Let's talk trash!

Garbage - how much can you say about it, right?! Well, explaining the intricacies of the Japanese trash system could take hours. They take recycling to an entirely new level. Since Japan is such a small country they don't have large areas for landfills which makes recycling a necessity and it's mandatory if you live in town. Trash is picked up 5 days a week here and rather than coming to each person's house, there are community trash cages. Ours is only 3 houses down which is nice since you take out trash every day. The major categories are burnable (food, paper, etc...), plastic, nonburnable, and PET containers (cans, bottles, metal lids).

Which is why we have FOUR trash cans in our kitchen! Not to mention there is "group recycling" for items like wrapping paper, newspapers, cardboard, books, milk cartons, toilet paper tubes, and several other items that I've forgotten. Not fully clear on this, but community groups recycle these particular items. The major categories are required to be in clear trash bags, while toilet paper tubes and wrapping paper must be in paper bags with handles. Newspapers, cardboard, milk cartons can NOT be in bags, but instead must be tied with string. So, everything you see in the picture above is necessary just for our trash!

Now, only one category is picked up each day, so the calendar on the left shows what will be collected on any given day. The brochure on the right is a 10 page guide to ensure you put your trash in the appropriate category...for example, where would a chip bag go? (plastics), how about individual pizza boxes with the silver lining? (burnable), and a water bottle? (bottles, but the plastic lid goes in plastics). There are so many rules and exceptions to the rule that I could never list them all...but don't forget that in all categories except burnable items must be clean before throwing them away! (I think this is my absolute FAVORITE part...washing my trash!)

The kicker to all of this is that if you put something in the wrong category they won't take your trash -which I'm assuming is why you have to put everything in clear bags. They leave a yellow flier on the bag telling you what you did wrong, only it's in Japanese. Most people say their neighbors will bring it to them and tell them what they did wrong, but as far as I know none of my neighbors speak English so this could get interesting! So far they've taken them all, WHEW!