Rubbish Removal from Homes in Rural China

[skylee]

But the country / provinces / cities (etc) do collect taxes, right? Shouldn't such public money be used to provide public services (for free or for a charge) like garbage collection and disposal? Why does it look like nobody is taking care of this aspect of life? Have I missed something?

[Scandinavian]

well, if you are busy scraping in money perhaps you forget to clean up after you.

In my city there are many people cleaning the streets, the streets are generally clean. But it is common that people throw trash from their car windows, or throw an empty waterbottle even if they are just a couple of steps away. The trash will be removed very quickly, so actually this excellent street cleaning service makes it difficult for people to learn not to throw trash.

[pprendeville]

As long as we don’t burn much, I think it’d be tolerable for the environment, and us as well.

If a few hundred million people have the same attitude that's a lot of dioxins.

[pancake]

China could learn a thing or two about cleanliness from Singapore, that's for sure...

[skylee]

But running a very big country is not the same as running a tiny country.

[realmayo]

Shouldn't such public money be used to provide public services (for free or for a charge) like garbage collection and disposal? Why does it look like nobody is taking care of this aspect of life? Have I missed something?

I think you're being a bit unfair on the officials Skylee. Maotai doesn't come cheap, not to mention getting the wife and kids sorted out with a nice place to live overseas.

[Scandinavian]

But running a very big country is not the same as running a tiny country.

I have heard this "excuse" several times in China. It's not possible to do this and that because there are too many people. However, there are also more people to get the job done, no matter if the job is to clean up rubbish or to tally votes after an election or to check if people turn on the headlamps on their cars at night.

There will be the same levels of organizations needed. State to lead the direction through lawmaking, provincial to do some tasks, and local government to get the actual jobs done. All countries, big or small, have this basic structure at some level.

If using size as an argument against doing something, then that is the same as admitting to not being able to run an organization.

[liuzhou]

China is not only considerably larger that Singapore, but considerably poorer. That is also a factor.

All countries, big or small, have this basic structure at some level.

We may wish so, but it just ain't true.

[Scandinavian]

We may wish so, but it just ain't true.

How does China differ from this? Would you not agree that proper organisation will eliminate any problems that might arise from large population.

[liuzhou]

Did I say China differed?

[Scandinavian]

You did not but you said is wasn't true that all countries has the same basic structure and as this in the context of rubbish removal in China, it felt it was safe to assume you disagreed with my statement in a way where you think China is different.

[liuzhou]

No. when I say that all countries do not have have this basic structure, I mean exactly that. If I had wanted to say China doesn't, I would have said China doesn't.

And although China does to an extent, it doesn't work in the same way as all other countries.

[Scandinavian]

Could you then elaborate on how the workings of China differ from other countries and perhaps do so in a context of rubbish removal ?

[liuzhou]

ha ha!

You expect me to give you a primer in Chinese history, politics and culture re rubbish collection in an answer on an online forum?

That's a PhD course! And I charge big money for those!

[realmayo]

If using size as an argument against doing something, then that is the same as admitting to not being able to run an organization.

山高皇帝远. I've not been to Singapore but I'm not sure the mountains are too much trouble there.

[Scandinavian]

@liuzhou

Well, perhaps not a primer in Chinese politics and culture. But there must be a reason why garbage is everywhere. And I will bet there is no garbage pile anywhere near any partymembers homes.

Number of people and geographical challenges, I just don't buy as arguments. If there was the will to do anything about rural rubbish removal it could be done, and it is well within the capabilities of Chinese society if there was the will to do so.

[Lu]

But running a very big country is not the same as running a tiny country.

Then perhaps China should be split up into a number of small countries, no?

[johnk]

Hi pprendeville

your recent threads have caused me to do a lot of reminiscing. The thread about safety caused me to remember why I hate pigs. The thread about taxi drivers brought to mind a furious row I had with my cousin. Since this thread is about rural gabage collectiions, I may as well stick to that topic.

To give a bit of background, I am in my mid fifties and I grew up in rural Ireland - think 1960s.

The concept of rural garbage collection did not exist where I was a kid. We knew what dustbins were and there may have been one or two in the farmyard at home to carry animal feed in. But the idea that you could put rubbish in them and people would take it away, did not exist.

Admittedly there was a lot less rubbish in those days, the world still had not developed the disposable mentality. There was a lot less 'stuff' to get rid of and people reused much more. And of course there was much less plastic.

Household rubbish that could be burned, was burned - usually in the kitchen stove. Stuff that could be composted, was composted. Really big pieces of rubbish were dumped in the local ballast pit at the end of the second field. I don't recall that we really had a rubbish problem.

The odd thing is that I feel we are going back to that situation now. My sister's local council in Ireland no longer collect rubbish. It is all farmed out to private companies and my sister complains that it is very expensive. So she is now a fanatical re-cycling expert and her disposable rubbish is just 1 bag a month. She takes that to the tip herself.

Here in the UK, the local council still collects rubbish, but it is now once a fortnight and they are pushing for a 'pay as you throw' system.

None of this is much help to you in your current situation with you in-laws. I guess I am just making the point that many things you take for granted do not exist in other places and did not exist in Ireland 50 or 60 years ago.

[skylee]

A pay as you throw system is a good way to reduce rubbish.

[liuzhou]

A pay as you throw system is a good way to reduce rubbish.

But I usually get paid for my trash.

I pay them to take away kitchen waste etc. ¥50 a year.

Everything else - paper, cardboard, polystyrene packaging, beer bottles, Wahaha bottles, Coke cans, broken electric fans, ex-wives etc. I recycle by selling to the many, many people queueing up to take my garbage to wherever they sell it on for a few pennies more.