A house with six bins...

Norway is way ahead of the rest of the World in terms of re-cycling.

I now have 6 (yes six) separate bins in my house

1. Glass and tin cans

2. Food waste

3. Bottles and cans with a refund (amusingly called pants!)

4. Paper

5. Plastic

6. General rubbish (although after all that I am not sure what is left)

The glass and tin cans have to be taken to the bottle bank. The food stuff goes for compost. The paper is burnt to provide heating for communal buildings. This has the advantage that any type of paper and cardboard can be thrown in. Certain glass and plastic bottles along with aluminum cans get taken to a recycling machine at the supermarket which dispenses a ticket that can be used for a discount on your shopping. Therefore both the shop and the costumer benefit in a win-win situation. Recycling the plastic is the latest. It’s amazing how much pointless plastic packaging there is and not throwing it straight into the rubbish is extremely satisfying.

It’s also telling to watch Norwegian’s abroad as they hunt for somewhere other than the bin to put drinks bottles and cans. The look extremely uncomfortable as the realize there isn’t anywhere and it's all going straight to the land-fill.