After two weeks of class, most of us have got an image of how we deal with our trash and where our trash goes. Though America has already got a good system dealing with trash, we can still look at how other countries deal with trash and learn from them.
Germany:
In Germany, every family has 3-4 separate bins for different trash, such as non-recyclable garbage, paper, glass and plastic bottles. People can be fined if they have not put the garbage in the right bin. In Germany, waste batteries and electronics are collected by community service in the fixed time and spot. What is impressive is that German schools pay a lot of attention on teaching students to sort their garbage, thus help German people develop correct habits of sorting and dealing garbage since they are little.
Japan:
Japanese families have different bins in their houses, so they can easily sort garbage at home. However, japan has more strict requirements and schedules on dumping garbage. Every family has a form which shows when to dump certain kind of garbage. For example, flammable garbage should be thrown away on Monday, Wednesday and Friday; paper is on Tuesday; and inflammable garbage is collected on the fourth Monday of every month. People use semi- transparent garbage bags so people cannot be lazy since it is easy to see what is inside.
Sweden:
http://goscandinavia.about.com/b/2012/07/30/getting-free-cash.htm
As we can see, there is always a lot we can learn from other countries to improve our own system and create a better environment.
Wow, I really enjoyed this post. I always am interested in what the rest of the globe is doing and for some reason I never even thought about other countries' garbage collection methods. However, this is very eye opening. In America we are so used to being "lazy" with one trash can to dump everything in big and small even hiding electronics in black bags and deep in the trash. We are coming to realize that we need to recycle adding a commingle collection to the mix but we even skip the rules on this. I am very impressed with Japan's strict rules and Germany's multiple bins. I strongly feel America needs to implement a more strict waste system to better the environment for the future and these countries are good models to follow!
ReplyDeleteYeah, it was surprising for me too to know that countries like Sweden or Germany and such deal with trash in a very strict and efficient way. Also germans, only have the right to receive the trash truck at their houses or neighborhoods once per week (instead of daily) making their citizens to sort out their garbage and store it in their houses accordingly. This reminded me a lot of the project or experiment we are doing daily in class (of collecting our trash and bring it daily to class).
ReplyDeleteIn the US, the idea of recycling is pretty extended too but I think there should be more regulation and implementation of laws not only regarding to sorting out garbage but also more regulation is needed in the steps of the production chain (avoiding materials that are difficult to recycle etc,...)
This post provided me with useful information in order to understand how other countries around the world deal with trash. I believe in the future that the United States will move more towards multiple cans to dispense our trash. Although Americans tend to be lazy, I think in order to keep our planet clean and safe, the only way in the future is to be more careful of where we place our waste.
ReplyDeleteI am very impressed by other countries' garbage and recycling methods. This also sparked an idea that confuses me. Americans produce the most amount of trash, and also have the loosest recycling methods. Its a contradiction that doesn't make any sense and needs to turn around quickly. If other countries have recycling methods like this, why don't we learn from them? I think our government needs to have a stronger influence on recycling in order to make an improvement in our recycling system.
ReplyDeleteThis post makes me so interested in how other countries deal with waste! I had no idea that Germany was so invested and committed to recycling, and it makes me personally want to change my own lifestyle to emulate theirs. I also found it interesting how Japan has certain days for certain types of trash. I cant image having to keep all of those days straight!
ReplyDeleteThis post really goes to show you that the United States needs to continue with their regulation on recycling to compete with other countries. We have made extremely beneficial changes in the past few years, but we still need to fight for more. We can move forward with raised awareness, just a simple conversation can really open peoples eyes to what is really going on with recycling.
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