Solid Waste Services
The garbage disposal system where I live is efficient. Everyone in the building piles their garbage up against the fence in the back alley to create what I call the “garbage ovoo” (see photo). 
We toss everything on there-- food scraps, cans, bottles, household appliances, clothes, and anything else we don’t need or want.
As soon as a bag goes out in the alley, the first level of processing begins. This task is performed by the homeless and poor people who regularly pass by to take the bottles and cans (to sell), and the fresher foodstuffs (to eat).
Some of these scavengers specialize, for example, in plastic bottles; while others take anything that can be sold, used, or eaten.
The second level of processing is performed by the dogs.
They eat the more rotten foodstuffs, and carry away the meat bones. A mother and three puppies living in the hasha (yard) of a ger in our alley perform this service for us. The dogs were away when I took this photo, but you can see the hasha and the ger. 
They seem to be quite healthy and energetic as a result of the food they find there.
The third level of processing is performed by the birds. They come in after the dogs and clean up any small scraps or crumbs that have been overlooked.
An extra level of processing is available from the homeless people who shelter in nearby heating/sewage tunnels. I save up my unwanted but nicer items until I see that one of the manhole covers has been removed. Then I gather up these items into a little bag and leave it near the open manhole in the evening. By the next morning the bag is gone.
The beauty of this system is that by the time the garbage truck comes around (which it does at intervals that seem random to me but are well understood by my Mongolian neighbors), there is very little left that isn’t truly garbage. So I never have to remember to put my trash can out on a certain day (heck, I don’t even own a trash can). I never have to separate my garbage from my recycling. And I never feel guilty about throwing something away, because everything in the garbage ovoo is put to good use.
We toss everything on there-- food scraps, cans, bottles, household appliances, clothes, and anything else we don’t need or want. As soon as a bag goes out in the alley, the first level of processing begins. This task is performed by the homeless and poor people who regularly pass by to take the bottles and cans (to sell), and the fresher foodstuffs (to eat).
Some of these scavengers specialize, for example, in plastic bottles; while others take anything that can be sold, used, or eaten. The second level of processing is performed by the dogs.
They eat the more rotten foodstuffs, and carry away the meat bones. A mother and three puppies living in the hasha (yard) of a ger in our alley perform this service for us. The dogs were away when I took this photo, but you can see the hasha and the ger. 
They seem to be quite healthy and energetic as a result of the food they find there. The third level of processing is performed by the birds. They come in after the dogs and clean up any small scraps or crumbs that have been overlooked.
An extra level of processing is available from the homeless people who shelter in nearby heating/sewage tunnels. I save up my unwanted but nicer items until I see that one of the manhole covers has been removed. Then I gather up these items into a little bag and leave it near the open manhole in the evening. By the next morning the bag is gone.
The beauty of this system is that by the time the garbage truck comes around (which it does at intervals that seem random to me but are well understood by my Mongolian neighbors), there is very little left that isn’t truly garbage. So I never have to remember to put my trash can out on a certain day (heck, I don’t even own a trash can). I never have to separate my garbage from my recycling. And I never feel guilty about throwing something away, because everything in the garbage ovoo is put to good use.
posted by Susanne D. at 11:16 AM
1 Comments:
Hi, Susanne -- Particularly liked the entry on garbage use. What are the local media like -- TV? newspapers? Toni M
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