grabbed it except that I remembered there would be nowhere to recycle it. When it was too late, I thought I could have at least put it in a garbage can, but I'm really glad I didn't grab it. I didn't want to offend people my first week here.

If someone litters like that in the U.S., they are basically considered ignorant. But that is not the case here. There is just not enough public awareness about it. There really needs to be a campaign, as I was told there was in the U.S. in the 60's.