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Canadians are much more environmental than we are Stateside.
Garbage is automatically sorted, even at public rest stops. Garbage, recycling, and organic (compost) for everyone. Everyone. At home I sort that way, but only the basic recycling (and regular garbage, of coures) are mandated and carried out by the local waste management folks. We compost in the backyard. It’s quite simple, really. We in the U.S. could learn from our Northern neighbors.
At the Lunenberg Farmer’s Market, I noticed that all the shoppers carried their own cloth shopping bags. If they weren’t carrying one, they were carrying two or three! That’s a personal goal I’ve undertaken; now I’m even more determined to make it a habit.
Nova Scotia laws prohibit smoking in restaurants. I don’t know all the particulars, such as whether bars/pubs are included in the smoking ban, but it impressed me that we never needed to specify the non-smoking section of any restaurant. Now when my home-sweet-home Wisconsin figures out that a smoking ban can go statewide with minimal economic ramifications, maybe our legislators will finally pass a comprehensive law making our indoor air smoke-free.
People here have been fantastic. Amigo is (most of the time) outgoing and social. He has told everyone where we’re from (Wisconsin, U.S.) and why we’re here (for Husband to work on his geneology research). While listening to a guitarist at the Farmer’s Market, he announced that the young man’s play reminded him of Chet Atkins. This gained an ear-to-ear grin from the musician, and a conversation with a new friend.
Meanwhile, I was off buying my coffee du jour, a blend by Laughing Whale Coffee called Wind in your Sails. Their decaf was dubbed Boat out of Water. Ah, Nova Scotians, with that sense of humor, you’re my kind of people.
>That is so inspiring. Can you imagine how many people would recycle and compost here in the US if our municipalities took all the guesswork out with 3 part refuse bins?
>Canada rocks! I’m glad we’re neighbors!
-Bonnie, Livonia, MI
>Oooh, I love that. How cool!
>That looks like a beautiful trip–and I do feel some “green” envy.
>I think it’s great that their sorting bins are so pretty! Makes me want to build some just like it. Our current receptacles are kind of ugly. 😉
>then you would love germany, too 😀 difft bins for difft garbages in public places, too – and yep, we bring our own cloth shopping bags around if we dont want to pay extra for those grocery bags. am surprised this isnt being practised in the US?
>Our restaurants and public spaces are smoke-free, but recycling is only found in certain cities, and nowhere near this comprehensive.
We produce much less garbage than we did last year, but it’s still, to me, an astonishing amount.