The Marshall Islands are a nation of turquoise atolls in the middle of the Pacific - the very definition of paradise. But with paradise, comes a big problem: what to do with all the garbage that modern consumerism produces? Nowhere is this problem more acute than in the Marshallese capital of Majuro, the largest island on Majuro Atoll.
 Ben Chutaro at the Jablik Dump on the Majura Atoll, one of the Marshall Islands |
Majuro looks like paradise from the air: beautiful beaches, palm trees, a sapphire lagoon. The largest island on Majuro Atoll is not quite 10 kilometres square, with a population of just over 25,000, a fledgling tourism industry and a small copra export.
It also has a major solid waste problem. Majuro's trash challenge has its roots in the history of US nuclear weapon and missile tests here. As a UN Strategic Trust Territory, the northern Marshallese atolls of Bikini and Enewetok were the scene of 67 atomic tests in the 1940s and 1950s.
Since the early 1960s, the US has used Kwajalein Atoll, in the central Marshalls, as a missile testing range. Over the years, displaced Marshall Islanders have come to live on the crowded atolls of Majuro and Kwajalein. There, they have embraced US-style consumerism, with all the packaged foods and other products that accompany it.
Reeffill
But what do these tiny islands - with no space to bury their dead, let alone their garbage - do with all this trash? Jablik Dump, on the far end of Majuro Island, is where Majuro's solid waste is supposed to go. It's not a landfill, but rather, a reeffill - a mountain of tin cans, plastic and other rubbish where a turquoise reef used to be.
In response to the ballooning mountain of stinking and unsightly garbage, and severely limited space, a group of local environmental activists, NGOs and government agencies have formed the Majuro Atoll Waste Company. Jablik Dump has been re-engineered and recycling dumpsters are being introduced up and down the island.
Plans are in the works to buy a machine that will turn plastic and Styrofoam into fuel, to drive Majuro's garbage trucks. Most importantly, waste reduction and recycling efforts are being taken to far-flung Majuro neighbourhoods, where the traditional custom of tossing biodegradable garbage is now a major liability.
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Tags: garbage, hydrogen bombs, Majura Atol, Marshall Islands, nuclear bombs, reef, rubbish, United States