A Slice of Life

And so here begins our new series in which we are pleased to bring you, armchair tourists, a taste of what everyday life is like around the world (but actually more specifically our limited experience in Ghana and maybe wherever else we end up).  We hope to explore a range of topics from transportation to telecommunication; waste disposal to wedding proposals.  Got a predilection for plumbing?  We might cover that too!  Tell us your fancy!  We live to tell you what little we know.  (In case you miss it here, look for all of the above in our surely soon-to-be-published Lonely on this Planet: A guide to not understanding cultures around the world.)

Waste Disposal
Let’s say that our observations are that Ghana’s waste disposal policy is decidedly DIY.  There is none.  Garbage is everywhere.  Once we saw a town with garbage cans near a tourist area.  (At that same tourist spot there were both very empty garbage cans and trash everywhere.)  Once we saw a group of kids picking up garbage along a town road, carrying a sign that read “Reduce Litter,” and on the same day passed what we guessed to be a town dump (a large area next to some homes and stores piled with garbage, some of which was burning).   Otherwise, garbage lies at the side of every road, clogs every gutter, and litters every green space all the way up to the top of Ghana’s tallest mountain.  Small garbage fires occasionally burn along the road or behind houses.  The best way to dispose of the garbage in your hand is to throw in on the ground.

To be fair, the amount of waste generated by a single person in a day is really very low, especially by Western standards.  The vast majority of food is bought fresh (sans packaging) and prepared at home; the notable exception to this being discarded water sachets.  Nevertheless, our delicate Western sensibilities being what they are, it is plain to us that the small print (“Keep Your City Clean”) on every sachet and food wrapper is patently ignored.

Recycling
Paul collects the plastic sachets from the water consumed on the farm and piles them in a storage hole in the nursery.  These are then sometimes used as planting bags for seedlings grown in the nursery.  (Sometimes, depending perhaps on the planter’s enthusiasm for tediously cutting open one side of every pouch.)  For all other plastic, cans, bottles, cardboard and the rest, see Waste Disposal, above.

*** Okay, editor’s note:  Clearly, my first assessment of recycling in Ghana was very low, but after being offered just yesterday a frothy green liquid (to drink?), obviously homemade and rebottled in a used one and a half litre water bottle, I decided it would only be fair to mention that here.  Water bottles are often reused for this purpose, and they’re not all.  Truthfully it is pretty clear that everything in Ghana (like our mosquito net, and our generator, to start; like peoples cars, bikes, clothes, furniture, tools, and building supplies) is milked for the absolute full measure of its usable life before it’s passed on, maybe for someone to fix and gain further use from.  Also, we have received warnings that if we buy bottled water we must check that the bottles are sealed, as some people make a business out of selling tap water under the label of “pure” simply in old bottles.  Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!