More From The Jakarta Dump

If there can be such a thing, it WAS a gorgeous day at the dump...blue skies, fluffy white clouds, and not too hot and humid. Such days are rare in Jakarta where the skies are usually white, and it is unbearably hot. I was thinking about that when watching these people hard at work picking through garbage day in and day out in all kinds of weather...the trash doesn't stop coming in. People consume, throw away, and never really think where all their trash ends up...at least a great deal of the garbage dumped here doesn't go to waste....the plastic, wood, and metal waste is all collected and recycled, and they have an electric plant that is fed with the methane gas that comes from the organic trash...pretty good system, actually...

The tractors just dig in...people have to make sure they stay out of the way...

Another tough day at work...

Very sad to see kids at work too...they seemed happy and healthy, though...

The Jakarta Dump

So, I made a trip today to the place where all of Jakarta's garbage ends up. It was not a pretty sight, nor did it smell nice, but it was an incredible experience. It was mind blowing, actually. These people make their living picking through the garbage looking for plastic, wood, aluminum, and other things they can sell. One guy told me he sells plastic for 1000 rupiah (about 10 cents) per kilo. I am not sure how many kilos per day he collects, but even if he collected 100 kilos of plastic, he would only make 10 dollars...can you imagine working in such a place for less than 10 bucks a day?? Wow....it was really an eye opening experience...