Talkin' Trash

Switzerland is a country overflowing with rules and regulations (but not trash). Everywhere you go there are signs to tell you what to do and what not to do. It makes it easy for those who can't think for themselves, but difficult for those who don't understand the language. The possibility of unknowingly breaking some law or regulation was a large source of stress for me when we first arrived here. (Oh, and we have broken more than a few minor ones, starting with my first day in the country , but we can talk about those later). When we arrived in Switzerland we had to register with our local town office. Upon registering, they issued us, among other things, a guide to local recycling regulations. During that first week, I probably spent a few hours with the recycling guide and an English-German dictionary trying to decipher how to deal with our growing pile of trash. Until I figured it out, I didn't want to throw anything anyway; fearing the "trash police" I had heard about who will go through your trash and fine you for improper disposal.
Switzerland reportedly has one of the highest recycling rates in the world and, due to the fact that you must pay for all of the trash you produce, the amount of unnecessary packaging is generally less than you would find in US stores. The payment systems can vary by where you live, but this is how it works for us. First, we must buy standard size trash bags (35l, 60l and 110l; those little l's are for liters, for those who are metrically impaired) with the sizes clearly labelled on them. Then at our local grocery store we buy stickers that must be affixed to each bag before disposal (see photo). I think the stickers were 3 CHF each (approx. $3 US). You use one sticker for a 35l bag, 2 for a 60l bag and 3 for a 110l bag. Due to my trash police paranoia, I made sure to thoroughly shred anything that had names or addresses on it for the first bag or 2. I also waited until after dark to make the trip to our apartment trash dumpster, so the neighbors wouldn't see me. Now you really think I am paranoid. Believe me they are watching, and they are just waiting for you to do something wrong. And they will tell you when you do too.
Compostable waste goes into a separate bin and is also picked up once a week. I know what you are thinking, it sounds easy so far, right? Now let's get to the recycling. The actual concept of recycling is not a difficult one for me to grasp, I have been doing it for years and have lived many places, with varying degrees of concern for recycling. The trick is to figure out what actually can be recycled, because it better not end up in the trash. Even for those who don't care about the environmental implications of not recycling, the trash police fines, the extra cost of disposal, and the thought of breaking any rules is enough for any law-abiding Swiss person to recycle everything possible. Once you figure out what can be recycled, then you need to figure out where to recycle it. Plastic milk jugs and soda bottles must go back to the grocery store (as do batteries and Brita water filters), glass and cans go to a town collection site that has very limited hours, old appliances must be taken to specific locations, old furniture can be stickered and picked up but only up to certain dimensions and only on a few pickup dates per year. Paper, cardboard and newspaper is also picked up on a few specified dates each year and must be bundled and tied in a specified manner with specific maximum dimensions. Apparently, this is the true test of whether you or Swiss or not (or at least if you are assimilating), if you are able to properly bundle your paper and cardboard for recycling. Since the Swiss distribute massive amounts of advertising flyers through the mail, I had no shortage of newspaper to bundle. We also had a large stash of cardboard in our storage area from our all of the boxed and unassembled furniture we bought at Ikea. In anticipation of our first pickup date last week, I bought a roll of string and began sorting and assembling bundles. For the large pieces of cardboard, I had to fold them multiple times to get them to the required bundle size. I must say I made some nice-looking bundles. I might even be able to pass for being Swiss.
Raven took great interest in the recycling project and helped with shredding some of the cardboard and unrolling the string for me. The part of her lineage that is German Shepherd, may in fact be Swiss German. Once the bundles were complete we proudly added them to the growing pile near our dumpster.
Apparently, the reason the bundles must be of a specified maximum size (and therefore weight) is because it is all collected by the local kids. I'm not sure what they get out of it, but it is a brilliant scheme for the towns to get some free labor. Although I missed the morning pickup, I was able to witness the collection operation in a nearby town when commuting to language school a few days later. It was like when the National Guard mobilizes for a relief operation. The streets were crawling with kids towing garden carts, which they would fill with the bundles and then bring them to a number of designated dumpsters and trucks. Seeing all of the stacks of newspaper made me flashback to when I was a kid and would do my friend's paper route when he was away on vacation. One house I delivered to was owned by an old couple who had a serious hoarding problem. I have since learned that this is not just eccentric behavior but is a form of obsessive-compulsive behaviour. The entire porch (and as far as I could see into the house) was filled with stacks of old newspapers and the whole place was dirty, dilapidated and smelled like litter box. The next house down had a large aggressive dog that would chase you if it was left loose, which was most of the time. The next house after that had a dog that was tied out on a chain and I found out the hard way that in his excitement he would spray sweet-smelling doggie urine all over you if you got too close to him. It was a street fraught with many perils for a paper boy.