20 April 2012

|| That's How We Do Things ||

One of my favorite things about Switzerland {and I am sure lots of Europe does it this way} is their recycling system. I think it's pretty great. In multiple places around the city there are these huge containers that you bring your recycling to. So in our home we have separate bags we place the different items in and then when they fill we take them to dispose of them. Where we take our recycling is not too far from our home, it's pretty awesome being able to walk and drop them off.
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Above is how you get rid of cans...stick them in, turn the wheel to crush the cans and then the cans drop down. Voila. Turning the wheel is pretty fun.

Photobucket And for glass their are separate containers for white glass, green and brown. Just toss em on in and enjoy the sound of breaking glass. Also there are places for PET and sometimes it's at the grocery store as well. We drop ours off inside the Migros grocery store. It is pretty great to be physically involved in recycling/disposing. I think they have a pretty great set up.

Photobucket Another great thing about Switzy, along with much of Europe, is the cart system. You put a coin in to take the cart and then when you return your cart you pop the coin out...like above. I wish we had this system everywhere in the States.

So that's how we do things!

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5 comments:

Mel said...

Thants actually one thing I'm afraid of if I'll ever be able to move back to the states.....I'll probably freak out of how they handle their garbage. It's almost the same in Germany, minus the cans. You pay a deposit for the cans and basically have to bring them back to the store.
I'm really proud of the recycling system here in Germany! :)

Olivia Carter said...

Dude, those carts quarter thing is great!

kaitlin said...

ya i love the carts thing, that was always fun.

and the funny thing about the recycling is, a few times we saw the garbage men dumping all of the different colors of glass (brown/green/white) into one bag haha. so good thing we all sorted it? that was funny.

Natalie said...

um, all I have to do is put all my recycling into one big bin and workers separate it for me and take care of it. Simple. So why is this a better system? It's more work. which means lazy people are not going to do it. Also, what is to gain from the coin cart? If someone wants to steal one, they will just not return for their quarter. Sorry to sound negative....I guess I just don't get it. Help me understand!

Monica @ All Things Lovely said...

well first of all people DO take care of things here. people DO do their trash and most people arent lazy enough here to not go put their stuff in the right place. the majority do it. i just like the system. yes its AMAZINGLY easier in the states, but its just nice to put them in the right place in your home and then put them in their right bins. it just feels more like you are helping more. And people here don't really steal carts here and carts are nice...BUT its to help people put the carts BACK. like not just next to their car or disposing it wherever...it motivates people to actually go put the carts away. does that make sense?