Garbage washing up in Santo Domingo

You ask good questions. So we are a developing nation, the 3rd world etc status is no longer used.

Garbage on this island is a huge issue.   And it has become a bigger issue recently when it made international news. What happened recently is NOT new it is an old story frankly.

Every single time we get heavy rains all the garbage in or near the streets gets carried along and much of it is carried to the rivers.  Of course the rivers are overfull and  carry everything down to the ocean.  The current of the ocean then drives that garbage up onto the beaches here in Santo Domingo and elsewhere. 

There are already programs in place to deal with that accumulation. BUT there is no easy answer to the continuing problems.   

1. Not enough garbage receptacles here.  In many many neighborhoods there is no where to put the garbage so it goes in bags or containers on the side of the street. Sometimes garbage trucks dont come by for many days. Imagine what the dogs do? Yup garbage is everywhere.  Then it rains!

2. Not enough garbage pick up.   Not enough budget for additional trucks and personnel.

3. Lack of education. Sadly Dominicans feel it is their country they can do what they want. Education needs to start with the young and will take a couple generations to change.

4. Single use mentality. Way too much use of styrofoam and plastic throw away. Again education

5. Lack of recycling here. There is virtually none.  Glass bottles are charged a deposit but none for plastic.  It is criminal!

By the way thousands helped clean  up the waterfront, lots of people,  lots of large equipment etc.

I guess I'm thinking... Why the Gov  doesn't make it a priority, because we know the people at the top have money and enjoy this beautiful country too....and they really can't afford to lose tourism, But like you said its been going in for some time now.

I appreciate your knowledge in this subject! Also I'm aware its developing and not 3rd world...unfortunately I get people from US that think that it is when I say we want to move there which drives me nuts, and I ask if they have been there?! To see Beautiful new roads, clean beautiful grocery stores, luxury hotels, and thousands of businesses.

I did see the thousands of people helping to clean up and that's Awsome! Hopefully things get better over time.  Thanks!

Yes it's a work in progress that is for sure.

Sadly what gets attention is not always what needs attention here.

I had an idea on the trash. Not sure how to implement it. But, I think it could jump start the clean up process.

1st Sunday of the month, the government and or businesses would pay, either pesos or vouchers, for each bag of trash brought to a common area receptacle. I think people would gather trash all those weeks in between, just to receive the compensation. It wouldn't take too long before the trash that is down now to be gathered.

I don't have a plan, other than education, to sustain the practice. Maybe someone else could figure out a transitional next step. Maybe incentivise private individuals to gather and take loads of trash to designated areas. I think, if you make it worth money, it could work.

We are bringing guests over in October and I am already conditioning them to what they are going to see. How to be careful where you walk. To me, the trash, plastic/styrofoam, cans is one thing. The garbage is just disgusting. Dropping food remains whenever you happen to be done with them is a health hazard.  I don't think the DR is alone in combating this problem. It is cultural, educational, engrained behavior.

As a first time visitor to Dr, we weren't aware of the trash problems on the beaches or other areas
 
However, a short taxi tour in the Colonia Zona and along the seafront quickly acquainted us with the scope and depth of the problem. 

The good news is there was a massive ongoing effort to clear the beaches.  The bad news is that the huge dumpsters anong Indepencia smelled horribly. 

Not the best introduction to the DR!  Where were the "pristine" beaches all the travel and retirement sites promised?

As a first-time visitor,  I don't pretend to know the solution.

As a potential investor and retiree resident, though, I can say the experience gives me pause to reconsider our plans. 

If DR and its residents want their nation and island to flourish, the first step might well be to solve this problem with a more permanent solution.  First the beaches, then the streets and parks, then the homes. 

Again, I don't presume to know how to do that.  I just know that it needs to be done. 

By comparison, our previous international travel was in Germany, primarily Germany.  Germany was spotless, with only rare exceptions.  Most French homes and towns were quite clean -- not as clean as Germany but still quite nice.  French cities, in our experience, were ususally dirtier and trash-strewn, but mostly in high-immigrant neighborhoods.

But Santo Domingo is by far worse than anything we experienced in Europe.

Change whatever must be changed.  If the people want to advance and improve their lives, the first step should be with trash and the resulting odors.

Again, I am just a DR newbie --  expressing my first emotional and intellectual reaction to our experience here. 

Jim

FWIW, I agree with your perspective.  We arrived last Saturday and were shocked by the extent of this problem.

I spent a month in the DR in June, working in the bateys and villages on the outskirts of Santo Domingo. The trash is everywhere. And like Planner said, garbage is not picked up in some areas often. Where we were in Los Alcarrizos, the garbage truck hadn't come by in weeks. You can imagine. Plus, where you have lots of poverty, respect for the world around them (including treatment of animals), is not there. No easy solutions. You hate to see such a beautiful place trashed.

This plan of paying locals to collect trash has been tried, and does not work.  Sure they will collect trash, you pay them, but it never ends.  Even if the supply is limited in some places, they will find out where you are having it taken, and will go there and get more of the very same trash to deliever to you for more payment.

BTW, there is an interesting new fb group I just discovered, that is not censored, as this forum is;https://www.facebook.com/groups/935973689943948/?ref=br_rs

They also started a program on the north coast to teach people about littering,  did not last long.  No local is interested in being preached to by an expat.

I totally understand the preach to part. That is what I have tried to explain to our friends when they have trouble understanding why the trash problem is what it is.

Education in it's myriad forms takes two generations to change an age old system. The kids have to learn, grow up & have kids of their own to teach the new ways. There will always be those left behind in this process to continue the old habits. Without major natural disasters, there is no rapid cultural change.  This truth, I lament.  I do not want a natural disaster of course, I'm just sad that humans do not learn quickly enough. I include myself in being a damn fool.