In case you didn't know, the Germans are very particular about their trash. No, I do not mean that they separate trash from recyclables, I mean that they separate their trash into categories, as well as their recyclables. Every where you go (apartment dumpster areas and along the streets), there are separate receptacles to sort your trash. Our own apartment trash can has dividers in it! If you are found not sorting your trash, there is some kind of penalty. The categories are: Paper/Cardboard, Plastic/Containers, Glass, Food scraps, and everything else (aka "Restmüll"). Food scraps is the pain in the butt one. Already, I have peeled a carrot, took grapes off of the stalk, and cut off fat of a chicken. These seemingly easy "throw away" items must go into the special container for "bio-Tonne", or food scraps. While this trash sorting may seem simple, here are some conundrums that we have encountered over the past 24 hours:
- used paper towels
- used tissues
- plastic raw chicken container
- aluminum foil
The first two would seem easy. You might think, Of course used paper towels and tissues are for the Restmüll That's gross! But no! They're made out of paper. Non-used ones would go into the paper trash, so why wouldn't used ones? It may not be that big of a deal, but I don't want to seem like the ignorant American, even though yes, I did put it in the Restmüll. And the plastic raw chicken container? I rinsed it and put it in the plastic/container bin. PS, you get money for some plastic and glass bottles :)
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