Take My Trash Away

The trash system here in Taiwan is a wide margin of different from the trash system in the US, or at least the trash system as I know it. I say this because I am from a rural place. How rural? So rural that there are no trash services. As in, when you need to get rid of your trash you put it in your car and drive to the nearest dump, usually a few miles away.

But I do understand that in most parts of Suburbia, USA you bag up your trash and store it in your huge trash barrel. Then once a week on trash day you drag your accumulated waste to the roadside, leaving it to be taken away by garbage men.

Here, things are a little more proactive. And complex. (Well, maybe not as proactive as driving to the dump, but proactive nonetheless.)

Now, despite the fact that I’ve been living in Taiwan for three years, this is my first experience actually using the Taiwanese Trash Truck because while we were in Taichung we always lived in places that had their own dumpster.

Here in Taipei the trash truck comes by our building every night except Wednesdays and Sundays. They play a few bars of Fur Elise to let you know they are coming, in response you run out with your trash and toss it in the truck yourself.

Let me just add here that what with cockroaches and hot temperatures and the lack of a garage, or porch, or balcony, I am really, really, really glad I don’t have to let my banana peels and yogurt containers sit around for a whole week.

And then there’s the recycling. That’s when things get a little tricky.

Recycling isn’t compulsory, but it is strongly encouraged by taxing everything that is just thrown away. Normal trash can only be thrown away in a special blue bag that you buy from the government. They have three sizes to choose from: tiny, large and huge.

I think it’s a wonderful thing. Don’t you think more people would recycle if they had to pay extra just to throw things away as opposed to recycling (or reusing or reducing)?

There are 6 main catagories for things that are recycled: paper, plastic bags, styrofoam, glass, metal, and plastic. On Mondays and Fridays they take paper and plastic bags; on Tusdays, Thursdays and Saturdays they take all the other things. They give you a paper detailing all this when you buy the blue bags.

Added into the mix are “kitchen scraps”. Kitchen scraps are separated out and either used to feed pigs or make compost. There are lots of rules about what pigs do and don’t eat, according to the Taiwanese government. But, as my neighbor said, “Pigs will eat anything,” so until we get yelled out by a surly trash man we’re just giving it all to the pigs.

I’m a big fan of this policy too. I never really even liked pork (excluding my dad’s killer pork tenderloin) until I came to Taiwan. Now I know why it tastes so good. These pigs are eating slop!

Like I said, complex. We’ve been here almost a month now and are just starting to feel like we have things figured out enough to participate in recycling and know what trash cans we need to buy (I’m thinking four little trash cans will work).