My Garbage Disposal



My Kitchen

Someone back home told me that a garbage disposal, I mean those little machines that are actually in your kitchen sink, is required in every home.  So, I always think of him whenever I use my disposal here. Mine is not part of the sink but is a 500 km sq. body of water, the Tarawa Lagoon, just below by kitchen balcony when the tide is in.  When the tide is out, I throw any meat scraps I might have to the wild dogs that sleep under my house but this is more of an insurance policy.

I have to admit that I have been feeling quite guilty throwing left over food and edible scraps into the lagoon.  At first I put them in the bin but in this climate within no time it was full of maggots, which I found disgusting. I asked some locals what they use as a garbage disposal and they told me that they use pigs. Since I don’t have a pig they said that the lagoon would be okay in the meantime. 

This morning I was cutting up a papaya for breakfast and threw the skins and seeds into the lagoon. Due to a guilty conscience, I usually don’t look to see what happens to this garbage but just hope the tide takes it away fast. For some reason, I looked down today. What I saw were schools of fish swimming and jumping over each other to get those scraps of papaya.  I was so happy--my conscience relieved now that I know that I am actually feeding fish.