Plastic can Kill

It is no news that here in the Napoli area there is a garbage problem. Sad and terrible, and I know many agree. No ones like to live around smelly garbage--ok, the rats and some other animals do --

I get frustrated when I hear some International people say, "What is it with these people and how can they live like this?" And then when the people protest I can hear the same few International people saying again; "What is it with these people?"

It is frustrating, yes, but what can they do? And if these "few" people are having the solution why not do something about it. I dislike "couch thinkers" (or as Americans say, "Armchair Quarterbacks"). They sit on their butt inside four walls having all these great solutions and then... and do nothing. Well they are not successful...they succeed at telling what others should do rather than doing themselves.

So where am I heading with all this? Garbage of course and stupidity out of thoughtfulness?

Plastic bottles, big ones. They take a lot of space in the trash bags and in the dumps. Some people, thinking they are helping the situation if only a little, cut them in three pieces so they will take less space in the garbage. Good for garbage, bad for the animals! The edges are sharp and when a cat or dog is rooting around in the garbage piles looking for food they can cut themselves very badly. The garbage is all mixed, and the food the animals are after can be on or around the sharp plastic edges. The same goes for can with sharp edges or broken glass.

One cat licked the sharp edge since it had some food smudged on it. She cut her tongue so badly, it got infected and swollen to the point she couldn't eat. She starved to death!

I don't know how many cats and dogs that have similar bad cuts, infected, and in this heat, the flies just love to feed on the puss. Besides disease, the flies then leave their eggs that become the maggots. Being alive and having maggots gnawing on you can't be pleasant. So please, when doing something you think will help, take a step back and think of the unintended consequences, or 2nd and 3rd order of effects. And please, do not cut plastic bottles, someone can get hurt!

We all know that recycling helps save our planet. This is another reason to recycle. If we separate out the glass, plastic, cans and other material that can be sharp... there is less chance of animals foraging for food to survive cutting themselves in the process.

Thinking is Amore!