Trash to Think About

Have you ever thought about garbage?  I never really thought about it until living in Italy. 

Taking out the trash is just part of life and usually simple.

When I was growing up, we used brown grocery bags as our garbage cans.  When they were full, we took them outside and put them in big trash cans.  The garbage men came to the back of the house and emptied the trashcans once a week.  Easy, simple. 

When I went to college, we took our garbage out whenever it was full. Sometimes we played trashcan Jenga (balance as much on top before it fell out or someone got annoyed with it and took it out-this was usually my roommate!!)  All we had to do was walk outside of our suite and there were big trash cans.  The cans were emptied every day.  Easy, simple.

When I lived in my first apartment, the garbage situation got a little more complex.  I had to take the garbage bags all the way to the dumpster across the parking lot.  When I lived on the third floor, it was three flights of stairs and across the parking lot.  Still easy.

I lived in a townhouse in Raleigh for a year.  This situation was slightly more complex.  We had a big trashcan in the backyard that we filled and each week we put out for the garbage men.  But, we could only put the can out after 6 PM on the day before the garbage men came and we had to put it back by 5 PM the day the trash collectors came.  And we had to roll the can from the back of the house to the sidewalk but since we were a middle house, there was some off-roading required.  Even with the rules associated with the garbage, it was still easy.

California had the same rules.  The cans could not sit out the day before or the day after the garbage.  Simple, easy because we didn’t have to roll them around the house, just right outside of the garage!!

Now, we are in Italy.  The situation is a bit more ridiculous.  The garbage cans are on the side of the street.  Just random sides of the street.  Everyone brings their trash and dumps into the public trashcans.  I think there are regions that are supposed to use particular trashcans but of course this was not communicated to us and we just use the ones closest to us.  (this picture is actually much nicer than what we actually have!)

The other interest part of trash in Italy (luckily I have nothing to write about garbage strikes, at least not yet) is the time restrictions.  You are only allowed to dump your trash between 8 PM and 8 AM.  The realtor, housing office, and landlord of course do not share this fact with us. Our neighbor mentioned this rule to us the day we moved in and the rule follower means I forced Matt to follow this ridiculous time constraint.  And it’s a good thing we do!  Our neighbor (Italian) got a 50 euro ticket for dumping at the wrong time and our other neighbor (American) got a warning ticket. 

So trash is no longer easy and simple.  It requires driving several blocks away.  It requires planning a trip in the evening or before work.  And when Matt goes on business trips, I am not sure what we will do since the baby goes to sleep at 8 PM and sleeps until 9:30 AM.  All this when we have more garbage because of diapers!!