Taking out the Trash - A Few Practicalities for Non-Austrians

recycling compartments outside my window

For anyone who has lived in a German-speaking country, you are most likely aware that there is a specific protocol when dealing with your garbage. As many also know, this is not strictly speaking particular to middle Europe, the Germanic mentality, and so on...but I digress...

When dealing with garbage, (and believe me, people create a lot of it) there are certain rules one must adhere to: there is garbage (Restmüll) and then there are the things you can recycle: plastic (Verpackungen); glass (it's the same...no translation necessary - although there are different receptacles for white or colored glass, fyi); metal (Metall - OK, translation probably also not necessary); paper (Papier - certainly, you get the gist by now...) and, of course compost (Biomüll).

So, here I am, on my merry way in Austria, thinking what a wonderful thing it is to have so many different types of recycling, and how good it is for the planet, etc. and what a grand human being I am to be taking part in this, etc. when I could just as easily toss all my garbage into the street (and yes, they did do that in the middle ages - I saw it at a museum in Vienna).

But, for the ladies in the audience, the difference between Bio and Restmüll may become a sticky wicket. Especially when it comes to "that time" of the month. Let me explain.Where, pray tell, does a used tampon go? Restmüll or Bio? It is technically bio, isn't it? Such a thing will bio-degrade, right? But, do you really want something like that poking up amongst your rose bushes, if you happen to enjoy gardening (another favored Austrian pasttime), if you intend to use your Biomüll as gardening compost...


And while I'm at it, what about fingernail clippings? What is the appropriate category for those? Are they like eggshells, or a worn dog collar? One goes in Bio, the other in Rest. What about Band-Aids? And other seemingly organic things? Huh? 


If only things were not so confusing. Perhaps this is part of the reason the practice of sorting the garbage has not become quite as common elsewhere...