It's finally the weekend, and it feels like the first day off we've had in weeks. Considering that last weekend was consumed by the conference and working dinners, it really is the first day off in a while. Of course, it's raining!
But on the bright side, this morning is 'umetate gomi' - or, landfill garbage, morning.
Sounds silly that I'm excited about this, but Japan, and my city in particular, have very strict trash regulations. We have to buy special trash bags which have our city's name stamped on them; they are semi-transparent and the lettering comes in three colors: red for burnable garbage, blue for plastics, and green for stuff that has to go to the landfill (such as ceramics, broken glass, light bulbs, etc). And anything not for these bags is for recycling and must be brought to and separated at our local recycling station, which operates twice a month (on the first and third Wednesday, from 6 to 8 a.m.).
Of course, we have to separate our trash carefully, and putting the wrong thing in the wrong bag (for example, a can in a red-lettered bag) results in that bag being labeled by the trash men as 'in error', and left at the trash collection point. Often, a kind neighbor will even carry the bag back upstairs and leave it at your door.
Given all these regulations, and the fact that landfill trash is only picked up once every two months (on the second Saturday of the odd month), it is not surprising that I've begun to lead a life dominated by trash, and become excited by these collection days!
1 comment:
We understand the excitement about trash days.
Your note reminds us that we are (finally) very lucky to have regular trash and recyclable pickups, right at our curb, and no sorting within those two categories. Life's small pleasures.
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