In Germany we had extensive recycling practices. The infrastructure was so well set up that we, the lazy Americans, actually managed to:
- recycle our paper, regular trash and even compost(!) right in our apartment complex – they had bins for all three!
- recycle our glass into white, clear, green, blue, brown right down the street
- never buy cans (like soda) because they had an extra tax
- use plastic, re-useable carrying containers to bring home our heavy duty 1L water bottles (yum! fizzy water!) which we could “rent” for 2 euros and then return. The heavy duty bottles were then rigorously washed by the company and re-used.
- air-dry all of our clothes since we didn’t own a dryer
- used our own collection of sturdy bags to pack our groceries. Grocery stores charge you for bags in Germany so everyone brings their own.
None of this made us special in Europe, actually, all of these things are totally common practice and definitely expected. In fact, there are fines for people who don’t comply. However, here in Malaysia, I am very sad to report that I haven’t yet figured out how to recycle anything. Anything. It is shockingly easy to start throwing away cans and newspapers in with the trash if that’s all you have. I haven’t used a re-usable grocery bag in 2 years, because they pack your groceries for you in plastic bags. I know I need to make more of an effort myself, but I think there is definitely something to be said for institutionalizing practices at a governmental level.
For example, I just found out today that plastic bags are now banned in San Francisco. Now, this is the kind of thing that needs to start happening all around the world! If we are forced to be environmentally friendly, it might be tough at the beginning, but it will become a routine, just like it was for us in Germany.
What do you do to help the environment? I need some inspiration!
Image from: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/images/landfill1.jpg
I wonder what would happen if you simply presented the “bagger” your own bags. “Thanks, I prefer that you use MY bags to bag my purchase. Thank you.” I mean you are just one person, right? But each time you did that 3 or 4 or more people would notice and wonder…
I know I started to do that here in the States and well yeah of course at least half of the time I was shopping in places that weren’t’ surprised in the least.
Now of course all shopping is done online and brought to my door. Totally not the best thing fro our mother earth, for the environment we have to live in but…well first I have to survive. This is the best I can do right now.
Re-cycling is big in Switzerland too. Don’t you love living in a society where the infrastructure makes sense not just in an immediate business-bottomline sense but in a human decency sense as well?
Thanks for the comparison with your experience in Germany
All the best,
Nia.:)
In the Philippines, recycling is slowly being accepted in many parts of the country.
In our village, we implement recylcing. Each household segregates thrash according to biodegrable, non-biodegrable and those that can be recycled. A group in the village collects recycled materials and send it to a recycling plant. Proceeds from this are donated to an appointed charity.
I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of 1000 worms so that we can start a compost bin. Our city has a decent recycling program and we end up recycling a little more than half of the waste we create. I recently started taking my own bags to the grocery store. It’s taking a little getting used to. Several times I have just forgotten to take them into the store with me, even though they were in my car on the back seat, but hopefully I’ll get the hang of it sooner rather than later.
What a pleasant surprise to move into our village in the Philippines and to find that we HAD to recycle. It is fantastic! We have a bin for:
plastics and polystyrene
glass
aluminium
paper and cardboard
biodegradeable
That said, I live in a village for the privileged. There is no escaping rubbish in the Philippines, where ever you go. On a recent four hour trek into the rice terraces of Batad, we still found candy wrappers, empty bottles, you name it. I don’t know if this country will ever solve its unhealthy obsession with trash.
On our last visit to Taipei, we were not given a plastic bag or carrier in any of the small shops we purchased from. It was such a refreshing experience to walk around and see people carrying their own bags in which they carried their purchases. Just another good reason to move to Taiwan!
I don’t do nearly as much as I’d like, but here is what I do manage on a regular basis:
1.) Taking our own bags to the grocery store (and if we forget them, we shell out the RM2 each to buy more….as a result, we have about 1,000 canvas bags! Anyone need any?)
2.) I use the same lunch bag over and over (everyone who sees my nasty Guess Kids shopping bag knows this), re-use the same plastic eating wear by taking it home and washing it, and washing ziplock bags to re-use.
3.) I recycle water bottles by filling them up at our water cooler at home, so I don’t throw them away or buy new bottle of water.
These are things that I am going to try and do in the future:
1.) Use less water during a shower by turning it off while soaping up (I know from personal experience in the Peace Corps that you can wash your hair and body very well with the amount of water that it takes to fill a bucket. Well, maybe not if you have very long hair- then maybe it takes a bucket and a half!)
2.) Making sure to turn off water while brushing my teeth ALL OF THE TIME….I try to now, but I forget a lot.
3.) Using canvas bags when doing all of my shopping, rather than just when grocery shopping (though this will require remembering to always bring them with me, as they are only sold in the grocery stores)
4.) Making more of an effort to bring cans/plastic to school to recycle
I have tried the whole “Yellow’s mellow, brown goes down” thing, but I am afraid that in this heat, it is just too nasty!
One more thing- have you ever noticed that it is almost impossible to not take the plastic bags from shops here, as they must always seal the top of your bags with tape that proves that you paid for the items? I have tried numerous times to decline plastic bags at shops, saying that I can put the items into a bag that I already have from another shop, and I am refused! They claim that they must put the “Paid” sticker tape on the bag! How crazy is that???
I find myself nodding in agreement reading comments #5 and #6. Where I’m staying, people don’t care whether you’d need a plastic bag or not, they just shove one on your face and you’re supposed to use it, otherwise the security guard won’t let you out of the premise!
We reduce the use of plastic bags whenever possible, but not to the extent of being taken into the office to be interrogated on why we insisted to carry our stuff in our own bags.
Seriously, somebody needs to drill this into their minds that the plastic bags are why our leatherback turtles aren’t coming back. D*mn.
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