Recycling

In Germany, we had to recycle everything! It was almost too much. We had three different dust bins plus a plastic bag for plastic, metals, etc. Then there were glass containers, clothes containers, special places to hand in chemicals, etc.

Whenever I was on holiday in Turkey, I felt awkward and guilty throwing everything into the same bin. Shortly after I moved here, they started recycling in Bursa. Now, we have a plastic bag for paper, metals and plastic. I am all for recycling is important but I do hope they won't go to such an extreme as in Germany, though.

Things have never been wasted in Turkey. Many people have lived from old "stuff". They have collected paper, old metal, clothes, anything, from the houses and sold it and made a living. You can see them walking through the streets and hear them shouting "Eskici.... eski aliyorum" (eski: old/old things; eskici: a person who deals with old stuff). I don't know what's going to happen to them now.

Original can be found here (together with a poem about an "eskici"): www.dosthane.de/siirlerim/bireskici.html

Listen to an eskici who roams our street (click on the play button below).