The dream of the 90s: it's alive in Chile

There are a handful of ways in which I feel like Chile is about 10-15 years behind the U.S., and it wouldn't take them long to catch up: cycling, recycling, spaying and Internet using.

Recycling. Do you remember bringing your pop cans, bottles and glass to the recycling centers in the late 80s? Do you remember returnable Coke bottles? Recycling isn't a thing that is done systematically in Chile, but there are signs that Viña (at least) is moving towards having a system. Currently, one can bring their plastic bottles to various locations, such as a park along Avda Libertad, and deposit bottles.

Cycling. I haven't seen anyone wear a bicycle helmet yet, which is about where casual bikers were in the 90s (in Duluth, at least). I've seen bikers ride on the bike path along one of the highways and the string of beaches, but for the most part they ride on the sidewalks. Chileans are good at defensive driving (they have to be!) but in this case I think it is probably safer for the bikes to not be in the street. 

Except there is that thing where parking on the sidewalk is common...

Spaying and neutering. There are too many stray dogs. They need Bob Barker.

Internet using. I haven't seen one of these for awhile! 

Computer access is hard to come by, but when you do find it, it's cheap. Not free, but definitely inexpensive. 

Not much is done online (or through the mail, for that matter) from what I gather. For example, people go to the places of business to pay utility bills. We've used the Internet to do our apartment searching and make travel plans, but not many transactions are available online. As far as I can tell.