I Love Trash / A Readership Poll

Last year when I lived in an apartment in Kyoto, I put all of my trash into one bag and threw the bag into the apartment building's dumpster. There was only one dumpster and the only sign on the dumpster simply said:


In case you're confused by the English translation, I think it should be changed to something more like "Please close the lid of the dumpster after you throw away your garbage." But questionable English aside, I loved this dumpster. It was simple and beautiful. Read on, and I think you'll understand why.

This week, I have been introduced to the harsh realities of the Japanese waste disposal system. Gone are the old days when I was allowed to put all of my garbage into one bag and simply toss it in a dumpster. Instead, I must sort my garbage into about seventeen different bags and dispose of each of them at separate pick-up sites in various parts of my town. (Off the top of my head, the categories are burnable garbage*, plastic bottles with the #1 recycling sign, all other plastic products, metal cans, glass bottles, milk cartons, corrugated cardboard, newspapers and magazines, styrofoam trays, batteries, mirrors and fluorescent light bulbs, oversized items, and other.)

Ok, so by seventeen categories I meant thirteen...but you get the general idea.

You may be thinking, Sure, they have all these categories, but no one actually sorts their trash that diligently, right? Wrong. Everyone in the neighborhood is required to sort their garbage into clear trash bags. Thus, if you have a stray fluorescent lightbulb in your "other plastic products" bag, the sanitation workers will be able to see it and will leave the offending bag at the pick-up site. On top of that, everyone is required to label their trash bags with their name. This means that when the rest of your neighbors go to the pick-up site to drop off their neatly-sorted trash, your poorly-sorted bag will still be sitting there, a mark of shame upon your household.

For the most part, dear readers, I think that I have succeeded in keeping all of my trash straight, but I would like to request your advice about one very important matter, and therefore, I am conducting a brief readership poll:

Question 1)

Every day, I take medication that comes individually wrapped in one of those childproof packages. Each pill is encased in a wrapper that looks like this:


Since the the packaging contains plastic, paper, and the foil stuff, I currently face a terrible dilemma, so please help me out and answer my poll.

Should I:
A) peel off the paper, painstakingly scrape the metallic stuff off the plastic, and throw away all three parts separately?
B) peel off the paper but leave the metallic stuff on the plastic and risk dishonoring my good name?
C) place the whole wrapper deep inside the "other plastic products" bag and hope that the trash man doesn't notice?
D) bury the wrappers in a hole outside my apartment until I decide what to do with them?
E) Other_____________

If you could send your response to me as soon as possible, I would be ever so grateful. You can leave your answer as a comment on this blog or just e-mail it to me. Thank you! I value your opinion.**


* This burnable garbage category completely baffles me. After all, you can burn milk cartons, cardboard, newspapers, magazines, and even plastic (although it would smell bad), but they are not considered burnable garbage.

** No really, I do value your opinion. But I am also curious to know who actually reads this blog. :)