Scenes like this are not uncommon in Addis, this example only a few minute walk from our office. I suspect it is not uncommon in many African cities. My initial guess would be that the resources and public pressure to avoid such localized pollution are lacking in large, developing country cities. Infrastructure is hard to develop and maintain. In Addis, septic tanks are the order of the day. I can only imagine how badly this has contaminated the groundwater.
Vancouver is much cleaner. To the eye (and nose!) it is. But, of course, we consume a lot more in Canada. Orders of magnitude more. So our impact is probably much more widespread, dispersed, and offloaded onto less powerful communities, as they produce the goods and services we use.
I’d be interested to hear people’s views on poverty and how it relates to proximity and amount of pollution.
B
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
there is no question that pollution reduces as wealth increases, and in particular as wealth is more evenly distributed. Britain and London in particular were good examples of this; the city (and the Thames) was very polluted; as the standard of living increased the city cleaned itself up; coal burning (bituminous, anyway) reduced, so that air pollution and fog dropped.
[Reply]
This touches on an interesting question: which is more of the driver? Do people demand cleaner surroundings once more urgent needs are addressed and they have to power to do so, or are they able to lead happier, healthier, more productive and wealthy lives as their surroundings become cleaner? I know these are mutually reinforcing, but is one side more of a driver?
B
[Reply]
Monica Samec Reply:
May 25th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
(From Monica, who had trouble posting for some reason:)
I’ve also wondered about the link between consumption and waste removal. Obviously a correlation, but not sure the causality. Many it’s more complex than a simple direct relation to economic strength.
Chris Jordan is an artist/photographer that does amazing work on the visualizing consumption: http://www.grist.org/article/pictures-worth-a-bazillion-words
You both remind me the words of my favorite photographer, Ansel Adams: “A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels about what is being photographed in the deepest sense, and is, thereby, a true expression of what one feels about life in its entirety.”
Take care,
Monica
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