Recycling

"Brawags!" At least, that is what it sounds like the guy is saying. Almost every morning Jim hears this odd chant from out on the street- a very odd and piercing sort of voice- very distinct from normal sounds. We did not know what it was until one Sunday a couple weeks back when we were sitting at a cafe and a guy road by on his bicycle saying "Brawags!" every now and then. He was followed by a younger kid on a bicycle who had a large bag with some rags in it. It was then clear that the guy was asking people to bring out their rags and he would take them away to earn a little (very little) money! This is one example of recycling as practiced here. We have also seen many people picking through trash to get the metal cans and plastic and glass bottle for recycling too. We also see people carrying scrap wood and metal. So there is a fairly active recycling effort and the poorest people seem to do it to earn some money for themselves and their families.
This is not so different from the US 60 years or so ago. There were people who would come around and pick up newspapers and rags, bottles, etc. to earn a little money. There are still people who do this, but not as many who do it as systematicly as in the past- covering whole neighborhoods on a regular basis.