Kids were picking up the plastic bottles on the beach everyday on candolim beach last year

Agree Dunk! I saw loads of kids with big sacks.

There was a family sorting rags/plastic etc at the rear of our hotel last year, they then burn the stuff they don't want. I don't think it is a new phenomena as I am sure I have seen rag pickers etc around for a long while. Good on them, I hope they make loadsamoney

At the foot of Holiday Rd. in Calangute every morning about 6.30-7.00ish there's a gang of kids, black as sweeps, loaded done with the mornings pickings, cardboard, empty cans, huge plastic sacks of plastic bottles etc, the're like extras from Oliver Twist. Just outside Mapsa on the right as you go in from Calangute there's a big depot where you can see them sorting it all out, it's been on the go for years. Alan

It all sounded very optimistic until Alan added "it's been going on for years"
Ah well, all will be revealed to me next week !

After seeing bottles being collected on the beach I spoke to my friend, who has a busy popular restaurant, about recycling. She said she has asked various people to collect from her restaurant but they declined because they could not cope with the volume!

We dont go til Feb and the way the Rupee keeps dropping I might be down on the beach doing a bit of recycling myself...... .....Keith

Everything is recycled in Goa from glass, plastic bottles and cardboard to bottletops from your beer bottles. We used to collect ours in neat piles then every two weeks the recycling man would come around and weigh it, pack it and pay you hard cash....always gave the proceeds to my staff
GFF xx

Hi,k unfortauntely many of the children collect 'rags', this is what most of the faily do who come to the mango house and is one of the main reasons for them not coming also (as their parents want them to work when they're 6 years old!!! )...

We should all try to encourae these children to go to school and not work/beg, try not to offer them sweets etc as this only encourages them to skip school and get the benefits of hanging around the tourist areas...

Anyway, if anyone is visting us then please bring your plastic bottles / metal items that can be recycled as we collect and sell it to make the interest for our children's bank. Most of the children save money with us now and we use the recyling money to give them 10% interest on their savings...

Encouraging them to save is also a great lesson as most of the parents spend the money they earn in the same day or the next and never have any svings (how ever much they earn). They often brag and say we made 250 rs each today, but the next day they have nothing...