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26 July 2022

Rubbish update Romania

For me there is a big gap between what I was told and what I saw in Romania

If everyone applies German or Dutch standards for waste separation and recycling, then Romania is only on the way, but well on the way. In Romania, too, I saw rubbish on the streets or in the forest, but less than in all the other countries before.

Yes, there are plastic bottles flying around and yes, there is random dumped rubbish from time to time. But not much more than in Germany, if I'm honest. Have seen various forms of garbage collection and modern garbage cans that are supposed to help with separation.

In the plain or at the sea, you will find garbage flying around where there is tourism. In the "country" you can find clutter, but that was quite OK from my point of view.

In or around the cities, the buildings from the 70 - 80 years caught my eye the most, some of which look very dilapidated. But that's exactly how you find new buildings that you could also find in a German new building area. I found complexes that all had the same roof color amusing.

 

Bulgaria

I was told that Bulgaria would be a country that has waste management implemented.  And what I saw is in line with this. I saw the first waste dump before Gotse Delchev. And it looked pretty organized. Every now and then I found rubbish at stops alongside the road but not as obvious as in Macedonia.

Bulgaria has implemented trashcans all over the country. What they are struggling with is emptying those in time

And I only found at the Blue Stones Nature Park rubbish in the woods. As I mention this it shows how less rubbish I saw in parks or along lakes and rivers.

What I found are some odd up-cycled whatevers 🧐

The only really disappointment was the slum in Varna, directly at the A2 access road. I was slightly shocked, as I have not seen Slums in any other countries before on my tour

I have to say for over 2 weeks in Bulgaria  I have not seen anything close to what I have seen in Albania or certain parts of Greece

Northern Macedonia

Over the weeks some have talked about the mountains of rubbish lining the streets of Macedonia.

But when I crossed the NMK border at Niki and drove to Lake Ohrid via Bitola, I had a hard time finding rubbish. Not in the citiy, nor along the road or in the Galičica National Park. And this was the case for a while. At the Mavroro National Park, more precisely at the lake, was the garbage lying around at my pitch for the night. This seems to be also the hang out for the locals

And the closer I got to Skopje, the more often I saw the famous mountains of rubbish on the side of the road.

In Skopje, a Macedonian explained that in many respects this was the intention. That some of those spots would be something like garbage pickup points. The rest is wild growth.

I have made it a habit to leave my pitches clean. Whether the garbage is mine or not. In the picture below, it took me 10 minutes to fill up the garbage bag and dispose of it in a garbage can. This is not to show how great I am, more how easy it is for all of us to get #balcanwithoutrubbish

Greece

I haven't see any rubbish for the first few days in Greece, neither on the beach nor on the street. The isolated garbage bag in the bush was more of a photographic highlight.

Instead you can find rubble and white goods waste <I guess> that is collected at some points or whatever

When I then drove from the west coast to the east coast on Lefkada, I saw more garbage in the hills. Not much, rather discreet, something was often disposed of in the ditch or at the edge of the forest.

The further south I drove, the more people and tourists go there, the more rubbish I found. And with the public beaches came the trash. The first low light was Louros beach

On Peloponnese, the beaches south of Patras, it wasn't like in Albania, but I could no longer overlook the rubbish on the beaches. And that despite the fact that there is a garbage can on almost every corner.

Although few people live in the mountains towards Athens, not everyone takes their rubbish from the field with them. As I said, not like in Albania, but the garbage became more visible.

But it got better on the way to Methoni, because (a) it was pre-season and only a few people were on the road and (b) the motor home owners took their rubbish with them. Even the area around Gialova Bay was pleasantly tidy.

On the south coast it was pretty clean, except for the heaps of rubble and tractors and cars rotting in the landscape

And on the mainland it was similar. The closer I got to cities, the messier it got. Heading north, that is, in the countryside and in the hills, it was pleasant.

And then, of course, there are the "houses under development" over years. You will find them all over Greece

Before Greece

I thought, I had prepared for the tour as much as possible. In the last few months I even switched to biodegradable detergents as well as  body care products.

Didn't want to ruin the environment more than necessary when standing free. The ecological footprint left by the Dog.O.Mobil was bad enough.

My idea conceptually works, but the countries I drove through have other problems, fundamental problems.

I don't want to hang out a German here, but after a few weeks these "instagrammable pictures" that cover up the problem went against the grain. The viewing angle is adjusted until there is no more garbage in the picture

And if I adjust the viewing angle a bit, it looks like this

But let's start from the beginning. Croatia is a bit like Germany, I saw relatively little rubbish at the Park4Night sites, not even on the beaches or on the roadsides.

BIH started similarly. When I stood somewhere in nature and relaxed, I never had a lot of garbage around me. From time to time a rubbish bin at a rest stop or a restaurant <always asked me how much rubbish is lying next to it instead of inside>.

Garbage collection and storage is a bit more unorthodox. In the middle of the countryside I experienced out of the blue plastic bags and rubbish lying around and a few hundred meters further was a rubbish dump. Not to be compared with a German landfill with security, rules and a recycling system. It is also not uncommon for rubbish to be simply burned along the road in the countryside from time to time. Not really apart or obeying the German standards, but still OK for me.

Then came Montenegro. The Mountains, Durmitor National Park. Right after the border the first garbage can on the road, little or none garbage visible in the Piva Gorge and the mountains. Even in the small mountain villages there was little rubbish. I was already wondering how it was disposed of, but then I found an answer on a hike. It was simply dumped in the forest. Apparently, the neighborhood had agreed on the wild dump.

On the roads to the south, whether M or P, there is "a bit of rubbish" lying around, from time to time it is thrown down the slope at stops. But since there are often no villages along the roads for miles, there is probably no one who clears away the garbage. I didn't see any garbage collection in Montenegro.

On the coast <Budva, Bar, Ulcinj> it looked tidy and the camps and stops were clean. There is also staff there. On the beaches you could spot the difference between a private and a public beach relatively quickly. In April, the private beaches were cleaned by tractors with harrows or wheel loaders. If you take the time and look only a few meters further, you can see how much rubbish the sea has washed up over winter.

In Albania, the situation on the beaches and roads was similar. Large garbage cans are in the cities, smaller towns and gas stations. In the countryside I was told that a lot of rubbish is disposed of in the rivers and then washed up over the sea onto the beaches. This is how the cycle closes.

In the Albanian mountains, I was amazed at how little rubbish lies around.

If you look at the picture you see further in the background the fishing nets, where the freshly caught fish comes from, which is served a few hours later in the restaurant on the beach.

I will provide more updates on the subject in the coming weeks