All about rubbish

So after being here for just over two years we believe we have finally passed  our Accreditation in how to dispose of one's rubbish in the correct manner.  Near Canterbury in the UK where we once lived, we were visited once a fortnight by the high viz men in yellow who took away our not inconsiderable sum of bottles (mostly wine) in black containers.  One of these blaclk boxes was never enough for us so when I found an abandoned one after an overnight gale we were able to produce two full ones every fortnight without an overlap.  On the alternate Wednesday the high vis men would come and collect the same containers which were then laden with newspapers, cans and cardboard.  That was it, as far as I can remember regarding recyclage in our local neighbourhood.  I always felt it was probably just enough to assauge the collective consciousness and enable people to sleep soundly in their beds.

Waste collection country style

Now sleeping soundly in one's bed is not something the local dustbinmen (sorry, refuse collecdtors) consider of a morning.  Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning, come rain wind or snow, we are blessed with a collection.  This happens about 6.15 am and during their journey down the street in their state of the art truck, accompanied by flashing orange lights, one can often overhear the conversation drifting up to the bedroom window.  It is normally around such topics as the success of the chasse (the hunt) the previous Sunday or the misbehaviour of the mason's wife.  These men are not discreet in any way but I presume the loud conversation keeps them warm, particularly on these recent very cold mornings.

 Green waste disposal at the local dechetterie (council tip)

The French do seem to have a more professional (and more expensive, presumably) approach to their triage system of waste disposal.  Monday and Friday mornings are reserved for the collection of landfill only.  This is always placed in black plastic sacks.  Oh, and by the way one must ensure that one uses the correct plastic sack.  If the high viz men find you have been trying to import one from another commune, it is stamped with the town name.  It will then be rejected and left behind.  Every Wednesday is yellow plastic bag day and most of the things I used to throw away in the UK landfill can now be disposed of in these bags in the proper way.  The bags are then later transported to an out of town depot for sorting into their various categories.  From what I have observed most of the local population try their hardest to comply so it must all be a matter of education.

 Even the elderly do their bit

Compared to the UK one just doesn't come across casual litter dropping in France, and after all, for years the French have been doing their supermarket shopping armed with re-usable shopping bags.  It's not in their mindset to be given handfuls of plastic bags when leaving the supermarket to load half a hundredweight of shopping into.  It's often quite easy to spot the Sainsbury's and Tesco's brigade in the local LeClerc, for they are the ones overladen with armfuls of loose shopping, having left their recyclable bags in their car boots.

Where the triage takes place on the outskirts of town

Cleaning the lorry after a long cold morning's rubbish collection