4/27/2005: Litter in Kosovo

[Undertoad]

More to clean up in this shot of the Sitnica River near Libljan, Kosovo. It occurs to me that where you see this sort of thing is where there's bad government or no government... but lack of government doesn't necessarily lead to this, either! So, is it the laws or lack of them or lack of enforcement of them that leads to this - or is it people's lack of respect for their surroundings?

[Promenea]

Actually this looks like it is specific to plastic and mostly bottles at that. So, perhaps it is a landfill or recycling center rather than just random trash? Also, notice that it doesn't extend indefinately so that leads me to think it is localized for some reason and again that it isn't just disregard.

[wolf]

To me that looks like trash that was light enough and boyant enough to go downstream.

[Troubleshooter]

From a response by a Bosnian guy a work with:


Buddy: fucking Kosovo man, those people that live there should be sent to fucking China, and that place given to someone who knows how to respect what they have
Buddy: Albanians are the worst people on this planet, culturally, by behavior, attitude, all other aspects of society
Buddy: fuck them
Buddy: you really think that Serbs were the only cause of war in Kosovo
Me: Albanians are that bad?
Buddy: first time you meet someone who is Albanian, espacially Albanian from Kosovo, you will realizz and say, fuck this
Buddy: fuck yeah they are
Buddy: they are a different type of homo sapiens, homo alabaniens

[Undertoad]

Previous Albanian IotDs:

10/16/2004: Rainbow-colored Albanian building

...in which the Albanian government can't name its roads, and

2/25/2003: Albanian wife

...in which we learn that the wives do all the house work because it's a sign of weakness for the men to help out.

[Promenea]

So the Albanians are the new Poles?

[russotto]

This photo is clearly mislabeled. It's obviously simply the trash left over after an "Earth Day" event. Who else but upper-class environmentalists drinks that much bottled water?

[Clodfobble]

People whose water supply is also the local toilet.

[LCanal]

Nah thats just the aftermath of an Indonesian market or wedding/circumcision

Looking closer it appears to be a collecting point for some enterprising recycler as it is predominantly plastic bottles or packing material. And one milk carton!

If I carried a camera there are similar looking, if more organized, sites like that all over Indonesia.

[Wombat]

Looks like it's all lightweight stuff that was blown there by the wind. See how it's filled the low spots up against a row of trees, just like a snowdrift would form?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Tough to fish in that river.

It occurs to me that where you see this sort of thing is where there's bad government or no government... but lack of government doesn't necessarily lead to this, either! So, is it the laws or lack of them or lack of enforcement of them that leads to this - or is it people's lack of respect for their surroundings?

It's never government or authority of any kind that causes this. It's people, always people and only people. You can't legislate...or regulate what people will tolerate. You don't have to clean up everybody elses trash or get in a litterers face but at least don't be part of the problem by saying "well, everybody else does so why shouldn't I?" The answer to that, of course, is because that will make you a scum sucking, low life, douche bag, too.

[wolf]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Tough to fish in that river.

Tough to be a fish in that river.

[russotto]

That's not exactly a river; it's an irrigation or drainage canal along the border of someone's fields. The Sitnica itself is a fairly major river a lot bigger than that. And plastic bottles are about the least problem with the Sitnica... it's had all sorts of industrial wasted dumped in it... phenol, lead, sufuric acid, etc.

[Oafed]

Act like a pig. Live like a pig.

[BigV]

OMG