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Taiwanese trash collecting

by sander8. September 2009 16:19

Here in Taiwan, people live very close to each other. Especially in Taipei, so having a truck drive around on every street and pick up everyone garbage is pretty damn impossible. Not just are most of the streets in residential areas very small and so stuffed with parked cars so that nothing just an inch wider than the average car can get through. The buildings around here are also at least 7 stories tall and not uncommonly somewhere between 10 and 50 so this will require very big trash containers which you will need hoverwheels in order to get room for (hey, we already filled up the apartment entrance with stuff that should go to recycling, and the street is completely off limits.) 

So. - Instead the trash cars will drive around the city and make stops at certain times and spots to let people bring the trash to them, so every time the trash car is there, you can see suddenly the streets will get crowded with people carrying trash.

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However, the more noticeable thing about this ritual is the garbage car itselve, because the cars play very loud music when they move around for people to be aware that they're there. The funny thing is, the melodies they play are The Maidens Prayer and Fur elise, which is not really melodies I connect with trash.

Garbage truck in action. Actually they don't play Fur Elise very often, but if you stay here for some time, you will know that one is here too.

Actually, Taiwan has a trash collecting system in which you will have to buy a trash bag from a convenience store in order to get away with your trash. This is a way for the government to fund the trash cars.

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But for some reason this also means that not so many public trash bins are put up. Of course you can find a lot of them in the middle of Taipei but out in the more residential areas you may perhaps find out you have to walk very long before you can get away with your just finished bubble milk tea or snack wrappings, however, this also means that next to no ugly, smelly containers are to be seen on the streets, because if the government did put those around places too close to residences, a lot of people would sneak their garbage into those so that they wouldn't have to pay for the bags.

This was my daily peculiarity report from Taiwan. May you have a nice day and not have to take a long walk with the garbage every day to keep your kitchen clean in your pleasant although not as interesting residence somewhere else.

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