garbage

I was coming back from dropping the boys off at school and was caught following the garbage truck for part of the way home. The guy never had to get out of his truck. He just rolls up to a can, an arm comes out from the truck, lifts and dumps it and places it back right where it was. Pretty amazing. Not the stinky old job it used to be. Heck the guy might not even have to shower at the end of his shift. And yet this simple scene reminded me it's not so much about a truck, but about the whole disposal system they've set up here.

The truck driver will never have to get out of his truck to load up a mattress or a couch or a fridge or construction debris, like we used to leave on our curb in Cincy, all those things the owner must get rid of himself. And they've set it up so that everyone is within so many kilometers of a disposal/recycling center that it makes it easy(relative) to get rid of your junk. You see we have to pay every time that can is emptied and this time of year out here it's every other week. That means we must recycle as much as we can, or we pay for an extra can. Out in our garage we have bins where we sort things out. Our milk cartons, bottles, cans, newspapers, batteries and plastics all go to the nearby recycling bins. Our big junk items go to the disposal center where it's separated out into various dumpsters. I first hated the system when we first got here but now I understand the wisdom behind it. In one sense perhaps it is coerced recycling. But in another sense they have given the people the tools to make it easy.

Heck, even at the McDonalds we've been to here have you sort out your tray when throwing it away. If they only had a bin for that pile of McDonalds plastic toys the kids don't play with anymore.