Since my involvement in the Art to Change the World ReUse-A-Thon in fall of 2025 I have found I notice the trash more everywhere I go. I notice piles of trash at a park in Mexico City. I pay attention to what is recycled and composted in Spain. I see that someone sweeps up the trash in early morning hours in Morocco. We’ve traveled a lot since last October and I’ve taken a lot of very atypical “tourist” photos. Here are some and the stories behind them.
. Garbage Truck in Mexico City March 2026
In Mexico City we noticed that the sanitation workers sorted the recycling as they picked up the garbage. They had these giant bags that were on top of the garbage truck where they put the recycled materials. I researched their composting situation and found that they had recently made it mandatory to separate out organics for composting as of January 2026. It was obvious they were still trying to figure this out because I put a bag of compost in the compost bin in our Airbnb’s apartment building but the next day I went to add more and it was covered with anything But compost. Still some education needed obviously! It takes a long time to get people to change habits!
Construction Piles in Tangier, Morocco October 2025
We stayed in an amazing Airbnb in Morocco which was right inside the Medina in Tangier. The corridors are barely big enough for people to walk through much less bring in a truck to remove debris. We saw this colorful pile of bags being piled up outside a space that was being deconstructed. It grew all day long but then the next day we walked by and it had been gradually hauled away.
The Medina and surrounding tourist area was always very clean- every morning there were workers sweeping with palm fronds and picking up the trash that people left on their doorstep. When we walked outside the area it was not nearly as clean. Generally there were no public trash cans out on the street so if you weren't in the popular area it ended up being just left on the ground or tucked into a little hole in an ancient stone wall or into the gas meter nook. I didn’t see any sign of recycling or composting.
Flea markets around the world are such a great way to reuse! I love the way the vendors lay everything out in such an orderly manner- many times right on the ground! That was the case in The Rastro Market in Madrid at the Sunday flea market. In The Lagunilla Market in Mexico City they had more tables most of the the time. The amount of things in the world are sometimes overwhelming but it’s so much fun to treasure hunt! Probably our favorite flea market in the world so far is the Puce in Paris. The mid century furniture and treasures were better than any museum.
I also keep my eye out for really great ways of doing things when I travel. I was so happy to find a bulk section of a small grocery store that had compostable bags instead of plastic. This was when I decided to make my New Year’s resolution to bring my own jars to fill at my coops bulk section and wow has that made bulk buying so much more satisfying- plus I like to decorate my jars with stickers!
Compostable bag for bulk items. I bought dried ginger without sugar- not something I had tried before!
At this same little Co-op they had a pile of canvas bags that had been screen printed with “No Waste No Hate” They seemed to be leftovers from businesses that printed too many totes. I love this idea of giving your tote a political make over!
I also love to see artists that are creating art with ReUse materials. I saw two great pieces at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans. Artist Matthew Rosenbeck had a story of finding a bunch of ruined canvases so the artists took the ends of the canvases and created a very textured wall sculpture. Sculpture Jacqueline Ehle Inglefield creaeted an interactive piece made of wire to look like a horse. The community had added colored in plastic drink lids!
It’s interesting to pay attention to the movement of our waste. I’m also reading a fascinating book called “Waste Wars, the Wild Afterlife of Your Trash” by Alexander Clapp . It shares some amazing and sad stories about where our first world trash ends up around the world. I highly recommend it if you are interested in this subject- which really shouldn’t we all be?
I’d love to hear your experiences of noticing trash and how it is dealt with when you travel. Or is there something off beat that you study when you visit far away lands? Please share in the comments!