Thursday, September 18, 2008

Am I even doing this right? The Recycling Dilemma.



So I believe this weekend is the paper pickup. I really do not even look at the recycling schedule anymore... I just figure that whenever I see lots of paper, tied neatly and tidily arranged in piles on the curb in a fashion that would make any OCD Orderer proud, it is time to bundle up my recycling and get Jace to take it out.

Last month, I forgot to bundle it up (that's it, exile me now!), so I had a bit extra this time and it was starting to fill up my recycling cupboard (a must in Suisse), so out it came, time to be bundled... and to help I sang a happy bundling song while I bundled it all up.

"Bund-le, bund-le, who wants to bundle?!... We do, we do. everyone loves to bundle. Oh yeah. Bundle me up. Bund-le, bund-le, bund-le me up."

Ok, so there was no song but sometimes I wish their were, it would make monotonous work like this bearable. And if you like my lyrics, they are so copywrited so don't even think about it.

The one thing I like about the bundling though is playing with the string . It is like Christmas, but it comes once a month and instead of using the paper to wrap, I am wrapping the paper. Clever, isn't it? I know.

But really, I can't help but think that somehow I am doing this wrong. I read somewhere once that the envelopes have to be separated from the newspapers and that you can also recycle glossies, but all I ever seem to see on the curb is newspaper and cardboard. Can someone please tell me if I am even doing this right?!?! I would hate to be turned in to the Swiss Recycling Police. I heard they make you take out other people's compost as punishment for not following the rules. (Just kidding - there is no Recycling Police - I don't think... tell me there is no Recycling Police!)

Honestly though, do I get a gold star for my Swiss Paper Recycling or not?

.... now if only I could get Jace to more regularly recycle his coke bottles... it's a lost cause isn't it? ;)

(Ps. There are 7... or 8 (?) pizza boxes in there. Yes, that means we ate at least 14 pizzas in the last 2 months. Lord help me. But it is the best frozen pizza in the world - don't we all agree now? Get out there and get it if you haven't yet, just don't don't forget the spicy olive oil... oh and don't forget to recycle... ;)

3 comments:

Chantal said...

There are a kind of recycling police--they will actually take the time to fill out a sheet stating what you did wrong and leave your pathetic paper behind to ponder its worthiness. The amount of time devoted to trash in Switzerland is mind-boggling.

Anonymous said...

Different country but same here!

I never ever know what/ how to recycle no matter how many meaningless explanations we receive by mail (I can recycle them, right???).

Paper and plastic, I'm good, but the rest?

JuanitaTortilla said...

Oh gosh, I don't even know *where* to begin.

Karton = Simply corrugated cardboards? Or regular cardboard boxes that package food? Does toilet paper roll count as Karton? What about Milk cartons?

Paper = Is it just regular copier paper and newspapers? Or including the ones that do not seem to fit the Karton category?

It is a mystery. Someone please shed some light!

Now, what do I do with Plastic food packaging?
:/

I *have* heard of Recycling Police, and that is unsettling!

 

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