How many kinds of trash do you have?
Burnable, non-burnable, plastic, clear glass, colored glass, cardboard, paper, yard clippings, juice packaging, PET bottles*, cans, aluminum, egg cartons, batteries, bottle caps, aerosol spray cans and big garbage.
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Yard clippings, cardboard, and burnable trash -
the pile after a day weeding and organizing at the house. |
While cleaning my house I discovered I am intimidated by trash.
I clean the room. Decide to NOT to keep something. Then wonder - How do I get rid of this?
If I don't know how to get rid of it I often keep it or put it in the shed until I have time (and energy) to figure it out.
Some product labels give me clues - there's the
burnable label, and the
plastic label. For example, I eat yogurt and throw the bottom part in the burnable bin and wash the lid put it in the plastic bin. Unless it's all made of plastic where I wash the container out, take the paper label off and put the label in burnable and the other parts in plastic.
Burnable, essentially everyday household items and leftover food, is set out twice a week. For my neighborhood that's on Monday and Thursday mornings. Plastic is set out on Wednesday morning. The neighborhood collection site for my area is about 50 meters from my house and is used by about 15 households. Collection time is about 8 AM. But all of it must fit under the lid of the box with sides made of netting. The netting is to keep the ravens out.
 
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| Containers for kerosene |
Trash bags in my area must be clear. If you use a white or black trash bag it will not be taken by the garbage collectors. If the trash collectors see that your clear bag contains items that are unacceptable it will be left for you to pick up. In some neighborhoods someone from the neighborhood association will check the garbage and return it to your house explaining the problem and asking you to do better next time. Although my neighborhood isn't that strict. I've often said a little cheer when passing by the empty trash collection site on my way home from work, "Yippee, they accepted my trash!"
I think I've figured out the burnable and plastic trash.
Even the
recyclable items I think I've figured out. Glass, juice packaging, PET bottles, cans, aluminum, egg carton, and styrofoam packaging (used with raw meat) are recycled in my neighborhood once a month. This is located about 400 meters from my house and is shared by about 50 houses in the neighborhood. Each item is placed in a separate plastic bin. Items should be washed and dried before being taken to the site. Label's from PET bottles, glass, and cans should be removed (label's go in plastic trash). Juice or milk packaging needs to be rinsed, dried, and cut so it lays flat.
The schedule for this "recycle trash day" is different for each neighborhood and not on the same day each month. I often miss it. Which means 2 months of recycling accumulate.
I am able to avoid this by taking my recyclable trash to a local grocery store. In front of the store they have various bins where patrons can discard their items in the appropriate container. These bins are conveniently available every day of the week that the store is open.
On Fridays I can set out
newspaper and boxes near the electric pole 2 houses away. Newspapers must be in the plastic bag which the newspaper company provides. Boxes must be flattened and bound with twine.
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| Friends Chris & Luke, flattening boxes |
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| Stacking and tying boxes for recycling |
Once a month there is a day for "non-burnable" items at my neighborhood trash collection site. I'm still figuring this one out. Items like metal boxes, irons, umbrellas, etc. are put out on these days.
In my neighborhood there is a special day for collecting yard clippings. I think it happens 3 times a year - but I don't know the schedule and usually find out about it when I see a huge mountain of yard clippings in front of the elementary school. If there are only a few yard clippings it can be mixed in with your burnable trash but if its a whole bag full it will not be accepted with burnable.
In cleaning my house out for home assignment I found lots of items I didn't know what to do with, such as kerosene, spray paint bottles, a telephone/fax machine, an ironing board, and an inhaler.
Unused kerosene - leftover from the heaters. After asking people for suggestions I learned if it is a small amount you can just run the heater to burn it off. If it is a larger amount you can bring it to a gas station and they will dispose of it. It should only be stored for 1 to 3 months - and not be stored over the summer. It is dangerous to use old kerosene from the previous winter.
Empty spray paint bottles - I wasn't sure what to do with it but ended up returning it to the store where I purchased it. Other people recommended putting a hole in the container before taking it to recycle center.
Broken telephone/fax machine or Rusty ironing board - I put these out on Non-burnable garbage day and they were accepted.
Big items such as a sofa or dresser would need to be disposed of by calling the community association or city office for pick up of "big trash". Some neighborhoods allow up to 4 or 5 items in a certain time frame for free. Other areas charge per item depending on the size of the item.
Sorting trash in Japan is complicated but when you consider that Japan is crowded (half the population of the US living in an area the size of California) you can understand there may need to be strict rules on how to throw things away. I'm thankful for my friends and neighbors who help me sorted it all out when I have questions.
When guests visit I give them the basic explanation of sorting the garbage. Where to put what. Show them the labeled bins. But I often find myself frantically lurching toward the trash bin - saying "WAIT! that goes in the other bin". Or resorting the trash after they've gone to bed.
Now I've started to think - before I buy something - "When I finish using it, how will I get rid of it? "
*(polyethylene terephthalate like liter bottles)
