In case you were wondering about our trash situation

I've had a few people ask me what we do with our trash over here, so I thought I'd give you a rundown of this insanity. Because I'm sure you've been on tenterhooks waiting for the documentation of this process.

First of all, Koreans are really into recycling. I used to think I was into recycling, separating things into bins and feeling so green when I turned it all in to the recycle center, but that seems like nothing compared to this place. Now it is quite the production. Let me walk you through it. (And please excuse the craptastic phone photos. I have to live at this place for another 2 years; I don't want the guards knowing how crazy I am just yet, so I tried to be stealthy and pretend I was maybe checking the weather, or a text, instead of photographing TRASH PILES. And can you imagine if I tried to explain to one of these Korean guards that I was documenting the garbage disposal process for the blog?!)

First, we load all the recyclables up into the trusty ol' wagon. I strap Molly to my back (can't have anyone wandering over to the playground...) and put Sam's shoes on (but usually in the reverse order, because hello, center of gravity = gone with Molly back there), then we ride the elevator down.

So.... yeah we had bulgogi pizza this weekend.... maybe twice. You can judge me. It was delicious. I don't regret it.

We head over to the recycling/trash area.

I really wish I'd gotten a picture a few days ago because the cardboard mountain was much more impressive. And the guards throw a big tarp over their creation when it rains so that it doesn't wilt. Because really. Who wants floppy cardboard?

We park the wagon and begin unloading our things.

This is the main recycle sorting area. The one bag that's translated is the one I could figure out on my own. But the sorting goes as follows (to my extremely limited knowledge):

bags on the ends - plastic grocery bags and random plastic
L to R top - plastic packaging and other plastic I don't know where to put, plastic bottles, A MILK CARTON (dur!), cans and metals
L to R bottom - glass beer bottles, other glass bottles (where I sometimes see beer bottles mixed in?), soju bottles (and some beer bottles??), and yogurt cups

I'm sure that's not at all where things go, and I'm sure the guards start cursing in Korean every time they see me and my wagon headed towards them with our load of crap, but that is where I go about putting my things. On the back side of this sorting area is where you leave your actual garbage, in special bags that you must BUY from your realtor. I understand that we buy garbage bags at Walmart or wherever, but you can't just stick your garbage out in any ol' bag. It must be this special city bag. A bag I forgot to take a picture of. Mostly because I was only hauling recyclables today. Oh well. Take my word for it, they are special. And they are large. And one of my kids usually takes the stinkiest poop of their life right after we take this giant bag down to the trash pile. Because of course.

Side note: the guards go through people's trash and sort the recyclables they find in there. I kid you not. This man went through an entire bag with a pair of tongs while we were down there.

Aggie, I asked about those chairs. I know they look pretty sweet from here. I even went so far as to ask the guard in a sign language of sorts if they were trash. He said yes and I almost loaded up the wagon. But the seats are completely ripped. I don't think it's even real leather. Rest assured that I didn't just leave these potential beauties on the street without checking them out.

Also, I don't know what is in those giant bags stacked up behind there.

And these beauts in the background are food waste cans. I think they compact it all down and help to minimize on smell, since our regular garbage bags just sit out on the street until the truck comes to get them. You are issued this special little card and you take your rotting food scraps down to this container, scan your card, and the lid pops open! You throw your moldy, gnat-infested food into the can and then shut the lid! Voila! Oh, but wait! The fun doesn't stop there! Since you scanned your unique card, the trash cans track how much weight in food waste you have deposited. Then they charge you for it monthly! Now if that's not an incentive to keep your rotting, smelly food sitting out on your kitchen counter, I don't know what is.

A close-up of the food waste machine

Maybe I sometimes forget to separate my food waste from my garbage. Maybe. Sometimes.

(Side note: There are also no garbage disposals here. This is... problematic for me to say the least. We will probably do a whole 'nother post on that later.)

And that, my friends, is how you take out the trash, Korean-style. It sounds very involved, and it kind of is until you get used to it, but it's just another quirk of living in a foreign country. And it's not a BAD thing by any stretch of the imagination (recycling, that is). It's just sometimes inconvenient. And always gross.