Scavenging for Dummies.

What is scavenging?

Scavenging is the act of gathering useful materials from discarded material.  Traditionally, scavengers gather junk items to sell and trade or reuse it themselves.

Photo: The Advocacy Project

 

Scavengers can be found everywhere in the world. It is estimated that 1-2% of the world’s population become scavengers to survive (Bartone, 1988). Most scavengers are those who have low levels of formal education or are part of the disadvantaged (Schenck & Blaauw, 2011).

Nonetheless there+ are many benefits that scavengers bring to the society! Not in the least, they have a huge positive impact on the environment through their recycling of waste materials. While all this sounds pretty good, there is a lesser known fact that scavengers also bring some detriment to society. These take shape in the form of social stigma, occupational hazards and risk of disease spread (Binion & Gutberlet, 2012).

credit:www.telegraph.co.uk

This blog will shed some light into scavenging in Singapore. While many look at Singapore as a clean bustling city, many people work behind the scenes that leaves Singapore so very clean. Let’s take a closer look at these agents in action!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *