Saturday 3 November 2012

Camp Life (4): Unbelievable Amount of Waste

One of the significant features of Western society, more specifically Canadian society is the amount of waste that you see on daily bases on almost every aspect of life. It was almost the same in the old country when I used to live there. I don`t know about now that people are mostly struggling for the end`s meat. One of the very popular ones that I actually heard it once with my own ears from one retarded was the car vomited” and they use it when they fill up the tank so much that gasoline actually pumps out of the gas and spills all over. The price of gasoline in the country which is one of the top 5 exporters of oil and gas products was very cheap. It is not that much now. Also it was amazing that how much bread people waste on daily basis, at least in the city that I was born and grew up. There were peddlers who practically bought those wasted, old bread from you and would sell it to farmers(!) I heard once. Strange flow of material! You spend millions of dollar to prepare the base food, bread and after years and years you still don’t know how to make it so a huge part of it is impossible to consume after a day of two. So you mostly dump them or feed your animals with it, that are going to be slaughtered for your food soon! Strange cycle here as well. I know that to date people still do not know how make healthy bread that can be kept for a few days.
With this preface we go back to Canada when recycling systems were introduced years ago but people still don`t feel that they must use them. As I explained in a previous post, food is free and available to a very unlimited certain to the Site crew. That causes a huge waste. In fact with the amount of food that people waste at a Site camp a country as big as Bangladesh`s population could be fed. I remember that once I was in the kitchen and this administrative old lady came and started cleaning up the refrigerator. By cleaning up I mean bags of food which were going to the big trash can: Pizza slices, tuna sandwiches, pieces of fruit, lasagna, chicken pieces, etc. There were actually food in there that could still be eaten but she did not care and got rid of all. Some I bet had been picked up the same morning! There was no room in the tall can anymore after that.
And then we move on and check the papers. There is a lot of paperwork in these projects, both at the Site and the offices. Every day we had pile of paper that would directly go to either garbage cans or recycling bins. Those were papers that people had printed and simply didn`t bother to go to the printer to take them! Why the hell would you print something that you don`t need. The printer once was out of order during my short stay at the site, simply because it was being overused for the paper that mostly would go to the garbage. And there was nobody to stop this! Nobody simply cared!
Another big waste at the Site is fuel. Fuel for trucks and buses and fuel for keeping the camp warm. The heating system continuously works without being regulated. So no matter if the temperature is as low is -5 °C or 10°C the same energy is consumed, people simply open the windows and door to let the hot air go!
Ford SUV. Buses are mostly 1/4 full when they go back and forth.
So I really don`t know how these projects are going to be profitable. But as one of the fellas told once this is people who pay for everything through the shares they buy and all other ways! May be the Project owner is just fine!
(Photo: Camp buildings in a partially cloudy afternoon. All these buildings have separate single cells that their temperature could be regulated individually. I will have another post about the cells soon)

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