In the United States we have come a long way toward recycling. I love that in Naperville we can even comingle all of our recycling into one bin. Of course if you are the de Waard family, you actually set out at least two if not three bins each week for recycling. One of the side effects of our easy American lifestyle is a preponderance of packaging. We can buy just about anything we want in a nice neat package that we then need to recycle.
Here in Europe the recycling craze took off long before it did around the United States. Mostly because of space. How many people remember the Islip garbage barge trying to find somewhere to unload is smelly, fetid load? Apparently there was no room on Long Island for it. New Jersey didn't want it. What were we to do?! Europe has been overcrowded since the middle ages. The people here have had to be resourceful, unlike in America where we could just send out garbage to the wide open west! (Until they started complaining too.)
I wanted to show how things are different here in England. First, I only have garbage collection once a week and what they will be collecting alternates each week. Consequently, I have to always be on top of the schedule to know which bin to place at the curb (or in UK they write it "kerb"). I usually remember without any problem, but I don't hesitate to look up and down the street to compare the color of my bin.
Today was Garbage Day in Camberley. I rolled out my Recycling Bin and my Food Waste Bin. A Food Waste Bin is a glorious concept. All food waste, cooked, raw, rotting, fetid, slimy, stale, you name it, goes into a collection bin. The Food Waste bin is collected EVERY week. This is then taken to a giant compost pile of sorts that is providing energy to the community. Brilliant idea if you have ever had to stick your head in my refrigerator. My husband and my father can attest to the fact that I usually have at least four science experiments going on in my fridge that tend to turn a stomach or two. Now I know that it is all for the greater good of the community! The second aspect of the brilliancy of this concept is that you do not have smelly Garbage. Remember that today they only took away the Recycling and the Food Waste. Next Tuesday they collect only Garbage and Food Waste. What is interesting is that my Recycling bin is actually larger than my garbage bin and is overflowing after two weeks whereas my Garbage bin is often barely full. I guess I am doing something right.
Another Recycling plus here in the UK are these really great Community Drop Off Centers. No, not places for old people to play Bingo, these are Garbage Tipping Points. On a side note, sometimes you see signs that say "No Tipping" next to a dark lane or open field. Steve saw me look at such a sign and said "It doesn't mean that you don't have to tip a person for service rendered rather you can't dump garbage there." In honesty, I thought there might be a field of cows through the long grass and shrubbery and you couldn't go Cow Tipping. I had been surprised that they needed to put up signs to chasten teenagers for cow tipping which was the explanation of the weird look on my face. No Dumping I would have understood, but who knows what they think when they see those signs around the U.S.
Back to Drop Off Centers. These areas have big forty foot containers set up for you to properly sort large loads of garbage and recycling including things not allowed in the Garbage bin and Recyling bin set at the curb. One great drop off area is for broken electronics and computer bits and wires. We all know these things should not go into a garbage dump but we don't want to wait until June for the once a year collection behind the high school sponsored by the tech club and even that collection does not accept lamps and broken electronic toys. Another drop off is for weathered clothing that you can't put into a charity bin because it is well beyond wearable. There are the regular other spots like a bin for garden waste and one for recyclable like cardboard such as a pile of moving boxes because there are so many and you just want them out of your house. It's a lovely place that is always busy and I am happy to say I can get there without even using my navigation system because I love it so much.
So we are working to save the planet one trash bin at a time. We still have to work on the decreasing the number of juice and water bottles that we accumulate, but we are getting there. I am thrilled that none of the kids are in diapers (nappies) because with Garbage collection only once every two weeks, my bin would be pretty foul, so not a perfect system, but in some ways, better than most.
Have fun taking out the Garbage this week and don't forget to Recycle! (to save the environment, please do not print this blog!)
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