Why Is Naples A Tip??

(I have posted on this subject in the past but now that I have been here a bit I have come to my own conclusions)
I haven’t been long here in Naples to judge, but for one year I have lived in a village where I had to get used to its strange recycling system.
The rubbish is picked up almost every day, each one a different colour so the residents know how to differentiate the type of rubbish they have.
So, do people have to recycle? They do indeed, and in my opinion it is great that recycling is forced, but it’s the way it is collected. I always wonder if it’s the most intelligent ways. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday the organic rubbish is collected from a little white plastic dustbin in front of your door step. On Tuesdays the plastics and aluminium are collected. (And here it is a lot of plastic as they are used to having plastic plates in their homes and then throwing them out and this is a great damage to our environment). On Tuesdays and Thursdays the black bag goes out, which is paper, fabric and whatever rubbish you have lying in your home.
This system has taken me a while to adjust to, but in the end I have succeeded. I am recycling using a different and almost complicated method for both the residents and for the people who collect it. I didn’t realise how simple I had it in Barcelona or is it that they just like to complicate themselves here. In Barcelona you had huge stern bins that take up at least three parking spaces and each was different colours to differentiate the type of rubbish it was. Residents would throw the bag in the appropriate coloured bin any day they pleased and rubbish collectors came at least every day and sometimes twice in one day. So rubbish was never an issue and people cleaned the streets daily in every part of the city, or at least a lot of parts. Barcelona was like Naples many years ago so if they could do it so can Naples.

Naples could be such a beautiful city and be richer with tourism if they just cleaned their streets.

Nothing is being collected here I think there is a lack of educating people to just clean their city. Naples wants everyone to recycle but this is like when a dog that bites his tail. The government want people to recycle and don’t pick up the rubbish anyway. Whereas the people who live in Naples are so used to the rubbish they aren’t going to bother trying to adapt to a new system because no system has worked for them anyway. I still don’t know who is more disrespectful to the environment, the government, the 3rd world mentality or is it the locals?
I blame all three. No one recycles here, I am still not 100% sure whether it is because it is they have the mentality that it will never be picked up so why bother? Or they can never be bothered to actually recycle the proper way because they don’t try to learn that recycling is important.

Maybe they don’t educate people here as much as they do in other countries I have been in. Don’t waste water by turning off the tap when you brush your teeth, don’t throw cigarette butts out of your window it may burn down a forest.

Recycling is important for our future and for mother nature.

If the recycling method works in a small village near Naples, why does is not work there?
It will not work because Naples is too big. There are apartment blocks everywhere so each household has a big amount of rubbish and they aren’t willing to keep their rubbish in their homes until it is “plastic collection day” or “organic day”. They want to rid their rubbish like anyone else would. Especially Italians considering their kitchens and houses are generally spotless, I think it’s the country with the cleanliest households. That is what I have seen so far from my travels. You could eat from the floor of someone’s kitchen in Italy. Whereas travelling to the UK I honestly haven’t seen the kitchens as clean as here. But then you step out on to the streets and it is awful, almost very trampish and embarrassing for tourists that come and visit. People throw bags of rubbish on top of each other as if there is no tomorrow. People know the rubbish will not be collected but they still throw out the most random items hoping it will be forgotten about. But it won’t. People here have the mentality of the 50’s and if it is in their households, who am I to judge? But when it comes to the city and the environment I believe people need to be educated on this. Be fined if they don’t throw the correct rubbish like other Italian cities like Milan or Rome.

The beaches in Naples are appalling. You put your hands through the sand and will collect a packets worth of cigarette butts. They are not told or “reminded” to throw their rubbish in the bin. They just leave it there hoping it will disappear in the sand. It reminds me of a scene from Mad Men where they are at the park having a picnic and when the family leave they just toss the blanket out in the park and leave the rubbish on the grass and they walk off and leave. That was the 50’s though! We are in 2011! And it doesn’t end on the beaches. The amounts of times I see young and old people litter the floors is outrageous. I remember when I was young and I threw a wrapper on the floor my mum would grab me and tell me to pick it up and throw it in the bin. Here I do not see that, parents allow their children to litter because they can’t be bothered to walk 5 metres more to the rubbish bin. So is this the governments fault or the actual people?

I also have my political theories but I don’t know what to judge as I haven’t been actually residing here for that long to know how the government works. Everyone blames the Comorra for the litter. And yes unfortunately this is a corrupt city but it is not 100% their fault. Now there is a new Mayor in Naples and I do hope things change.
I wonder whether their government get a great sum of money from the state to help “fix” the problem, but then it is never fixed.


More street cleaners need to be hired; the rubbish men need to work more often, every night and day collecting the rubbish. This will mean more taxes have to be paid but it also means there will be more jobs which is great for this time of global crisis. I think this will be a long running battle in Naples but hopefully at some point things will change for the better and Naples will be a beautiful city with its historic sites and great culture and also be clean from litter and maybe crime.

But this may be wishful thinking...


My friends and I have come to the conclusion though of doing our own little campagin on educating people. Making t-shirts, and me dressing up as a bin! HAHAHA