Naples is chucking muck in Germany’s backyard

by Jamie Rhein on

There’s a song I remember from Girl Scouts that had this refrain: “Don’t chuck your muck in my backyard, my backyard’s full.” The song came to mind when I saw the photo of Naples, Italy’s garbage and read how Naples has no where to put its trash so it’s sending it to Germany.

After the song played for a second or two in my head I thought, “Gee, Naples is probably not be the best place to go for a vacation in the summer months.”

There is an increasing garbage problem in much of Europe, according to the New York Times article, but Naples is the pits. Consider what a 56-car train filled with garbage will look and smell like. That’s what’s heading to Germany so the Germans can take care of it. Because Germans have trash recycling and reduction down to a fine art, their services are being called upon.

Maybe Naples needs to have some sort of pack it out policy for travelers. As you leave town you have to prove that you are leaving with what you brought in. Perhaps Naples could even entice guests to take extra trash out with them when they go. If you do go to Naples, please don’t litter. People have enough troubles wading through the streets as it is.

Naples, city of garbage

by Iva Skoch on

Naples has had a problem with waste management for the last 15 years. it is entirely controlled by the mafia and politicians feel like their hands are tied. And, in a lot of cases, they might literally be.

In the latest crisis, collectors stopped picking up garbage in Naples and Campania before Christmas because there was no more room for the trash at dumps. Dumps are overflowing and local communities have blocked efforts to build new ones.

According to AP, cargo boat laden with 500 tons of garbage from Naples docked at the island of Sardinia on Thursday as the government worked to undo a weeks-long trash emergency that left heaps of waste piled up on the streets of Naples.

Floating down the Desna River on Trash

by Justin Glow on

In parts of Russia on the Desna River, where pollution is a major problem, some quick-thinking environmentalists/travelers/campers have devised a way to kill two birds with one stone: clean the banks of the river while building a raft to float it.

EnglishRussia — one of my favorite blogs — has a photo gallery showing a group of kids stuffing rubbish into trash bags and attaching them to the bottom of a large, flat, wooden boat-like contraption. The bags filled with trash give the wood enough buoyancy to support the weight of five people and a tent. This makes me feel all warm inside.

Check out EnglishRussia for the full gallery.

The World’s Messiest Cars

by Justin Glow on

You know that feeling you get after a long road trip? You pull into the driveway, finally home, and look around your car to see that every consumable product you’ve touched over the course of the trip is strewn about your car — empty soda cans, bags of half-eaten chips, fast food sacks filled with trash. The owners of the cars in this photo collection have been on a perpetual road trip, where they never really make it home to clean out the car. Take the guy above for instance — look what he found after cleaning out his SAAB!

This isn’t that messy, but I love me some White Castle!

I’m not even sure what I’m looking at here — I’m just so glad it’s behind glass.


This guy is AWESOME! Check out his backseat below:


Yes, please handle with care.


Bottles of rum, vodka, wine, some flip-flops….and a bikini. Why wasn’t I invited?


The toilet paper is there for emergencies, man. Emergencies! Oh and hey — is that OJ’s glove?


Is this thing even driveable?


Volvos are the best!


Care for some Snapple? No? I’ve got some Dr. Pepper too.


This car is so dirty, the trash juice is seeping through the metal.


Mmm…donuts.


Five minutes, give me five minutes and this car would be on fire.


Big Gulp, eh? Well, see ya later!


Aside from having a large pile of rubbish on top of it, this car is actually pretty cool. I mean, check out the vanity plate on that bad boy. Awesome!.

Dumping the Trash in Paris…

by Adrienne Wilson on

Whenever I’ve been abroad I’ve always liked to watch what the locals were doing, their trends and how they went about their workdays. It always seemed to me as if the Spanish retail girl in Barcelona carried on with her work much differently than the ones I’d seen in Miami, Los Angeles or even St. Louis. It always felt as though as a whole the people were working to pay off different things or like everyone was saving for a big two-year backpacking excursion somewhere. Totally unrealistic, right, but I’m sure there is some truth in the statement. I mean, I bet they aren’t paying back hordes of credit card debit or Sallie Mae student loans. Let me not focus on retail alone though, I feel this way about many professions abroad. People just seem to carry on so differently and really where I’m trying to go with my musings is to this NPR piece on dumping the trash in Paris.

To be more precise, the unemployment rate is higher than normal and with a garbage collector’s position, citizens can receive security, full benefits, a pension and a relatively nice paycheck from the government job. There are so many people applying now that the city has even instituted a written-exam. So I guess anyone dreaming of moving to Paris without a plan or without any real knowledge of what the employment trends may be, might want to take a listen to the piece. Sure – Paris is glamorous and all, but there is something about working with the public’s trash that doesn’t thrill me so much.