Trash talk

Disposing trash in a new place is not something you think of before you move there. I did read about the extreme recycling that takes place in Sweden from an  American perspective before I got here. Now that I am here, after the initial hesitancy, it seems to make sense.

I had been a community gardner in my town for four months before moving to Sweden. I participated in turning compost pile(a stinky and labor intensive process) just once. It took me the next three months to get rid of my shoulder and arm pain. A key ingredient to composting other than back breaking labor is kitchen waste. I started collecting vegetable and fruit peels and instead of tossing it in trash, added it to the compost pile in the garden. This reduced the frequency of trash that I set on the curbside from twice a week to once every three weeks. Yes, I do use a lot of vegetables and prepare them from scratch.

Back to Sweden. There are 6 bins in the buildings courtyard. There are only three apartments in the building, including us. I stayed away from the bins for as long as I could. I checked with a colleague as to what each box represented. He told me that it varies from each city and neighborhood and he is used to 8 different bins. I guess I was in a better situation.

I had made the big decision of leaving everything familiar behind to move to a new country for a new challenge. Sorting trash was not going to discourage me.

I surveyed the trash cans before taking the trash out. The brown one was for vegetable waste. The cart comes with a picture of an apple core. The laundry room had brown paper bags with the same logo and name as the brown cart. There are 4 blue carts. One for paper, carton and cardboard waste, another for plastic waste- containers and wrappers, the third one for clear glass and the last blue one for colored glass. Since we don't drink, that is one bin we will not use. The sixth is the green bin and that I assume takes care of the rest, that cannot be recycled or composted. There were stickers with pictures on all the bins. The words were all Swedish but that is why they say a picture speaks a thousand words. It helped to open each bin to see what was already inside. The first time I mixed the kitchen waste with general trash and put it in the green box. I separated paper and cardboard waste and placed them in plastic bags as instructed and put them in their right boxes.

Now that I have figured out what goes where, I need to make trash separation in the apartment more efficient. Vegetable waste now goes in the brown bag and will be placed at least twice a week in the brown bin. (I still use a lot of vegetables from scratch). I have one unlined bin for paper and plastic waste which will bagged separately when it is time to dispose them. And finally a lined bin for all other trash, which hopefully will not need disposal very frequently.

That is enough trash talk.

In Sweden

It has been three days since we arrived at Malmo. I started work today.

I have visited Sweden a a few times over the years and have been struck by the variety of people belonging to different ethnic backgrounds. Our taxi driver from the airport
to the apartment was a Iraqi who has lived in Sweden for over 20 years.

Here are some observations over the last few days.

1. Our apartment is on the third floor. 36 steps up each time. So bags have to be light! No elevator. Laundry in the basement. Another 20 steps down.
2. Migration board is very well run. Polite people and the place has clean bathrooms and a play area.
3. Best time to visit southern Sweden in mid June to mid August. You get unlimited rides on public transport for the equivalent of 85 dollars and get to take two people under 20 years with you.
4. Almost all restaurants have clearly marked vegetarian options that do not include cheese pizza
5. Free wifi is available on all buses and trains. Using it also means that you run out of charge.
6. No sweat, they also have power outlets and the more modern ones have USB points.
7. Remember that American plugs will not work without adapters. So ride public transport for free wifi . But take a charger with adapter to really enjoy the experience.

8. There are lot of Arabs. Identified by their hijab. Girls as young as 12. However, they dress very modern and use lot of make up. Don't know how many are recent immigrants and how many from a longer time.
9. Helsingborg had a grunge band playing when we were there. Attended by goths all dressed in black. Adjacent parks populated by Arab families, enjoying sun and fresh air. Study in contrast.
10. I rode the bus to work. Took me 1 hour to get to work with 5 minutes walk on each side
11. I got a little lost on my way back. I boarded the connection going the other direction. Figured out my mistake and got off the next stop and waited for the right bus outside a tattoo parlor.

 Could have avoided it if I had just asked the driver. But till you get lost how will you find yourself!