romantic walks

The City of Davao passed a new ordinance recently,

and it resulted in a 'new and improved' trash system.

What this means for our family is that since July 1st,

the garbage truck no longer picks up waste from our house.

Instead, we were asked to do the following:

1) Start composting our own biodegradable items, if possible

So for the first time, we've got our very own compost bin!

(Though we don't have a yard that's really big enough to support this monstrosity.)

My very smart husband bought a durable can, drilled holes in it, and to our mutual amazement, we've found that composting actually DOES work.  A full can of waste actually biodegrades in an amazingly short time.

And in this neighborhood, a compost bin in your front yard is just not an issue.

on our way to being green

2) Save our recyclables and give them to one of the many collectors who pass by

We like to give them to some of our friends,

like Michael, Josanne and Jocelle below.

They come by periodically with a rickety old bicycle and sidecar,

eager for any items we can share!

friends collecting recyclables

3) Carry the rest of your trash a couple of blocks up the street to the trash deposit area.

BUT, this can only be done between the hours of

6-9 PM.

why?  we have NO idea.  

this seems awfully arbitrary, and nonsensical,

but i'm sure there must be an explanation somewhere...

getting ready for one of our romantic walks...

Our kids tease us about going on one of our  

'romantic walks' 

as Mark and I gather the trash to carry it up the road in the dark.

Toting the orange trash can between us, we wend our way through the dim neighborhood streets,

often meeting multiple other residents who are on their way to or from doing the very same thing.

"Maayong gabii!' we say, and exchange smiles, 

sharing this task of trying to clean up the city just a little.

The trash deposit area, on the right just before the red car

The frustration is that when the trash truck comes to collect the combined trash,

the garbage men dump both biodegradable items and non-bio all into the same truck.

Remind me...why did we separate this stuff?

Well, at least we got a romantic walk out of it!

♥