Cleaning up Reykjavik

Despite the idea in one’s mind that Iceland is 100% pure and clean, it does have its, well, dirty spots.  Not dirty so much as full o’ litter.  Namely, our street.

Our street, and our yard, in particular are hot spots for the 3 a.m. party goers trudging home (or to the next venue) with that close-to-empty beer can or bottle.  Since small, curbside recycling bins are non-existent here (except at the new Ikea) and trash cans are few and far between, they get thrown in our yard.  Lovely.

We are hosting a small Easter brunch and egg hunt on Sunday and thought it would be great if the kids helped us prep.  I sent them outside with Pete’s ‘gripper’.  A gripper is  a 3 foot long arm with a claw on the end.  Some people use it for picking up items off the top of bookshelves or other hard to reach areas.  Pete likes to use it to pick stuff from the floor.  The fact that he cannot do this without a Junkies podcast playing on his nano makes the vision even more amusing.  Helpful, but amusing.

So, the kids had the gripper, two grocery bags and set out to conquer the yard.  I looked outside to check on their progress and realized I could not see them anymore.  I craned my neck around the side door and found them pulling garbage out of the shrubs two houses down from ours.  With our yard tidied, they decided to straighten up the rest of Sudurgata.

They finished up and had two full bags of trash, most of it stuff people just couldn’t hold onto for five more minutes.  Like people who don’t make the effort to recycle, litterbugs drive me (and the kids) nuts.  I know we aren’t the epitome of a green family, but how hard is it to put something in the right place?

Even the kids know how to sort things and that relatively little goes in the garbage can.  They actually have awesome recycling facilities here that now take plastic, paperboard, cardboard, glass, aluminum, steel, office paper/newspaper and your old ceramic bathtub (haven’t found a whole one yet). 

People voluntarily drive their recycling over weekly or monthly, whatever it takes.  I will truly be spoiled when we can return to the States and simply recycle into a bin, if need be. Although, sadly, I know it is still not utilized by many people, despite the convenience and knowledge you are helping to keep the earth that much cleaner for the next generation.

So, here’s my two cents:  strolling around downtown anytime soon?  Hold onto that litter, and properly dispose of it when you can, as otherwise the kids on Sudurgata are going to have a few words for you!