As you all know, I'm a recycler. And as you all know, I'm a fanatic not only about recycling, but also about the amount that we waste as a society. I'm not sure if Saigon has an official recycling program as there are absolutely no recycling bins on the streets or in the guesthouses in the tourist area. However, this week I took a ride into a District 4, where I saw a 2-container recycle bin on the street. I thought it was strange since usually in poor countries, the tourist areas are where you see the recycle bins, not the local neighborhoods.
There is however, like in Izmir, an unofficial recycling program carried out by the Vietnamese poor. They collect soda cans, plastic bottles, cardboard and possibly tin, using the bicycle as their transportation and cargo means. They rummage through the trash bins on the streets (much easier here than in Izmir) looking for their pieces of gold. I never see them visit the guesthouses nor do I see any sign that the guesthouses bring them what the tourists throw out. (And remember, in 30 degree heat with high humidity, there are a lot of empty plastic beverage bottles being thrown out.)
On the street a while ago, I was carrying around an empty soda bottle. Not for any reason other than I hadn't seen a trash can. I happened to pass a woman going through one of the orange trash bins and I looked at her bicycle: one large canvas bag filled with plastics, one filled with cardboard and a third with something else. She looked up and I reached out my hand with the plastic Sprite bottle. She smiled, took it enthusiastically and said thank you. It was the second time this week I'd received enthusiasm from a recycler. But after I handed it to her, a thought ran through my brain: it seems so futile to give her just one bottle. How is this going to help her?
