Le Recyclage en Vacances: # 4: An Udder Way

Hmm…. So….Mr A thinks he's having a holiday eh!

No more sorting. No more washing out lots of recyclables! No more worrying about stuff that can’t be recycled beyond our holiday village.

Well, guess what I’ve found, tucked away at the entrance of a local supermarket.

A rare find, and so perfect for recycling our milk bottles! Another tick in the recycling box!

On our last full day in Switzerland, you could say it’s a case of All’s well that ends well!

Well I suppose it was…

…until Mr A went off to buy some more milk,

…venturing out on his own, with nothing but a reusable bag and his best Franglais.

He happily returned with the white stuff, fresh pasteurised milk, which was a challenge in itself given the propensity for UHT over here.

But as for the packaging…. it was most definitely a case of Tetra Pak strikes again. Just when I thought we had the system cracked eh!

There's no recycling bank for this kind of stuff in Leysin, so they are counted as rubbish and are sent off to the incinerator to create energy.

But waste is waste, whether it's creating energy or not, so before we head back to Old Blighty, perhaps I should set Mr A, le bin saboteur just one more Zero Waste challenge.

After all, this is Switzerland and there’s more than one way to milk a cow.

So Monsieur A, grab a stool and a bucket…and in the words of Shania Twain from her very own chalet in Switzerland…I think it’s a case of…LET’S GO GIRLS!



What was that Mr A?

Pardon?

Funny that...he's decided to decline my offer of a tour of the local cow farm tonight, in favour of packing.

Oh well.... I tried!

Anyone for Café au Lait?

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Le Recyclage en Vacances: # 3. Don't peak too soon

Our cabin is nestled amongst rolling green hills in the Alpine countryside, surrounded by fir trees and open fields, where a herd of cows is busy grazing. The tinkling of their cowbells, broken only by the sound of mooing, provides the most idyllic soundtrack to our spectacular view.

Across the valley, a range of tree-lined mountains greets our eyes, with their snow-capped peaks poking up through the low-lying clouds. The real icing on this Alpine cake is the glacier that emerges from the distance. Its beauty lies before us like a lady in the prime of her life.

The skies are so blue. The air is light and so fresh and it really feels like we are close to space.

Like a scene from a movie, I can hear the director shout "cut" and change the shot to Almost Mr Average stood happily in the kitchen.

Mr A is smiling.

He's happy because having spent a few days living with piles of potential recycling cluttering the small worktop, he's decided he can just bung 'em in the bin with the rest of the rubbish.

"Happy days", he thinks.

He's waited patiently for me to suss out the system and it is good news that in our holiday village we can recycle glass, paper, batteries and PET bottles.

But sadly there's no place for Tetra paks, plastic containers, fruit bags or kitchen waste.

So after months of battling against my defences, Mr A is taking a real holiday.

He's even refused my extreme request to take the containers back to England and is merrily bunging stuff in the bin, no matter what!

I think Mr A loves the Swiss town of Leysin. I think he wants to stay, not because of the beautiful and dramatic views but for his new-found freedom.

Until I wipe the smile off his face!

And shout

"Don't throw away that bread!"

Puzzled, he looks at me in disbelief.

Yes...for some peculiar reason, even though we can't save the rest of the rubbish, we can recycle stale bread!

So director, please cut back to the views of the Alpine peaks, whose beauty could make even a grown man cry!

Better to show Mr A crying over over a sight like that than being beaten in a comedy manner with the remains of a stale baguette!



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Video Week: Zero Waste Hotel

If you're in the U.S. and happen to be in the vicinity of Boulder, Colorado, then it's worth checking out the Boulder Outlook Hotel, which happens to run on Zero Waste principles. You can see how they manage it in the following You Tube video. It is something that I would dearly like to see in the UK, so if you know of any such organisations locally, please let me know as I would love to feature them.




For those who are wondering, The City of Boulder is located in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and apparently is known for "its natural beauty, outdoor recreation, natural product retailers and restaurants, outstanding alternative transportation options, diverse businesses, and technological and academic resources". Sounds great doesn't it! For further information, check out the City of Boulder website.

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