Friday, April 25, 2014

The Thing About German Garbage

There are roughly a hundred things that an American has to get used to....as he settles into Germany, and the 'traditions'.  One of those things....is separation of garbage.

EVERYTHING is recycled.  Don't stand there and think for a moment that it's anything less than that.

Outside of most houses (as example, I use my neighbor's place)....there's a tidy arrangement of the four cans (regular, paper, plastic, bio).

There's a schedule pumped out once a year and everyone puts it up somewhere in the house.  You have to pay attention because each week....it's different.  Bio for five months of the year.....is usually only picked up every two to three weeks, then summer comes along and it's weekly. Plastic is usually every two weeks.  Regular garbage is a once a week thing.

Yeah, I admit....it's pretty silly.  You continually review the damn schedule and make sure the can is pulled out to the corner.  If you screw up....you are left with a overflowing can by the next run.  So you can't really afford to screw up on this.

Garbage police?  Well....up until a decade ago.....no one really allocated any positions in Germany for such work.  Then, up in north Germany....a county decided to ratchet it up a notch....hiring two guys to drive around and check cans.  This opened up a can of worms, and since then....most all garbage departments have at least one crew who make the rounds through an area of 150,000 residences.....occasionally checking one can or all.

For an American, it's hectic stuff.  Plastic only, in the plastic can.  Paper only in the paper can.  No batteries ever in the regular can.  Bio has severe limits (no citrus, but grass and leaves are perfectly fine).  A guy would have to sit down and spend probably ninety minutes analyzing the rules and standards.....then put up reminders to cover the dates.  While I admit....it is fairly simple.....it's a routine that you have to get used to and accept.    The negative is.....more rules, on top of extra rules, covered in a rules glaze.  

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

good one