Trash talk

One of the bigger adjustments to Lausanne has been the trash situation.  Trash rules here are NO JOKE. When we first arrived, we read a local news article about a guy who went to jail for using the wrong trash bag.  This was particularly alarming to us, as we were not yet aware of the strict trash laws, and had used the wrong trash bag ourselves!

To ensure that all residents make an effort to recycle, there is only one type of trash bag that you are permitted to use.  It is sold from behind the counter, right next to the cigarettes, at grocery stores.  They do offer a few different sizes.  You can buy 10 of the smaller bags for 20 SWISS FRANCS (more than $2.00 USD per bag).  To put that in perspective, at Costco in the US, we used to spend $4.00 USD less for 10 times more trash bags, which were also 3 times bigger than the ones here.

Sorting is value(d)!
 (lint roller for scale)

The good news is, with the price of trash bags so high, Marshmallow and I won't be able to afford to buy food or anything else, so we won't have anything to throw away.  The other good news is that if you have a child, you get a special trash bag allowance of 80 free 35 liter trash bags.  This baby better hurry up and get here so we can get our freebies!

In all seriousness, I do appreciate the opportunity to become a bit better about recycling.  When I have a busy schedule, I tend to be more wasteful and not very mindful of the environment.  Though 2014 will be our busiest year yet, our budget and trash bag prices will definitely force us to reduce and reuse.  I've already developed a pretty good technique for washing Ziploc bags.  Hopefully, as the year progresses I'll pick up some other techniques and develop some habits that will keep us green even beyond our time in Lausanne!