Ghana Day 15 - 032712 Trashed

Ghana Day 15 032612 Trashed

One dramatic difference between here and life in the States is a) the incredible amount of trash that we generate back home, and b) the lack of a means for disposal for what people throw out in Ghana.

Every day or so, back home, our family fills a kitchen trash bag full of paper and plastic stuff, plus another container of plastic and metal recyclables. Everything comes packaged, and some things are double-sealed, just for good measure. We have cereal boxes and juice containers, plastic bags from the supermarket and disposable foil. I really never stopped to think about it, it just was what we do. Once in Ghana, I realized that there was virtually no trash except for thin black plastic shopping bags (that everything comes in) and tons and tons of clear plastic water sacks, that are strewn everywhere.

The good news is that, in Ghana, most food is purchased in bulk, fresh, in its original form, unprocessed, and without any packaging. The decorative cartons that everything comes in back home in the States, seem particularly wasteful from this vantage point. The downside (sigh) is that the trash that Ghana does generated is more or less strewn everywhere. Our Australian friend, Hannah, was on a constant search for a “bin” to throw away trash, but it never surfaced, even in public places like beaches and tourist areas.

Since Ghanaian culture is derived from tribal roots that go back centuries, I had mistakenly presumed that some regard for the land and natural resources was inherent in their action, much like the Native Americans. I was wrong. As best as I can tell, there is no regard for the land, for natural resources, and only a local concern for trash management. This amounts to NIMBY (not in my backyard), keeping the stoop of each home swept clean, moving it into the surrounding road.

In our travels, we passed many logging trucks, carrying massive trees, with 20+ inch trunks that looked old and kind of like the California redwoods. There is little chance that these are being replanted.

We noticed that it is often overcast here in Ghana, and my suspicion is that part of this is a smog cloud generated from constantly burning the ever present plastic trash debris. It has been incredibly difficult to appreciate the inherent beauty of this country when it is strewn with litter. As I mentioned, neighborhoods do not seem to value having their collective area look nice, they just sweep off their own doorway.

On our fourth day here, I had accumulated about 20 used water packets in my pockets, backpack and shoulder bag. There was no apparent place to dispose of them, so I watched our host to see what the local custom was. When he was done drinking his water, he flipped the empty container to the side of the road, joining others that would be further consolidated into a trash heap and burned a during the week. Since there was no other means of disposal, I reluctantly followed suit, although it violated all of my sensibilities of environmental consciousness.

The black and clear plastic litter in Ghana is just a mess.