Filipinos Love Burning Garbage

 Filipinos love burning garbage. 

What is the reason behind this phenomenon? The fact is the garbage truck comes twice a week. How hard is it for people to collect all their garbage, toss it in a bag or box, and have it carted away? Obviously it's not difficult to gather the garbage and place it in a burn pile. Why not place it in a bag and put it in a safe place until the garbage truck comes?

But instead Filipinos would rather put it all in a pile and light it on fire. Why? It's not as if the weak flame they light incinerates the garbage. Rather, it burns down and a pile of trash is left behind. And it stinks up the neighborhood something awful. 

In this case water was dumped all over the pile extinguishing the fire but leaving a nasty smoke. 

There is nothing more upsetting than enjoying the nice cool breeze blowing through the open window, getting a whiff of smoke, and having to shut every window and door in the house so you don't suffocate. And even then 

the yellow smoke that slides along the street,

Rubbing its back upon the window-panes;

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/44212/the-love-song-of-j-alfred-prufrock

still finds it way inside. 

Smoky Piles 9

Smoky piles are back! Actually they never went away. A few weeks ago with all the typhoon clean up it was smokier than ever outside. But the following pics are much older. It's always awful when you're trying to relax with the windows wide open for some fresh air and your neighbor fires up a smoky pile which stinks up the neighborhood including inside your house.

Two Burn Piles at the Hall of Justice

This is going to be rather straightforward. The title says it all. There are two burn piles at the local Hall of Justice.

Maybe you cannot tell that these are burn piles but they are. Littered about each mound are the charred remains of leaves and garbage. I even confirmed it by asking two employees who were sitting out for a smoke break.  Think of the irony here that the groundskeepers at the Hall of Justice are breaking the law when they do their work. That would be R.A. 9003 which forbids open burning of waste. 

Burning Electrical Wires

I was out for an afternoon run when the sky darkened and I knew I had to return home quickly before the downpour began. On the way back I saw smoke emanating from the sugarcane fields ahead and I figured they were simply burning the fields as is normally done after a harvest. But the closer I got I could tell something was off.

For one thing the smoke was thick and black much unlike the smoke of a burning sugarcane field which is thin and gray. For another thing the smoke was concentrated in one area. It was obvious someone was burning something they should not be burning. When I finally got a look at the burn pile I was shocked beyond belief.

They were burning a jumble of electrical cords! 

There was a man sitting in a truck and a guy who seemed to be about 14 or 15 tending the fire. I asked him why he was burning electrical cords. He said because he was poor and his family did not have money to pay for his tuition. I asked if someone paid him to burn these cords. He said no. That did not make any sense so I pressed for more information but to no avail.

He also apologized profusely and killed the fire by tossing water on it. 

I was sure they would dump the charred wires in the field but when I returned a few hours later there was nothing but a pile of ash.

The guy in the truck never said a word to me as I talked to his son. I presume that is their relationship, unless he was the one paying the guy to burn the cords.

Anyway, this incident was very bizarre and I was completely disgusted. This is not just burning leaves or garbage at your house. These two people drove off to what they thought was a secluded area, it is not, and illegally and foolishly burned a huge mass of electrical wires. And it's really not about the law. No one in the Philippines cares about the law anyway. These people would not have been fined or jailed even if the PNP had witnessed their crime. The point is the ethics of it. You just don't do this. You do not burn electrical wires out in a sugar cane field. If you don't understand that then you are a lost cause. Allow me to present to you the shopping cart test of civilization which works on the same principles.

Can you pass this test?

Smoky Piles 8: The Smokiest Pile of All

It was 5am when I noticed the entire neighbourhood was filled with smoke. A thin, white, stinky haze almost ghostly blanketing the air. After finishing taking all the dogs out for their morning business I hopped on a bicycle and followed my nose and intuition. I was not quite prepared for what I found.

This monster smoky pile was stinking up the whole area. Not even a fire. Just a smouldering pile of leaves and grass. Finding this pile cleared up another mystery for me. Now I knew just why the area stank when I ran past it in the mornings. The construction workers are tearing up all the grass, placing them in piles, and then burning them. These piles then smoulder all day and night until they extinguish themselves.  Below is another pile being burned in the evening.

There is really nothing one can do in a situation like this. A pile like that can't be stomped out. One simply has to batten down the hatches to ensure no smoke creeps its way inside. An impossible task!

Here is the first pile with the backdrop of the rising sun.

I hate the smell of smoky piles in the morning. And at every other time as well.

Grass Fire

Shortly before noon today a fire broke out in a grassy field near the highway as the result, I am told, of someone tossing a cigarette butt. Whatever the cause the hot and dry conditions of summer allowed the fire to spread rapidly.

While there may be a 911 system in place it was the Barangay Hall which was called and who alerted the fire station. Since it was only a small grassfire a two man team with a water truck arrived and bravely extinguished the blaze.

Here are they are after returning to the station. I did not get their names.

Their battle against the blaze lasted eight minutes but I have drastically sped up the video and added an abridged section from the William Tell Overture for the soundtrack.

Remember, don't litter.  Don't toss bottles and trash out of your car window and absolutely never toss a cigarette butt into the grass. 

Smoky Piles 7

There is nothing more hateful and pestilent than the constant burning piles of trash and leaves polluting the otherwise peaceful and clean air of the Philippines. The other morning I went for a run later than usual and what a difference an hour makes. Instead of the cool calm of the morning everyone was now awake and bustling about. Many of them were burning newly swept piles of leaves and trash and their dogs were let out of the house to run about and chase strangers. I had to hold my breath for almost the whole 4 miles. Then you think you are safe inside your house but the smoke from some unseen conflagration makes its way through the cracks in the windows and sitting in your own room becomes most unpleasant because of the suffocating smell. 

Here are some more pictures of smoky piles for you to bite your thumb at and loathe.

Smoky Piles 6

Smoky piles. Disgusting. These little monsters are roaring day and night. Rain or shine. Breathe, breathe in the air. Don't be afraid to care. Care about stinking up the neighbourhood with your burning leaves and trash that is! Get them up against the wall!

Smoky Piles 5

Smoke 'em if you got 'em!