(Largely anecdotal) I live in Vietnam. The garbage collection system here consists of setting small trash bags on the curb or just throwing trash in the gutter.

(Largely anecdotal) I live in Vietnam. The garbage collection system here consists of setting small trash bags on the curb or just throwing trash in the gutter. Each night, scavengers tear open the bags and scatter the trash looking for items of value. Later, trash collectors sweep up the mess. As you can imagine, this process means lots of trash never makes it to the landfill. Vietnam is one long coast with several major, densely populated river deltas. All that loose trash makes it’s way to the sea, to be broken down into micro-plastics by the sun and wave action. Those micro-plastics bioaggregate in some of our favorite fish and crustaceans. I suppose it is fitting that we consume it ourselves. Recently, I travelled to Delhi where there is a ban in single use plastic. There was a lot less litter. This could be due to different a trash collection system, culture, etc. There was some paper litter, but I didn’t see the epidemic of plastic food containers I see in VN, Thailand, and Cambodia.