Trash

In my kitchen, I have four different trash cans.

The first can, with a red trash bag, is for food waste and small burnable trash.
The second can, with a blue bag, is for small plastic, like food wrappers.
The third can, also with a blue bag, is for large cardboard, like cereal or shoe boxes.
The fourth can, with a green bag, is for non-burnables, such as foam or batteries.

Aluminum cans go in a blue bag as well, but not in the same as the others. For this, I have a separate bag behind the blue trash.

Plastic water bottles also go in a blue bag, but not in the same as the others or the aluminum. For this, I have a separate bag behind the blue trash.

Glass does not go in a bag, and has it's own collection container outside.

Paper cartons (orange juice and milk) are supposed to go to a separate facility a few blocks away, but instead I break mine down and sneak them into the blue bag for large cardboard.

Now...

Red bags go out on Monday.
Blue, red, and green bags go out on Thursday.
Glass goes out on Wednesday into a container set aside for it near the trash dump.

When the trash goes out on Thursday, there are four different spots for the four different kinds of blue trash, as well as the red trash and the green trash.

If you don't do it right, the trash police (who can sometimes be found sitting near the trash dump sites) will give you a ticket, as well as a lecture in Japanese.

Since I live alone, the only trash I take out is on Mondays and Thursdays (red) because it stinks.

The fun begins when I go to the Family Mart down the street to buy some take-aways. When I'm done eating, I throw the foam container in the green 'extra' bag, the plastic lid in the blue 'plastics' bag, and the napkin and chopsticks in the red 'burnables' bag, thus making the effort of throwing the trash away enough of a calorie burning exercise to sweat off what I've just eaten...