rekindled spirit

taking the trash out for your husband.

everyone is required to recycle in germany. many here see this as their civic duty and are proud to be soldiers in the global battle for the enviornment. this very sophisticated and a little complicated system is one of the most successful recycling programs in the world. it is a system that requires sorting and organization; we separate our trash into 5 categories.

first there is the trash that is picked up from our home:

1. gelber sack (yellow bag trash) is collected once a month. you put it on the curb outside your home like i have done here in the photo above. this contains cans, plastic, materials like beverage cartons, deo or spray bottles. you have to rinse everything before you put in the bag.

2. biological waste, goes in the brown bin and is collected once a week. considered bio trash is kitchen scraps, peels, leftover food, coffee filters, tea bags and garden waste. nobody has a food disposal here. nothing goes down the drain but water or liquids. we put our bio trash in paper bags (never plastic) and then in the brown bin outside. the end result of bio recycling is either energy through the natural fermenting gasses or garden compost.

3. the blue bin is also collected once a week and is trash known as “other“.  this includes diapers, tissues, other personal hygiene items, broken ceramic, pens, old pans, textiles and pantyhose, paper too dirty to recycle, etc. everything in the blue bins is incinerated.

then there is the garbage that we take to the recyclinghof:

1. glass that we recycle includes wine bottles, jam/preserve jars, oil bottles, juice bottles and even bath-salt bottles. Glass is sorted by color. There are different slots for depositing clear, green, and brown glass.

2. paper: all packaging made of paper and cardboard, newspapers, and magazines.

hazardous waste such as batteries, cans of paint, disinfectants, and insecticides are treated and disposed of as “hazardous waste”. at the end of every year we recieve a garabge calendar from the county office or rathaus. this calendar lists the scheduled times and places where they accept such waste (although we take our batteries to our local grocery store at anytime).

when we move next month and we have furniture or household electrical items to throw away we must schedule a sonstige  (miscellaneous items) pick up order from the county office. in our county, each household is allowed 2 of these orders a year at no cost. items such as sofas, chairs, building materials, can be put out on the front of your house or building only after you provide a complete list of what needs to be picked up.

our trash system here is more than merely putting a bag outside. it is a chore and a half. deep down inside it does feel really good to be ecologically friendly. and sometimes when i remember how happy it makes my tall dark and handsome, i do a little bit more than my share and take it out for him. just like he does for me everyday. 

This entry was posted on Friday, February 9th, 2007 at 10:05 pm and is filed under love.