What are they thinking?

[ElQueso]

You know, in the Recoleta and Retiro (good side of Alem) areas I've seen improvement in the trash on the streets. Just tonight I was walking along Marcelo T de Alvear and Paraguay, roughly between Uruguay and Callao, and I was treated to an almost complete lack of trash. Walking home later, down Santa Fe towards Alem, I noticed the same thing.

And not just tonight. It's been over the last month or so.

I've seen a lot of those trash containers on every block, along with recyclable containers in some places, appearing for about a month or two now. I wonder if that has something to do with it. I think a lot of the trash I normally seen has to do with the cartoneros making a mess and it never quite gets cleaned up, but I saw one guy a couple of nights ago actually cleaning up his mess by sticking his picking leftovers back into the can.

I know a lot of people just throw trash - I've seen enough of that. But I've seen cartoneros throwing around tons of trash while sorting.

Of course, later I had a wonderful experience that is more like normal. I was watching American football with some friends at a house near the corner of Uruguay and Paraguay. We stepped out around 1:00 am and I was the lucky one that stepped in a steaming pile of dog crap, left right at the entrance of the house, actually on the doorstep itself.

I reckon for a short time I was thinking things were changing...

 

[Gringoboy]

This never ceases to amaze me considering the amount of rubbish bins on the pavements.
But I consider spitting in public to be an even greater sin.
It's so vile that I can barely write about it.

 

[deadlegs]

people that pick up the dog s**t, put it in a bag and then throw it in the street are actually doing it for a reason. The street sweepers wont sweep the pavement but they sweep the street, so by putting it there it gets picked up, taken away and no one steps on it. if there is no bin around that has been left unvandalised then it is a better option than just abandoning it for someone to stand in.

 

[citygirl]

people that pick up the dog s**t, put it in a bag and then throw it in the street are actually doing it for a reason. The street sweepers wont sweep the pavement but they sweep the street, so by putting it there it gets picked up, taken away and no one steps on it. if there is no bin around that has been left unvandalised then it is a better option than just abandoning it for someone to stand in.

Or they could do what everyone else in the world does - carry it until they find a bin or take it home and dispose of it. It's not that hard.

 

[jeff1234]

I've only lived here for 4 months (visited often over the prior two years), and I'm still trying to fit in to the local lifestyle.
I've already given up on the drivers here. I lived almost all my life in NYC where many drivers are very aggressive and express their angers on the streets. Especially those recently arrived cab drivers from third world countries. But I've never seen anything like the maniacs here that race through too small openings just so they can then jam on the brakes at the stop light and come to rest one car length closer to the intersection.
But the trash situation has me really stumped. Today I went to the Immigrant Festival in Berisso and noticed that while many of the houses in Berisso were poorly constructed shacks, the sidewalks were generally very neat and clean. As we drove home into La Plata the homes were nicer and nicer but the sidewalks were more littered with trash.
How is it that people living in nice houses leave trash on the sidewalks but poor people living in shacks keep the streets neat and clean??
I don't get it.

 

[el_expatriado]

Argentines are litterbugs. It's that simple. Complaining about the litter is akin to complaining that too many Argentines speak Spanish. It is just part of their nature, so we all just need to get over it.

You'll notice this not only on the street but also in fast food restaurants, where no one ever bothers to throw their tray away. They all just assume someone will come along and pick up after them.

I even see it in my building where people will sometimes throw the trash so carelessly into the bin that sometimes it falls out onto the floor. Again, they do nothing because they just assume the portero is going to clean up everything.

It is part of their culture. They are very individualistic and just not respectful of others. You see the same attitude in all sorts of other areas of daily life (i.e. cutting in line, agressive driving, etc).

 

[Ashley]

You know, in the Recoleta and Retiro (good side of Alem) areas I've seen improvement in the trash on the streets. Just tonight I was walking along Marcelo T de Alvear and Paraguay, roughly between Uruguay and Callao, and I was treated to an almost complete lack of trash. Walking home later, down Santa Fe towards Alem, I noticed the same thing.

And not just tonight. It's been over the last month or so.

I've seen a lot of those trash containers on every block, along with recyclable containers in some places, appearing for about a month or two now. I wonder if that has something to do with it. I think a lot of the trash I normally seen has to do with the cartoneros making a mess and it never quite gets cleaned up, but I saw one guy a couple of nights ago actually cleaning up his mess by sticking his picking leftovers back into the can.

I know a lot of people just throw trash - I've seen enough of that. But I've seen cartoneros throwing around tons of trash while sorting.

Of course, later I had a wonderful experience that is more like normal. I was watching American football with some friends at a house near the corner of Uruguay and Paraguay. We stepped out around 1:00 am and I was the lucky one that stepped in a steaming pile of dog crap, left right at the entrance of the house, actually on the doorstep itself.

I reckon for a short time I was thinking things were changing...

Last time I was in Recoleta, I saw separate bins for recycling too...there was one for glass, another for paper. Haven't seen them anywhere else in the city though

 

[French jurist]

Speaking of trash bin, do you recall those ones that were put in place about 4/5 years ago (they have disappeared since... What a waste... Normal for bins).

They had an opening system on the bottom of them (??) but the locking system of it was not working too well hence all the trash would fall on the pavement anyway.

That was brilliant.

 

[jeff1234]

Argentines are litterbugs. It's that simple. Complaining about the litter is akin to complaining that too many Argentines speak Spanish. It is just part of their nature, so we all just need to get over it.

You'll notice this not only on the street but also in fast food restaurants, where no one ever bothers to throw their tray away. They all just assume someone will come along and pick up after them.

I even see it in my building where people will sometimes throw the trash so carelessly into the bin that sometimes it falls out onto the floor. Again, they do nothing because they just assume the portero is going to clean up everything.

It is part of their culture. They are very individualistic and just not respectful of others. You see the same attitude in all sorts of other areas of daily life (i.e. cutting in line, agressive driving, etc).

This makes sense, except that Berisso had almost no trash on the streets. Could it be La PLata has the disrespectful Argentinians but Berisso has respectful immigrants?

 

[citygirl]

Argentines are litterbugs. It's that simple. Complaining about the litter is akin to complaining that too many Argentines speak Spanish. It is just part of their nature, so we all just need to get over it.

I disagree with that. It's not like it's some inherent part of their DNA. Other countries were very similar but through education and cracking down on those that littered, streets got cleaned up.

It's quite frankly disgusting. And it depresses me to no end that people just shrug and say "Es lo que hay" as though the streets littered with dog feces and garbage is some result of force majeure and outside of human control. Pick up your damn garbage and clean up after your dog. It's not exactly difficult to so.