Recycling and momos

There is no formal recycling program in Delhi, but nothing goes to waste. This is because poverty is a much greater recycling motivator than the good intentions of the environmentally-conscious.  In every dumpster in this city there is a group of children and/or adults who pick through the trash to save anything that might be in any way salvageable. Certainly, this is true for the dumpster at the end of my street (pictured below) which, I imagine, as a dumpster in a wealthy part of Delhi, must be quite coveted real estate; there are always 4-5 guys (all men) already there in the mornings when I leave my house around 7:45am. 

Delhi-wallahs are, in general, quite ingenious when it comes to recycling and reducing waste. Behold, for example, this snack I picked up from a street vendor last weekend.

So, you're probably all wondering why I picked up a bag of chili-flavored chips and a bag of some ketchup for a snack right? Well, the bag spills its secrets below:

Ta da! It's a plate of momos, which are what Indians call dumplings. (Well, if we're going to get technical about it, it's what Indian's call baozi, not jiaozi--which is what Americans refer to when we speak of dumplings. Booyah! Don't say I didn't learn nothing from living in Beijing for a couple of months!)

These "take-away" momos were carefully wrapped in a recycled potato-chip bag (don't worry, it looked clean as new), with the accompanying chile sauce being delivered in a teeny plastic bag). Compare this with your average Chinese delivery box in the USA and you'll see it's quite an efficient use of resources.

And, for those who were wondering, the momos were pretty good, but not great. A bit too salty for my taste, honestly.