• About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
FREE REPORT
BEST PLACES TO RETIRE
*No spam: We will NEVER give your email address to anyone else.
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Portugal
      • Panama
      • Belize
      • France
      • Colombia
      • Dominican Republic
      • Thailand
      • Mexico
      • Spain
      • Argentina
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
Live and Invest Overseas
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Portugal
      • Panama
      • Belize
      • France
      • Colombia
      • Dominican Republic
      • Thailand
      • Mexico
      • Spain
      • Argentina
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
No Result
View All Result
Home Mailbag

Trash Collection In Panama

Live And Invest Overseas by Live And Invest Overseas
Jan 19, 2012
in Mailbag
0
The garbage Problem In Panama is an ongoing one
211
SHARES
3k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

“Kathleen and Lief, we’re really interested in coming down to Panama and looking at Los Islotes when we’re done with our family caregiving obligations up here in Canada. One thing that has us concerned is the articles we’ve read regarding Panama’s trash problems.

“If you have any high-up, ‘mucky-muck’ contacts in the government there, maybe you could suggest that they consult with Wayne Huizenga in the States, in Ft. Lauderdale. He founded Waste Management Inc., starting with just one truck in the ’60s, and, as you know, it’s everywhere now.

“We did read a Jan. 5, 2012, article about Enrique Ho, the new director in Panama, getting more trucks on the streets, but WMI might have suggestions as to how to train the locals not to litter and to get into recycling. Just a suggestion!”

–Jan B., Canada

Yes, Panama has a trash problem…as does the entire developing world…and beyond. It’s a budget thing, but it’s also a cultural thing.

When we moved to Ireland years ago, we were shocked to discover the trash problem in that country. We’d walk down the street behind a couple of grown men who would drop their Coke cans and their cigarette wrappings on the sidewalk without breaking stride. We’d follow behind cars on the road whose occupants would throw Big Mac wrappers and empty potato chip bags out the windows. Litter was everywhere. It drove us crazy.

At the time, Ireland had money. The little green island was awash with cash. Why didn’t they use some of it to improve their garbage collection infrastructure? I never understood, but that’s a question for another day.

What Ireland did do while we were living there was to launch a campaign of education. And, more than the budget to cover the expense of collecting the garbage, this is what’s required to bring about a change in a country where the people don’t recognize trash and litter as a problem–education.

In the developing world (including Ireland, for example) people don’t think anything of throwing their trash on the ground, on the street, out their car windows, even out the back doors of their houses. It’s how it’s done…how it’s always been done…and how their children learn to do it. Meaning the next generation grows up with the same perspective.

This is why, again, the real key to effecting any change is education. As in Ireland years ago, today in Panama, they’re running public service ad campaigns to try to get people to think about trash on the streets as a problem. They’re talking about it with kids in schools. And they’re installing more trash bins in public places. Bins are all along the new Cinta Costera, for example, and in the park near our house that has recently been renovated.

Panama is trying to address the problem, both through education and through an investment in more and more modern trash trucks. Our garbage, for example, used to be collected by a bunch of guys driving an old, beat-up pick-up truck without any gate on the back. They’d throw our bags in…and bits and pieces of other peoples’ trash would fly out in response. They’d drop bags as they drove away. Again, it drove us crazy. I’d run outside wearing plastic gloves to try to pick up the garbage they were dropping and throw it back on the truck before they got away.

Now the truck that comes twice a week to collect the garbage from our neighborhood looks like one you might see in any U.S. city.

They’re working on it. But it will take a long time, at least a generation, for any real change to play out.

Tags: mailbag
Share84Tweet53
Previous Post

How To Be A Perpetual Traveler

Next Post

Foreign Property Investment And HOAs

Live And Invest Overseas

Live And Invest Overseas

Live and Invest Overseas is the world's savviest source for top opportunities to live better, retire in style, invest for profit, do business, and own real estate overseas. Established in 2008, the Live and Invest Overseas' editors and correspondents have more experience researching and reporting on top opportunities for living well, investing for profit, doing business, and owning real estate around the world than anyone else you'll find.

Related Posts

Nohoval Cove, Kensale, County Cork, Ireland
Ireland

The Pros And Cons Of Living And Retiring In Ireland

by Live And Invest Overseas
May 26, 2021
0

“This question is directed to both Kathleen and Lief. “Thank you so much for your recent article about Lahardan House in...

Read more
Nazaré beach resort, Estremadura, Portugal

Retire To The Silver Coast Of Portugal

February 18, 2021
Man bookkeeper working with bills pay taxes online using laptop

How To Do A 1031 Like-Kind Exchange Of Foreign Real Estate

February 15, 2021
Aerial view of Fortress Vila Vella and Badia de Tossa bay at summer in Tossa de Mar on Costa Brava, Catalunya, Spain

Low-Humidity Retire Overseas Options

January 2, 2021
Assisted Living

Assisted Living In Panama

December 11, 2020
Boa constrictor imperator

Malaria, Dengue, Bugs, Spiders, And Snakes In Panama

December 9, 2020
Establishing Retirement Residency In Portugal - Lagos

Establishing Retirement Residency In Portugal

July 6, 2016
Next Post
Global Property Investment Portfolio

Foreign Property Investment And HOAs

A world full of fun, adventure, and profit awaits! Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we'll send you a FREE report on the 10 Best Places To Retire In Style Overseas Today.

Start Your New Life Today, Overseas

LIOS Resources


  • New To LIOS
  • Ask An Expert
  • Media Center
  • Contact Us
  • FAQs

Quick Links


  • Best Places To Live
  • Best Places To Retire
  • Finding A Job Overseas
  • Real Estate

Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and get your FREE report: The 10 Best Places To Retire Overseas In 2022

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe

© 2008-2021 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Countries
  • Budgets
  • Archives
  • News
  • Events
  • Bookstore
  • Newsletters
  • About Us
  • Members Area
  • Contact Us

© 2008-2021 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

The World’s Best Places To Be In 2022?

Discover Them Here…

WANT TO RETIRE OVERSEAS?

Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we’ll immediately send you a free report on the 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE in style overseas. Each day you’ll learn about the best opportunities for international living, retiring overseas, offshore diversification and asset protection, and investing in real estate around the world.