Monday, February 2, 2009

Recycling in Japan

Wow, ok so Japan Japan is crazy about recylcing. Who doesn't like to take out the trash? Yeah? Well, don't move to Japan. I get to take out the trash just about everyday of the week. First of all, I have no garbage disposal, which isn't so bad. This is not the first place I have lived with no garbage disposal. BUT I live in the city and there is no place to toss nasty chunks of leftover junk, so it goes in the trash to stink it up. 

I have 3 trash cans and that is not enough. Even with my three trash cans I have two piles sitting on the floor. The trash has to be sorted and you take out certain types each day. There is burnable, nonburnable, cans (not just soda cans but bean/veggie cans too), cardboard, pet bottles (that's what they call water bottles), and glass. Sound like fun to you? It IS! Loads of fun :D With all this sorting my trash doesn't quite fill up enough to take out every week, BUT for the burnable stuff... that gets stinky so I can't handle not taking it out every week. 

At first I was very nervous to do something wrong. Our trash goes in a "community cage" at the end of our little driveway, so of course if I screw up they know who's trash it is cause I am the only one with American trash. At first I took my trash on base (which I could totally get in trouble for, but on base they only do burnable and nonburnable, they pay Japanese people to wort the rest). So about a month ago (or maybe more) I put my trash out there and I did something wrong so my neighbors brought it back to me. See, at the time I had no calendar of what goes out when. I would go look at the other trash and try to guess which I should bring out. Apparently, if you bring the wrong trash out they will not take it. So it was a bit embarrassing when my neighbor comes over with his daughter (who speaks better English). They are carrying my trash and a schedule of what goes out when. Then, as if that wasn't enough, he starts to pull some of my trash out of the bag and explain what should go where, ew. I was quite embarrassed. All worked out in the end though. I have yet to screw up like that since. 

Just so you all know, it is difficult at times figuring out what goes in which trash. The Japanese apparently have little signs on their stuff to tell them what kind of trash it is. We Americans do so much recycling *sarcasm* that who knows whether some of it should be considered burnable or not?

2 comments:

Kristan. said...

that could have been REALLY embarrassing if you'd had items of a personal nature in that trash bag he was going through, if you know what i'm talking about... ;)

randy said...

You should see the Tennessee minds out here, they dont even seem to know that things can be recycled.

I dont even thing they know what the recycle symbol looks like... we have two cans in our houes and they will fill up in 3days, half plastic half paper and covered in left over food.. so post separation is a bitsh

good luck!!!