ShaunKevin
Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Francés (2015)
Portuguese (2018)
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One good thing about them is that you can pick one up, fill it with litter as you walk, then drop it in the trash bin in the next village/driveway!single use plastic bags and littering.
They are not recyclable where I live, and should go out with the garbage. We do sort into blue and green bins for appropriate recyclables and "green" composting disposal. The central sorting facility separates paper, plastic, metal, and glass from the blue bin. Recycling techniques vary between countries and even political subdivisions. My friends in New Jersey have four different resorting bins plus garbage (as I recall). They need a spacious laundry room for the sorting containers!They can be recycled with other plastics.
I agree. BRing and use re-usable bags, refillable bottles and only leave footprints on the path. Being mindful is not that hard to do. Plastic bottles take 70 to 450 years to decompose, plastic bags 500 to 1000 years, a cigarette bud 1 to 12 years, a can 50 years... But I'm speaking to the converted, no doubt. So how can we reach those less thoughtful?
I can't help thinking that no matter what happens after being put in the bin collecting detritus along the way is preferable to just leaving it where it is.
I just made a habit of picking up one thing every day and disposing of it as best I could. Perhaps just a token gesture but it made me feel better and was virtually zero effort.
Must say the 5p+ charge for plastic bags in the UK now has massively increased people's awareness of what a menace these bags are.
Spain seems to be a little bit behind developments, and the UK, of course, will soon no longer be subject to our lawsMust say the 5p+ charge for plastic bags in the UK now has massively increased people's awareness of what a menace these bags are.
although heading off on Camino Portuguese in 2 weeks time
I keep the small sandwich bags that we occasionally use at home and carry these with me to France or Spain. Once there, I use them to pick up and carry litter to the next garbage can (trash bin). Honestly, the amount of tissues, orange peels, and other litter on the CF and on the Puy route in France disgusts and astonishes me. "Astonishes" me because I cannot believe that a few of the people I converse with as I walk are the perpetrators of this littering.
Leave no trace.
Tom
I agree: the amount of litter along the Caminos is disgraceful, even ungodly. Elsewhere I tried to start a campaign to end the use of all plastic, especially throw-away plastic bottles https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...d-of-plastic-on-the-camino.54207/#post-605888
Surely, whatever our motivation is for taking a Camino, we should try to leave it and the world a better - not a dirtier - place and clean, for all to enjoy.
We, too, occasionally pick up litter on the Camino Frances but not every day - it's soul destroying. I must admit that we just put our haul in the next available public waste bin. It's usually plastic bottles, plastic wrappings and shoes. I'm not certain how to find public waste bins that allow sorting in Spanish towns?
But it is their responsibility to provide trash receptacles and empty them regularly. The local governments get considerable revenue from Pilgrims, and some of it should be provide the resources to prevent litter and latrines. Their responsibility should not be limited to local residents. As to ensuring their use, I agree. Government cannot do that!It is not the responsibility of the local authorities to ensure that people use bins
Can they be recycled in Spain? In my home town bags can only be recycled in a limited number of places or they contaminate other recyclables.Not really - single use plastics should not be placed in general rubbish bins. They can be recycled with other plastics.
If placed in general trash they end up in landfill.
There is a long article about a campaign to recycle, avoid waste in the first place, clean up and generally fight against trash on the Camino and about becoming an ecoperegrino . This is an initiative by mainly Castilla y Leon through which a huge part of the Camino Frances runs. See link below.
There is also a Camino de Reciclaje website. See link below.
Both websites are in Spanish only, so won't reach pilgrims from outside Spain who make up half of the nomadic pilgrim population. Perhaps someone with time on their hands or enough passion for the issue can write a summary in English? Could be also interesting for volunteer hospitaleros.
https://www.ecoembes.com/es/ciudada...omentan-el-reciclaje-en-el-camino-de-santiago
https://www.ecoembes.com/proyectos-destacados/camino-del-reciclaje/
We visitors can't fix Spain. That's impossible. But if when we walk we all picked up some trash every day it would begin to take care of the problem. There's a whole thread running right now about that:It is just extraordinary. What can we do? I was shocked and appalled on the CF.
They won't be, if you're on the Frances. You can fill a bag, and leave it in the bin in the next town - then start another one.I'm planning to carry a little roll of 5L compostable bags with me and do some picking up in the way with the help of the pole (no way I'm touching other people's used TP!). My only concern is that 5L bags won't be large enough for a day of collections!
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