Recycling

About three years ago, there was a joke list of questions circulating, with 35 questions, designed to calculate whether you had been in Switzerland too long. I scored 31 out of 35. I have almost gone completely native. (There was nothing on the list about being able to speak the local language, so it was obviously drawn up by an Englishman).

I showed the list to my children. Their observation was that, based on these questions, I had become Swiss years before I left England.

Now let’s take an example. For a long time, I have had the opinion that providing goods and services that are “free at the point of sale” is inefficient. Heavy Economics stuff here. Edward will correct me on this bit, if I have got this wrong. What that means in ordinaryspeak is that if I had my way, you would be paying for your rubbish disposal by the bag.

“Off with his grumpy little head”, I hear you cry. Heresy! “Burning at the stake is too good for him". Don’t let him back in the country!

One side effect of paying for your rubbish disposal by the bag is that recycling now becomes a matter of economic self-interest. It is no longer just a matter of making your contribution to saving the environment.

This needs to be organised. There is a pile for paper, one for bottles, one for old metal, one for milk cartons, one for electrical goods and so one. You can line them all up. (You could give names to them and talk to them, but I prefer to do this to the plants).

I have really got the hang of this now. I pick up old newspapers on the train, and add them to my paper collection. “My newspaper pile is bigger than yours”, a form of “Paper recycling pile envy”. There is the thrill of the crash as the beer bottles crash into the recycling bin. This is as good, if not better than being at a fairground. There is the satisfaction as the milk carton crusher swallows its prey, and gives off a satisfying belch. (I swear I heard this at the Coop, earlier this month).

Now that I am back in England for a few weeks, I realise that I am missing out on the joy of Sunday Newspapers. This 3 inch pile of paper greatly enhances any keen recycler’s life. At the cost of a mere 8 Swiss Francs (£5) from the main Zurich station, I could increase my paper recycling pile by 30 cms per month. What a mouth watering thought.