23 Feb 2008
Gavin Hudson
Julie Chow: Environmentalism in Singapore | The first impression most people have when they think of Singapore is cleanliness. Hand-in-hand with the anti-gum-chewing rule, it is not an unfair assumption, given the island-city-state’s patriarchal government and tropical climate (palm trees and greenery cover the island in abundance.)
Here is something that might surprise you though: Singaporeans don’t recycle. Or if they do, it’s not as blatantly apparent as in the United States. Occasionally, you’ll see a receptacle on the street that is divvied up into plastics/metals, paper and waste, but for the most part, everything gets tossed into one big trash can. Trash shoots aren’t sorted into blue recyclables and black everything-else-goes here. I remember once during the summer, I was sorting trash while at work when my boss came up to me and asked what I was doing. Apparently it’s all just trash over there — nothing specific about it.
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