Garbage Woes
Shannon Crawley
October 27, 2011

Honduras has a big garbage problem. We've noticed from the very beginning that littering is common in both the rural communities and the cities, and that burning garbage is the most common form of disposal.

Today, Ali and I were walking in La Ceiba and saw a young girl carrying a bag of garbage out of her house. She walked a few steps away from her door, and threw the bag into an empty lot. This kind of attitude towards waste is completely foreign to us as Canadians, who are accustomed to having a systematic waste collection system that is taken care of by the government. Our only responsibility is to put the garbage at the appointed location at the appointed hour. How convenient for us!

Cities in Honduras do have some form of trash collection that I have not yet been able to understand. I have seen the odd garbage truck, and there are random industrial drums around town for trash. However, it's still common to see big piles of garbage, and to smell people burning their household waste.

It's a different story in Iriona and Esparta, where there is no government-supported system in place for waste management. Burning garbage is by far the most common solution, and this is very problematic for health reasons. Aside from the toxic smoke and fumes, chickens, cows, and pigs eat out of these smouldering piles and are later consumed by people. Most of the women we've interviewed have expressed an avid interest in revamping the garbage collection system, and many of the community members have participated in regular beach and community clean-ups. The problem is, with such remote locations, few options exist for a completely sanitary, safe, and environmentally sound garbage disposal system.