All and sundry agree: the words “Georgetown” and “garbage” are synonymous. We all know the complexities, largely political, behind the situation, and it’s been going on for over a decade, but for those who live here and should be inured to the sight, it is still a shock with certain parts of the city (Quamina-East Street; Church Street facing Bourda) bordering on revolting. Discussions on the matter including letters to the press abound and constant reference is made to the one-time “Garden City” that Georgetown was, but some aspects pass unnoticed.
One is that there has been a significant change in the type of garbage we produce now. The flood of plastic and Styrofoam and cardboard containers, not in existence 30 years ago, is a reality of modern life, and that change has been massive. In the “Garden City” era shopping items came home in bio-degradable or reusable bags, and in my mother’s house in West Demerara, for instance, the garbage produced from that home was essentially fruit and vegetable skins. Indeed, household garbage pickup was a rarity.
In the business world, the elaborate cardboard and plastic containers used for modern production items and equipment today also means substantially more material for the dump than was previously the case. For a city such as Georgetown, the tonnage of garbage per person produced now must be forbidding compared to that earlier time, and the population is also larger. Adding to the volume of discarded material is the modern “throwaway” factor that is a feature of today’s consumer products. Going back 30 years, we would repair or rejuvenate most appliance items. Now consumer items breaking down are
