Shanghai Scrap

First things first: yesterday Foreign Policy published Rich Dog, Poor Dog, my take on China’s proposed animal cruelty law. In it, I suggest that animal protection is a Chinese-style wedge issue, dividing opponents and supporters by region and socio-economic class (read it here). For the record, I think not enough credit is given to magazine editors when they come up with topics … so let me take a moment to thank Christina Larson, a contributing editor at FP, for thinking that I might be the right person to write this piece. It’s a subject that’s long interested me, but quite honestly it never would have occurred to me to propose an essay to a publication if she hadn’t asked. Larson’s very useful twitter feed can be found here, and her blog can be found here.

Those following my twitter feed know that I’m in Rio de Janeiro – on assignment, mind you – and it just so happens that my assignment coincides with Carnaval. Funny that. Anyway, tweeting and blogging will continue to be light through the middle of the week, at which time I’ll resume somewhat regular posting. For now, a photo taken in a Rio-area recycling plant partly devoted to recycling the flood of aluminum beverage (read: beer) containers that this region generates – especially during the raucous Carnaval season. I may have more to say on the subject in the next couple of days, but for now, a picture taken before the flood (Rio’s Carnaval officially starts on Sunday):

And while I’m on the topic of recycling … it’s come to my attention that a researcher from the Shanghai bureau of the New York Times is looking into the large volume of recyclables that China imports from the US and other developed nations. That’s a good thing: the more people understand the consequences of their consumption habits, the less wasteful they’ll be. What’s not good is that the Times appears intent on viewing the recyclable trade as a “waste” trade. This kind of thinking is ignorant and inaccurate; it also leads to dull, repetitive journalism of the sort that we’ve seen countless times over the last ten years. And, finally, it makes potential sources clam up. For the record: the global recycling trade recovers value and saves resources that would otherwise be wasted if it didn’t exist. Here’s hoping the New York Times decides to present that view to its readers, and not a narrow view of a narrow part of the industry. You can find Shanghai Scrap’s blogged thoughts on the Chinese recycling trade, here.

And that’s that. Happy Year of the Tiger! I’ll be back after the Lunar New Year holiday – perhaps sooner.