rubbish

This post is totally going to make my eco-friendly friends at home (Caroline, Scott, Eric) happy.  Christchurch has just started a new rubbish and recycling program.  Originally, rubbish and recycling were collected weekly on Fridays.  Starting this month, we were given three wheelie bins that are collected fortnightly (every two weeks).  The largest yellow bin is for recycling, and we've gotten into the habit of recycling so much here:  pizza boxes, cans, cardboard containers, newspaper, plastics, etc.  The mid-sized red bin is for rubbish only.  It is a tiny bin for two weeks worth of rubbish.  It is encouraging to try and divide your waste into the three containers to lessen what you're sending to the landfills.  Basically, trash goes in the rubbish bin, including non-organic items and non-recyclables.  The last smallest green container is for organic waste, which is basically our compost pile.  All food scraps, vegetable and fruit peels, and organic waste goes into that bin.

As the program is just starting and we are just leaving, we won't have an opportunity to instill the new practice into our daily regimen.  Although I was skeptical about the amount of trash sorting I would have to be doing, after further investigation, I am actually impressed at the thought of less less less rubbish, and more recycling.  It will definitely have an environmental impact on the already 'green' NZ!