Every country in Europe has it's own rules & regulations regarding recycling, it seems.
When we first moved to France, almost 13 years ago, our household garbage was collected every 2 weeks (!) after a couple of years this changed to weekly.
There were also twice yearly collections of old/unwanted metal items. These had to be placed in the street for collection and reminded us of the "sperrmuhl" collections we enjoyed when we lived in Bavaria.
Things remained that way for a long time and then we received a letter telling of a special card/permis that we could obtain from "la mairie" which would entitle us to use the local "dechetterie" or as we like to refer to it "the dump".
This certainly opened up a new world of special containers in which we could dispose of all those tricky items we had stashed in the outbuildings. Hazardous products such as old paint cans & aerosols, polysterene chips (the bane of my life), unwanted clothing, broken electrical items and much much more, the list was endless.
The "dechetterie" is very strictly operated by the "Gardien" who demands to see your "permis" when you arrive and then watches like a hawk to make sure that, heaven forfend, you place something in the wrong container.
So.....we loaded up the car at the weekend and went to the dump and as is the case with almost everything we do these days I captured the moment with my trusty Nikon Coolpix for a scrapbook page. I think it turned out quite well, n'est pas.
I remember the sperrmuhl from our days in Germany too.
ReplyDeleteFrench efficiency/bureaucracy is justifiably famous, even with garbage!
Maggie, I think you do a splendid job recording these little moments and memories. ;-)
ReplyDeleteThis is so interesting to hear about recycling through a blog - because in highschool we learnt about recycling in French class through a educational point of view.
ReplyDeleteThis is so fascinating - but I note the lovely sunshine in the pictures, it looks like a grand Day Out. My trips to our "Amenities Site" aka Council Tip seem to be always days when the weather is grey and drizzly!
ReplyDeleteweekend blessings x
Interesting how re -cycling has changed over the years. Pretty sure the bottle bank is going to make an interesting read- All those wonderful wine bottle labels - a work of art in themselves.
ReplyDeleteHi Maggie!
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting glimpse into everyday life. We have curbside recycling. However, they do not take everything.
Had to laugh at your recycling adventure. I am so glad they want to take care of our earth but boy can they be picky sometimes. Then there are other times like....when I had been saving all my cardboard and glass jars and took them to the recycle place only to discover from a friend a few days later that the city couldn't afford to ship it to the main recycle plant so they ended up buried in the land fill anyways!
ReplyDeletebee blessed
mary
What fun it was to read glimpses of your life. What an exciting life you must lead...so interesting!
ReplyDeleteI so appreciated your visit and very kind comment on my blog today. Do come again.
Donna
Oh, wow, what a very fun page and a great story! I just love learning about other parts of the country. It's such an education for me. I really love that you captured this subject in scrapbooking. Love the overlapping circles. :)
ReplyDeleteMaggie,
ReplyDeleteNeat post. I love the scrapbook page. I am so close to starting scrapbooking but so afraid to start another project with more supplies!
Our "dump" in Maine is a fascinating place. They sell other peoples' junk. I bought 4 depression glass sherbet dishes for 10 cents.
Carol
Hi Maggie, "The dump" can be an interesting place, seeing what people are getting rid of. Luckily we have one not too far away and we don't have to have a license. I have never bought anything there but one of my neighbours has!! We have good recycling collections from the house, for glass, paper gardening rubbish so don't have to go to the dump very often.
ReplyDeleteLove the way you have presented your post. Jackie in Surrey UK.
Hi Maggie...
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that you shared another post with us for Sunday Favorites...giving us a glimpse into life in Normandy! Even garbage seems more romantic when it's done in France...hehe! I must say though...your service workers really seem to be diligent about what goes where! We live way out in the country and do have a very large dumpster for our garbage that it picked up once a month. We have to take all the larger items such as furniture, tree limbs, etc. to our county dump. They are somewhat picky as to what goes where.
Thanks for sharing more of your life in Normandy with us for the Sunday Favorites party, my friend...it's so much fun learning about how things are done in different countries!
Have a wonderful week, my friend!
Chari @Happy To Design