The Sad Story of Garbage City

Cairo is the 13th city in the world, however it lacks infrastructure when it comes to garbage collection and recycling. The city of Cairo outsources this dirty job to the town of Manshiyat Naser. This town's economy completely relies on garbage collection, however it also lacks infrastructure needed to safely dispose of all the waste. As a result, trash piles up in the streets. The town has been nicknamed "Garbage City"

The people living in this town, mostly Coptic Christians have been dubbed the "Zabbaleen" which literally translates into "garbage people." They have been collecting Cairo's trash for over 70 years. These people would offer a door-to-door service for a small fee, carting away trash on donkey carts.

Most notably, 90% of all garbage is recycled. This is over 4 times the percentage of recycling done in the western world. 

In 2009, the Cairo government ordered the slaughter of approximately 350 thousand pigs in Manshiyat Naser to prevent swine flu outbreaks. Pigs were very important to the Zabbaleen as they were used to recycle food scraps.

Unsurprisingly, the living conditions in this town are quite poor. In addition to garbage being everywhere, the town lacks running water and electricity. 

Garbage on Everest?

Every year, approximately 800 people attempt to summit Mt. Everest. Over 4000 people have reached the peak since the first ascent by Sir Edmond Hillary in 1953.

What does every climber have in common, despite coming from different nationalities, and ethnic backgrounds? Gear, most notably including cooking fuel and oxygen bottles.

The problem with such gear is that it is very difficult and exhausting to take up, and even more treacherous to take on the decent. As a result, many items get left behind, and the garbage builds up. Everest is rapidly becoming the world's highest garbage dump. Unfortunately, the Nepalese government has very little power to enforce the "take  your trash out with you" rule.

Additionally, due to extreme weather conditions, avalanches, and high altitude, many climbers have perished during their expeditions. If a climber dies on Everest, It is nearly impossible to recover the body. Temperatures as low as -60°C means that bodies will quickly freeze to the rock, becoming stiff and unmovable. A lack of microorganisms (due to the extreme temperatures) also means that the bodies will not decay over time.

Sometimes, bodies are even used as landmarks, most notably, "Green boots cave" on the north route. The name was given to an unidentified climber wearing bright green mountaineering boots in a small alcove at 8500m. The body was later identified to be  Tsewang Paljor, an Indian climber who died in 1996.

Beached Whales Bring a Message to the World

Thirteen sperm whales were beached on the north coast of Germany in 2016. All were perfectly young, healthy, males, aging 10-15 years old.

 Necropsies revealed the contents of the whale's stomachs -- along with squid beaks, fish, and other normal items on the whale menu was a whole lot of garbage, ranging from abandoned fishing gear to car parts.

The cause of their deaths was from the whales finding themselves in too shallow water. If a whale enters water that is too shallow, the weight of its own body will crush its internal organs. The amount of indigestible garbage found in their stomachs would have still caused major health problems down the road, including intestinal blockage. It also shows how much trash ends up in our oceans.

Although sperm whales have jaws which they use to catch prey, evidence suggests that they are just as susceptible to consuming garbage as their baleen cousins. Scientists often find whole fish and squid in the stomachs of sperm whales, suggesting that they inhale their prey and swallow it whole.

  Dead whales have been showing up on beaches for many years now with stomachs full of trash. They are not the only marine animals to consume large amounts of garbage.

Plastics in the ocean

Imagine you just drank the last soda in a six pack, and go to throw away the plastic rings that hold the drinks together when you buy them from the supermarket. Chances are, you probably don't think about where that ring ends up. Chances are, it will find its way into the ocean.

An estimated 6 million tonnes of plastics is dumped in the ocean every year. Some plastics will over time break down into small, colorful pellets, which aquatic life will easily mistake for food. The plastics will quickly move up the food chain, until larger animals will die. Some plastics however, will not easily break down.

Plastic drink rings are infamous because they do not quickly break down in the ocean.
These rings easily trap and entangle wildlife. Perhaps you have heard of Peanut, a red-eared slider turtle from Missouri. As a baby, she  got caught in a drink ring, which caused her shell to grow deformed.

There is a very simple solution I have developed to prevent wild life from getting caught in these (unintentionally) harmful devices. If we all cut the rings, this will prevent animals from getting caught. Next time, before you toss your six pack holder, cut the rings out to prevent animals such as Peanut from getting caught. Be sure to cut all the holes out.

This is not a permanent solution as plastics will still find their ways into our oceans, and will continue to be consumed by wildlife. To truly fix this rapidly growing problem, we must increase recycling and usage of plastics in our daily lives.