A picture of the garbage heap on a street in Baishixia Community in Shenzhen’s Bao’an district grossed out China Daily readers but it is an example of how complicated the business of sanitation is.

Pedestrians walk past the garbage heap

The garbage could not be transported to a nearby landfill because residents had demanded the landfill be shut down.

Another telling piece of news related to the environment was when 7,186 recent graduates applied for a series of sanitation posts, including maintenance and street cleaning positions, after an announcement was posted on the official website of the Harbin Human Resources and Social Security Bureau (HHRSSB) on September 22.

However, the action by the residents of Baishixia Community was probably just an act of NIMBY-ism that backfired horribly, and the Global Times suggests that the popularity of jobs in sanitation is down to the fact that graduates covet government jobs that have lots of stability and perks.

Workers begin the arduous task of cleaning the place up

But there have been examples of communities and individuals, such as this one we told you about in June, who have taken it upon themselves to clean up communities simply because it is the right thing to do.

You can read about how recycling has unleashed an entire subculture in China here at the excellent China Environmental Law blog.