Garbage, a really stinky problem

Last week, I was part of a series of workshops for women in a village near Bethlehem (I presented a brief overview of Compassionate communication/non-violence as a way of life). At the end of the week, one of the questions asked of the women who participated was: "what's one thing that you learned this week that you'll put into practice in your everyday life?"

Most of the women made general comments ("I think the water system in the village needs to be fixed", "I want there to be peace and for the occupation to end"). While those kinds of comments were made with great passion and hope, they were also quite general.

But Khadija said, "I think there is too much garbage in our village and I want to try to clean it up."

I say, "Go, Khadija!!" I agree with her and have, frankly, been appalled at the amount of garbage everywhere. In Bethlehem (and in all of the Palestinian cities which have services provided by the Palestinian Authority), there are large bins on the streets in which to throw garbage. They're not always emptied in a timely manner, even if they've filled up. Usually, someone will throw a match into the bin then, to burn up the garbage. UGH. Besides the pollution and toxins released into the air, the stench chokes me.

Even the refugee camp, which is run by the UN, has a garbage problem. My friend and housemate Stefan took the photo at the beginning of this post.

Recycling is not even considered as an option. Neither is composting. I cringe every time I throw a plastic bottle, tin can, or piece of paper into the garbage bag. AHHHHHH!

To the left and below are some pictures I took in Jericho earlier this week. The garbage dilemma seems to be exponentially worse there than in Bethlehem. These are all shots taken from the hotel I was staying at. These two that are side by side (just below) were taken from the balcony of the room I was staying in looking straight down and to the left.

The final photo is across a courtyard, as seen from the staircase.