Column: we can finally get a divorce!

I believe I was the only one who had no problem with it when it finally came out. It's been bugging me since we moved here. It just didn't fit with my habits. So when the bullet passed through the church after all these years, I was one of the few who did not protest. Everyone had something to say about it. Everyone struggled with it. But I was just happy. Because we were finally allowed to divorce. Our waste that is.

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I was not used to anything different in the Netherlands. Bottles with a deposit provided that extra pocket money, which disappeared without value in the glass container. Old paper was collected from time to time by the sports club. GFT waste disappeared in the GFT bin and the rest in the gray waste bin. And I think plastic was already collected separately then, but I could be wrong. Anyway, it was a complete culture shock when we arrived in Italy. Almost everything was thrown away in one heap. Only the paper and glass disappeared in separate bins. Every day I took my walk to the waste containers to dump everything in there. Not that I'm so environmentally conscious, but every time I had the feeling that I was doing something that was actually unacceptable.

Everyone has their own bowl

But everything comes to an end, even less pleasant things. On a beautiful spring day we were all surprised to receive our own bins. A blue one for the plastic, a brown one for the organic waste and a gray one for the rest. As a bonus, the bins were filled with paper bags for the waste paper and bags made of biodegradable material. In a large white envelope, the 'garbage clopedia' gave good advice about which waste should go into which bin. And an invitation to an evening full of information about the new way of collecting waste.

What goes where?

Of course, it was quite difficult in the beginning. I heard neighbors excitedly discussing empty pens and which bin. I myself doubtedly looked in the garbage clopedia whether used napkins should be placed with the old paper, with residual waste or with the GFT. But everything went well. Instead of taking a walk to the garbage container every day, we now put the bin of the day outside. Which is then emptied neatly. At least if we have properly separated the waste. Because the garbage collectors are quite strict: a plastic cap in the organic waste can already ensure that the bag remains lonely. And if you don't pack something neatly in bags, they don't hesitate to ring the doorbell and point it out to you.

Doing well!

We are very environmentally friendly. At least, if we are to believe our mayor. Every year we receive a letter with the results in tons and percentages of properly separated waste. Compared to the municipalities around us, we are number one. Which I think we're only being told to make us try even harder. But that doesn't matter, the end justifies the means.

After all these years of guilt, I am once again contributing to a better world. I think. Because every now and then we get a request from the garbage service that makes me scratch my head. Do you have to put garden waste in sturdy plastic bags on the road instead of biodegradable bags? That is a special way of doing good work.