Let's Talk Some Trash...

I'm baaaack. Whew! That was a long hiatus. Enough time for me to get the house mostly in order, and get the kids started in school. Today was their first day, and today the cable and internet were hooked up! I really feel human again - almost as good as alphabetizing my spices.

So, what's been the single thing that has consistently taken up several hours of my life over the past week since moving in? Any guesses? Not learning Japanese, not figuring out how to buy bread, not filling up my gas tank, not finding my way around the city. Nope, none of those things - it's been TRASH!! Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I was "green" when green was still just a color, not a way of life. So, pulling out recyclables is a standard operating procedure for me. Japan, however, is a small country with a lot of people, a lot of people generate a lot of trash, so the Japanese have applied serious regulations to undesired material removal. According to the "Rules for Disposal and Removal of Waste and Recyclable Materials", Mondays and Thursdays, I can throw out combustible material; Tuesdays is for non-combustible material; Saturdays is for recyclables - newspapers, corrugated cardboard. I thought that would include bottles and cans, but I was wrong - those are considered non-combustibles (Tuesday). Sound straightforward? Wait - there's more. PET bottles - water bottles and what not - paper around bottle must be removed, bottle crushed and TAKEN to a participating store. Are you still with me? Batteries need to be put aside and taken to ANOTHER participating store. Milk, juice cartons? Clean them out and cut them as per the diagram. Tie your newspapers, magazines, and mail inserts with rope. It's enough to make my head swim, and has been the topic of conversation at dinner parties, as well as a source of unexpected stress.

As you can imagine, I had a lot of unnecessary items moving in, and I've been wanting to become more samurai in my ways - so I called an agency that comes to your house and picks up your trash for what I thought would be a nominal fee. (Applaud here for the extraordinary patience the woman on the other end of the phone line had for my awkward Japanese explanation of how much trash I had, and where I lived) Their brochure advertised only $5.00 to pick up a TV, how expensive could it be? They wanted $300 to take away about 8 bags of garbage, that's how expensive!! I gave them $50 and they took away two bags and a lamp. So, I've been separating my trash like a good neighbor, and furtively lurking around at night dragging my garbage laden bags, dropping them off at different disposal locations, and hoping that no one will find out that it's ME who is depositing too much trash on this beautiful island country.

It's good to be back! Ja Mata....