Belgium Diary Day 1: Ah, recycling, being ecological, what a great feeling it is to help take care of Mother Earth… I feel so glad to be doing my part to make the world a better place.

Belgium Diary Day 9: I wonder what I should do with this glass container… Maybe the blue garbage bag? No… yellow? No, that picture on there looks like it's saying no glass…

Belgium Diary Day 15: No more garbage bags… how much do they cost? Where do I buy the yellow ones?

Belgium Diary Day 18: Hmmm… no more space in current yellow garbage bag. Must carry it downstairs. Wonder which day I should carry it down? Wonder where to buy more? There's no yellow garbage bag aisle in the shop!

Belgium Diary Day 20: Okay. Found solution. There is a public garbage bin down the road. Must leave out a little early so that nobody gives me any funny looks when I throw the bag of garbage into the bin. It's not that much. Just banana peels and things that would make the apartment smell for days otherwise.

Yellow recycling garbage bagsBelgium Diary Day 22: Aha! I have purchased garbage bags!

Belgium Diary Day 24: Where do glass containers go?!

Belgium Diary Day 29: I could probably make charming little candle holders out of the six glass containers I have on the counter… Or, maybe put jewellery in them… or even use them as cups! I could serve tea with them—it would be very Bohemian. People would say, "Wow! How clever!" And if they didn't like it I could look at them in a withering way and comment on how they are feeding the consumerism that has made modern culture so destructive. I would be an absolute ecological pioneer! I might even start a movement, maybe make a blog about all the different uses I have for my different glass jars. Yes! I don't need to throw them out, that was the old me. The new, ecological me doesn't need IKEA cups with fancy patterns. I could paint the glass jars with my own patterns… Wow, being ecological has opened my eyes to so many different possibilities!

Belgium Diary Day 32: I've started using one of the nicer glass jars to hold change. I will probably use the coins in there to purchase new trash bags whenever necessary. One jar down, eight to go!

Belgium Diary Day 44: Help! Scary glass jar build-up is now beginning to take over the kitchen counter. Why are there 13 empty jars there, I don't have any use for them! Maybe I could drop them in the public bin? No, the noise would definitely draw disapproval…

Belgium Diary Day 47: I went into the kitchen last night. I'm pretty sure the jars whispered something. I think the tiny bits of food residue are beginning to evolve into microbial colonies… soon they'll start speaking…

Belgium Diary Day 52: Help. Help help helppleasehelptheywon'tstopcallingmehel…

Moral: Belgians value trees more than their own sanity.

Recycling warning sticker

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