A woman talking rubbish about trash
Today is Sunday in New Zealand and in the Hokianga this means - garbage day!
Those of you who live in rural NZ may sympathize.
Those of you who belong to the Facebook group: “I’m pretty sure that NZ is the best country in the world to live in” - you may want to move on now, to avoid listening to me fulminate.
Because we live on islands floating in the middle of the sea, and we do not have a large budget to bribe an impoverished, smaller island in the pacific to take shiploads of our refuse, (like other countries do), dumping ANYTHING in NZ is a major ordeal.
(I can’t speak about dumping boyfriends, as I never had the opportunity to do so, but I hear that it is even more complicated, and that if he lived with you for more than 2 years, he is entitled to half of your house - but this will have to be another, future rant.)
Tourists that come to NZ, are amazed that there are no trash bins along rural Northland roads. Most simply leave their rubbish bags on the side of the roads or in parks and it is hard to blame them.
In the Hokianga, you do not simply take your rubbish to the “Transfer Center” (open only three times a week and very briefly, as to allow government employees maximum time to enjoy fishing and other recreational activities); you have to bag it in a council approved bag and fork over $3 a bag. (I bought the exact same size black bags, only biodegradable, but was told that they are NOT allowed).
Recycling is another joke.
If you did not thoroughly wash your plastic bottle or jar, or if you brought it WITH any lid on- it is $0.50 per item to dispose. (free, if you washed and cleaned it as if it is going straight to Coca Cola to be refilled.)
These draconian rules, cause people with less means to simply burn their rubbish in their back yards.
So.... if you take a leisurely ride through the lovely hills of the Hokianga and you see swirls of black smoke rising into the air- it must mean that Winston just got new tyres for his SUV.
To learn more about the real rubbish problem in the world (and not in the form of a rant), please refer to the links below:
http://www.youtube.com/wat
Those of you who live in rural NZ may sympathize.
Those of you who belong to the Facebook group: “I’m pretty sure that NZ is the best country in the world to live in” - you may want to move on now, to avoid listening to me fulminate.
Because we live on islands floating in the middle of the sea, and we do not have a large budget to bribe an impoverished, smaller island in the pacific to take shiploads of our refuse, (like other countries do), dumping ANYTHING in NZ is a major ordeal.
(I can’t speak about dumping boyfriends, as I never had the opportunity to do so, but I hear that it is even more complicated, and that if he lived with you for more than 2 years, he is entitled to half of your house - but this will have to be another, future rant.)
Tourists that come to NZ, are amazed that there are no trash bins along rural Northland roads. Most simply leave their rubbish bags on the side of the roads or in parks and it is hard to blame them.
In the Hokianga, you do not simply take your rubbish to the “Transfer Center” (open only three times a week and very briefly, as to allow government employees maximum time to enjoy fishing and other recreational activities); you have to bag it in a council approved bag and fork over $3 a bag. (I bought the exact same size black bags, only biodegradable, but was told that they are NOT allowed).
Recycling is another joke.
If you did not thoroughly wash your plastic bottle or jar, or if you brought it WITH any lid on- it is $0.50 per item to dispose. (free, if you washed and cleaned it as if it is going straight to Coca Cola to be refilled.)
These draconian rules, cause people with less means to simply burn their rubbish in their back yards.
So.... if you take a leisurely ride through the lovely hills of the Hokianga and you see swirls of black smoke rising into the air- it must mean that Winston just got new tyres for his SUV.
To learn more about the real rubbish problem in the world (and not in the form of a rant), please refer to the links below:
http://www.youtube.com/wat
