I love nature as much as the next tree-hugger (for confirmation, please ask one of my lovely housemates about my feelings in response to the mouse incidence(s)). I highly value the importance of recycling so as to reduce waste and create a more sustainable environment, obviously because it’s vital in maintaining humanity and such, but mostly because I love the aesthetic and spiritual value I receive when walking though and spending time in green space. However, the other day I was struck and a little awed by what recycling means here. I’ve got to admit, though the US way of recycling is probably more effective, the motivation behind “recycling” here is so beautiful that I was a bit saddened by the US way of doing things.
I had some empty plastic water bottles that I no longer needed. I hadn’t really seen any recycling bins (there are hardly even trash cans by me-lots of it is just thrown on the ground)but I knew my host mom shared my love for nature because she’s explained to me how it frustrates her how many trees are being cut down to build things. So I asked if she had recycling or if I should throw them in the trash. She told me they don’t have a system of recycling and to just throw them in the trash. That way, when they go out to the dumpster, people can take them to make money. Almost every time I walk by those dumpsters at the end of our driveway, I see people sifting through for clothes and stuff. But I never really thought about what they might be looking for. I just assumed it would be clothes and shoes and stuff, because I’ve seen people take those. But the thought never even crossed my mind that other people are intentionally putting things that they don’t need in the trash so that their neighbors can have them. I don’t really know for sure how people can make money off of plastic water bottles. My guess is that they clean them, put purified water in them and sell the water bottles because one time I saw a guy cleaning them. Or maybe they can use them to make other things they need. Or sometimes they take them to a business that buys plastic. But since my host mom drew my attention to this, I have seen so many people taking plastic bottles out of the trash. This is how they make a living.
You may be questioning why people don’t just give the things they don’t need to people who need them instead of making them sort through the nasty, smelly trash to get them. I was too. But this is how society functions. Some jobs are left undesirable so that not everyone wants to do them, which leaves them open as a last resort for those who really need it. Also, there is a huge emphasis on one’s rank in society, as I’ve probably mentioned before. Some of it depends on skin color, and much of it depends on economic status and last name. There is a lot of discrimination against Hatians, who are typically darker, wear their hair naturally (don’t straighten it), and have less money. You are judged by who you know, not what you know. Therefore, your rank in society will seriously decline if you are seen spending time with someone of lower class than yourself. So people who have money can leave their trash for people of lower rank, but if they want to maintain their status, they cannot spend time giving those things to people of lower status or helping them out too much. And status isn’t just an issue of vanity. It’s an issue of being able to get or maintain any sort of job to be able to live. You get and keep jobs based on the connections you make, so it’s important for families to maintain status in order to simply get a job.
This was really hard for me to accept as reality. One of the main reasons I came here was to try and understand poverty and I planned to spend more time with the poor. For a seminar I’m taking we had to write vision plans for this semester and one of my goals was to better understand the effects of poverty and what types of things can be useful in promoting social justice and improving the quality of life for a nation in which the signs of poverty are rampant. But I can’t just spend time in the barrios without worrying about the status of my family. One of my friends was scolded for having a conversation with the door guard because he is of lower status. But it’s even about more than just status. People of lower status are so used to being ignored that if you are of higher status and pay attention to them, they want all of your time. Nobody ever listens to them that’s of higher status so when someone does, they latch on to that person, often literally, in an attempt to keep them around. They don’t mean any harm by grabbing hold of your arm and dragging you around, but it can get you into trouble. This is especially true with woman talking to men. If I, as a white woman, were to spend time getting to know a man, he would think that I am interested in him as more than a friend. It gives the wrong message.
I’m hoping to find ways to get around all of these obstacles. But it’s very sobering to realize that to try to complete a seemingly simple task is to think oneself capable of transcending “historical, political, social, and global systems of power in order to become cross-culturally immersed ‘global citizens’”, as Talya Zemach-Bersin writes in Chronicle of Higher Education. I cannot take the route I would prefer to learn more about these people, so I’m going to have to get a little creative and put more effort into learning more about it. But I think the challenge seduces me even more than if it were to be easy. In any case, I have decided through all of this that the US system of recycling is more efficient (and cleanly), the motivations behind the Dominican “system” of recycling are more intriguing, but that in the end, the world would be a much better place if we could all learn to share just like our lovely mothers taught us to in order to care for each other and the Earth. Disclaimer: I am not a Communist. Nor do I belong in any environmental activist groups. I’m just someone who loves people and doesn’t want them to go hungry or be left on the outskirts of society and cannot wait for the day in which my Savior returns to redeem and restore all of the brokenness!
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