I think I mentioned in a previous post that the trash collection situation here in Germany is a bit crazy and requires that we have 4 different garbage cans (paper, biodegradable waste, garden cuttings and regular trash) along with the yellow sacks for plastic & packaging. It’s not really all that complicated although you do need a bit of extra room to store things before throw them into their designated trash bin. Thankfully we have plenty of room in the mudroom and have got the basic part of things figured out.
We got used to sorting everything in the old rental house where the procedure was basically the same…but they have an additional trash can here which is the garden waste and it’s really throwing me off. They only pick up this container once every 2 months in the winter and then once a month during the summer months. I also think that they allow people to put out compost sacks with garden clippings in them during these pick ups and have even seen cardboard boxes stacked with clippings…but we will see in the future if they allow all this excess stuff every time or if that was just something special. It will make a bit of a difference for us since we still have lots of vines to cut back and we’ll either need to pay to have it hauled off in another bio container or we’ll need to plan so we can get it out with the following garden waste pickup. Next week we will have the first garden waste day of the year so we shall see.
Anyway, today was supposed to be bio day and I was really looking forward to it because our can is rather full, mostly due to them not picking up our garbage two weeks ago. Apparently they either saw something in there they didn’t like (and it would have been useful to know what the problem was so I don’t make the same mistake again) or we aren’t registered with the trash collection agency to have this trash picked up. I know that they have picked it up in the past when we weren’t living here yet but perhaps they didn’t realize we weren’t on the list and now they know…but we don’t…
So this morning when I told hubby to take out the garbage can with him, I guess I was half asleep or just confused since our old bio can was green…because I told him to put out the garden waste container instead of the bio one. Green for garden, brown for bio. It makes sense, right? But somehow I still haven’t learned it.
Next time around, I will do what I usually do and just pull the correct container to the gate the day before so there is no room for confusion…and should I get confused, I should be able to correct the solution before it’s too late. Had I looked out the window when he left this morning, I might have noticed that the other cans standing on the street were brown…or I might not since it was still pretty dark. The do the pick up at about 7 am so you really need to be on your toes or put the can out the night before.
Thursday is regular trash day…hopefully I can manage to get that one right lol.
