Waste. Sheer Waste.
So I live in a flat, what the British (and if you haven't caught on yet, it's not that my spelling is shit, it's just that I've assumed their spelling ;) ) call apartment. But notions of dormitory buildings here are vastly opposite than American thinking: everyone here loves their own privacy. No one--except for the mature students and the 'crazies'--elect to live in the same room as another person. So picture a hallway with 5 rooms which are big enough to supply a bed, a desk and a small armoire (sp.?). Anyway, we all share a kitchen and 1 and a half bathrooms (one shower, two toilets).
My qualm: everyday they leave an enormous amount of waste, and I would like to say mainly the Americans. Two Americans, a German and a Belgian all inhabit the flat with me and I find that it's the Americans who primarily leave a huge mess. I've found that if Americans are popular, they'll host parties (I've hosted one, but was very adamant about waking up the next morning to clean it up) and leave their mess for the cleaning ladies--and yes! We have a cleaning service! So my ultimate point was that one of the Americans, Paul (not using real name), loves diet Coke and I later found it's only because he had to get used to it because his father was diabetic. So I felt a little bad when I teased him because he gets teased all the time. Anyway, he studies Aquinian philosophy at some poshy, liberal arts school in the Boston area. So he was talking about how Edinburgh doesn't recycle and doesn't do its part.
Contradictory part: he drinks his diet Cokes three quarters of the way. Yes, folks, he leaves diet Coke around, though he claims to love the stuff. Now I've heard from some beer drinkers that they hate to drink the left over nasty stuff at the bottom of their glass. But what's nasty about diet Coke other than that it isn't fizzy? Poor excuse people. You're only wasting what you've bought, and you're throwing it away after. Oh wait, no. I'm throwing it away after. Yes, I'm the one who semi-cleaned up but refused to take it down, because it's a big waste. The others leave unfinished jars of pasta sauce. I mean c'mon! I know it goes bad quickly but improvise! I'm just annoyed because I've come from a family who emphasized the necessity of never wasting, that some person in some other part of the world is starving, and it's so shameful to be letting food go to waste.
It makes sense, really. I mean, just because we have the power and the privilege to throw away food because we're simply full doesn't mean we have to abuse it. I hear the argument about how that is a contributing factor to obesity. I mean c'mon! I'm not saying that you have to wolf it down right away! Save it for the next day and be conscious of it, that's all.
And I was a good flatmate too! I'm not looking for sympathy but I went all the way to Costco and brought home two cases of 32 cans of Coke for them. And I didn't even get so much as a thank you. But you're right; existentially speaking, I shouldn't have expected anything because I offered and I could have refused. I'm just a good person that's all. I don't have to be acknowledged... ... ... hahaha.
So that's my rant for today. I wish there was a more conscious effort to recycle and to waste manage. I feel soo incredibly sad for our grandchildren and our children, for that matter. The problem won't arise that far away; par contre, it will arise soon.
My qualm: everyday they leave an enormous amount of waste, and I would like to say mainly the Americans. Two Americans, a German and a Belgian all inhabit the flat with me and I find that it's the Americans who primarily leave a huge mess. I've found that if Americans are popular, they'll host parties (I've hosted one, but was very adamant about waking up the next morning to clean it up) and leave their mess for the cleaning ladies--and yes! We have a cleaning service! So my ultimate point was that one of the Americans, Paul (not using real name), loves diet Coke and I later found it's only because he had to get used to it because his father was diabetic. So I felt a little bad when I teased him because he gets teased all the time. Anyway, he studies Aquinian philosophy at some poshy, liberal arts school in the Boston area. So he was talking about how Edinburgh doesn't recycle and doesn't do its part.
Contradictory part: he drinks his diet Cokes three quarters of the way. Yes, folks, he leaves diet Coke around, though he claims to love the stuff. Now I've heard from some beer drinkers that they hate to drink the left over nasty stuff at the bottom of their glass. But what's nasty about diet Coke other than that it isn't fizzy? Poor excuse people. You're only wasting what you've bought, and you're throwing it away after. Oh wait, no. I'm throwing it away after. Yes, I'm the one who semi-cleaned up but refused to take it down, because it's a big waste. The others leave unfinished jars of pasta sauce. I mean c'mon! I know it goes bad quickly but improvise! I'm just annoyed because I've come from a family who emphasized the necessity of never wasting, that some person in some other part of the world is starving, and it's so shameful to be letting food go to waste.
It makes sense, really. I mean, just because we have the power and the privilege to throw away food because we're simply full doesn't mean we have to abuse it. I hear the argument about how that is a contributing factor to obesity. I mean c'mon! I'm not saying that you have to wolf it down right away! Save it for the next day and be conscious of it, that's all.
And I was a good flatmate too! I'm not looking for sympathy but I went all the way to Costco and brought home two cases of 32 cans of Coke for them. And I didn't even get so much as a thank you. But you're right; existentially speaking, I shouldn't have expected anything because I offered and I could have refused. I'm just a good person that's all. I don't have to be acknowledged... ... ... hahaha.
So that's my rant for today. I wish there was a more conscious effort to recycle and to waste manage. I feel soo incredibly sad for our grandchildren and our children, for that matter. The problem won't arise that far away; par contre, it will arise soon.