I vividly remember while in Brussels taking our recycles to a patch about a mile from the house (no containers at the curb then!) and how I put a colored glass bottle in the wrong container! A lady who was there about bit my head off in an apoplectic manner (I don't understand Dutch or French) but the meaning was clear! And we did have a large container for kitchen waste which came with complete directions on how to properly wash and dry it!
Your posting today caused me to grin a bit and reminded me of our two years living in Germany and working to understand their passion for environment & climate and their recycling as a supporter of those passions. The tongue-in-cheek example of understanding German thinking equates to “say things louder and more forceful in German to get the point across.” Their focus on recycling is no different.
In our village, we had a neighborhood recycling collection point with a variety of colored bins. Each colored bin related to the type of materials destined for that bin. They even separate glass by the color (green, brown, yellow, clear) with different bins for each. The example most used for newcomers to Germany is an ordinary tea bag. That tea bag, when recycled properly, gets divided into about four different bins: one for the paper tab, one for the metal staple, one for the string and used mesh paper bag and one for the residual tea grounds. It would be considered out-of-bounds to just toss the whole tea bag assembly into the wrong bin…and heaven help you if you just put the whole thing in the ordinary trash.
When we arrived, our landlord explained trash pick-up days and process. Keep in mind that the recycle bins we were provided were huge…the size of a normal American trash can. The actual “all other” waste trash cans were the same height as a normal can, but had a plug in the bottom that made only the top ¼ of the can usable for actual trash. And we were told the actual trash can should only be put out about once every 3 months. When we inquired about that strange configuration and timing, he told us the intent was for us to recycle more than we threw out in the trash – recycling was picked up each week. And, he said, the cost of trash pick-up service was “extremely expensive” – thus only use it every two or three months (said loudly and forcefully in German)! So…for the first year we were pretty religious about separating all waste and recycling as instructed. It was tedious and time consuming. Despite my German heritage, I’m an American which makes me inherently lazy in the eyes of the world. I didn’t care for the recycling requirements.
After that first year, I casually asked the landlord about his comment regarding the timing and expense of the actual trash can. He finally elaborated that the company would pick up the trash can each week if we put it out…but the expense! I asked what the extra cost would be. He said it was about 15 Euros each week we put it out (about $16). I about lost it. While we still did our part to recycle at curb level, we did start putting out the trash can and paying the extra “extreme” cost all the while getting disapproving looks from our neighbors.
I later learned that all the recycle bins ultimately get dumped into one large “general waste and trash” bin which is carted off to a large sorting facility where a machine separates all the stuff automatically. So all our efforts at curbside where just a legacy process that had taken root in German village culture and never challenged. From a few articles I’ve read in the past about the whole recycling issue, it sounds like in some cases, it’s costing more in manpower and resources to run the process than the benefit gained from not doing it. Clearly this is a debatable issue for many who are focused on going Green for every aspect of our lives and for the future of our planet. I’m just not sure how well it’s actually working.
I vividly remember while in Brussels taking our recycles to a patch about a mile from the house (no containers at the curb then!) and how I put a colored glass bottle in the wrong container! A lady who was there about bit my head off in an apoplectic manner (I don't understand Dutch or French) but the meaning was clear! And we did have a large container for kitchen waste which came with complete directions on how to properly wash and dry it!
~Recycling gone awry~
Your posting today caused me to grin a bit and reminded me of our two years living in Germany and working to understand their passion for environment & climate and their recycling as a supporter of those passions. The tongue-in-cheek example of understanding German thinking equates to “say things louder and more forceful in German to get the point across.” Their focus on recycling is no different.
In our village, we had a neighborhood recycling collection point with a variety of colored bins. Each colored bin related to the type of materials destined for that bin. They even separate glass by the color (green, brown, yellow, clear) with different bins for each. The example most used for newcomers to Germany is an ordinary tea bag. That tea bag, when recycled properly, gets divided into about four different bins: one for the paper tab, one for the metal staple, one for the string and used mesh paper bag and one for the residual tea grounds. It would be considered out-of-bounds to just toss the whole tea bag assembly into the wrong bin…and heaven help you if you just put the whole thing in the ordinary trash.
When we arrived, our landlord explained trash pick-up days and process. Keep in mind that the recycle bins we were provided were huge…the size of a normal American trash can. The actual “all other” waste trash cans were the same height as a normal can, but had a plug in the bottom that made only the top ¼ of the can usable for actual trash. And we were told the actual trash can should only be put out about once every 3 months. When we inquired about that strange configuration and timing, he told us the intent was for us to recycle more than we threw out in the trash – recycling was picked up each week. And, he said, the cost of trash pick-up service was “extremely expensive” – thus only use it every two or three months (said loudly and forcefully in German)! So…for the first year we were pretty religious about separating all waste and recycling as instructed. It was tedious and time consuming. Despite my German heritage, I’m an American which makes me inherently lazy in the eyes of the world. I didn’t care for the recycling requirements.
After that first year, I casually asked the landlord about his comment regarding the timing and expense of the actual trash can. He finally elaborated that the company would pick up the trash can each week if we put it out…but the expense! I asked what the extra cost would be. He said it was about 15 Euros each week we put it out (about $16). I about lost it. While we still did our part to recycle at curb level, we did start putting out the trash can and paying the extra “extreme” cost all the while getting disapproving looks from our neighbors.
I later learned that all the recycle bins ultimately get dumped into one large “general waste and trash” bin which is carted off to a large sorting facility where a machine separates all the stuff automatically. So all our efforts at curbside where just a legacy process that had taken root in German village culture and never challenged. From a few articles I’ve read in the past about the whole recycling issue, it sounds like in some cases, it’s costing more in manpower and resources to run the process than the benefit gained from not doing it. Clearly this is a debatable issue for many who are focused on going Green for every aspect of our lives and for the future of our planet. I’m just not sure how well it’s actually working.