Recycling

Recycling? What recycling? I was shocked to find that there was no recycling program on the islands. I’m not used to throwing my cans and bottles into the garbage, let alone newspapers. I’ve noticed recycling ‘trucks’ parked around different neighborhoods where you can bring your cans and bottles to be recycled, but I’m sure it doesn’t garner enough participation from residents even with the 5 cent redemption attached to it.
It is quite amazing because there is so much garbage amassed here. There is an abundance of disposable things being used i.e. styrofoam plates, paper plates, plastic utensils, wooden chopsticks etc. In many restaurants (in fact, about 95% of them) do not provide silverware or dinnerware for diners. Chances are when you go out to eat (I’m not talking about the 5 star restaurants of course) your food will be presented on a styrofoam or paper plate with plastic utensils and wooden chopsticks. Even in Chinese restaurants, you will not get plastic chopsticks which can be washed and re-​used, but wooden disposable ones.
I’ve asked people about the high usage of disposables, but no one seems to really have an answer as to why it’s the case, or why they continue to do so. I thought it was perhaps the cost of running water, but then was told that it wasn’t THAT expensive. So, it’s mind-​boggling that there is no recycling program in a state which has such a high degree of disposable usage — definitely not environmentally conscious to say the least.