Spring cleaning

It's officially spring in Finland.

We returned home yesterday to less white and more green/brown. This morning, we wondered how to dress the kids as we prepared them for school. The usual winter gear, we guessed, since it was around 1ºC outside - much like when we left 3 weeks ago.

By the afternoon, temperatures climbed up to 6ºC. Today was a bright and beautiful day.

As I cleaned out our luggages, I took the chance to throw some stuff out. 

In Finland, wastes should be sorted. The bags you see contained paper, metal, glass, plastics or biological wastes. The cardboard boxes on the left went to the children's school, which will be used for junk modelling. Whatever that is.

I enjoy sorting out garbage. Sometimes, I get confused. Like the time I threw out a tub of unfinished yoghurt into the "Bio-Waste" bin and my Finnish neighbour tried to tell me I should have put it in the "Plastics" bin. But the tub was over half full, I was throwing out the yoghurt inside the tub.

Later, I read that I should have poured the yoghurt out first - either down the drain or into a plastics bag for bio-waste - then the tub could go into "Plastics". A quick rinse of the container is recommended.

Is all this effort that goes in recycling worth it? Many people wouldn't go through the trouble.

I learnt about Reduce, Reuse and Recycle way back in secondary school but never really got a chance to put my knowledge into practice. I've lived in Europe for almost a year. How much long can I keep this practice going?

Don't know. Remember to ask me when you next see or e-mail me.