What a load of old rubbish

I always see red when people visit another country, or experience another culture, and view it with a condescending attitude.....which brings me to the subject of rubbish.

You may be aware that the UK is in the middle of a wheelie bin frenzy, and that the local election results have been swayed by the rubbish issue. The heart of the issue is that local councils in the quest for being seen as 'green', for that read 'a perfect excuse for saving money', have introduced recycling and are only collecting general rubbish from each household every 2 weeks. Cue a period of hot weather and the overflowing wheelie bins are covered in maggots, being breeding grounds for disease and terrible smells.

The portuguese system of everyone taking their rubbish to central bins is so perfectly efficient compared with collection from each household, removing all the associated problems of rotting waste in a hot climate. Also, if you leave anything you think might be of use to somebody else, eg. old trainers, computers, clothes, by the bins and within half an hour they will have gone to a better home.

Of course, it is too late to introduce this fabulous system to the cosy and expensive UK environment where everything is done for you, as it would be impossible to locate the big bins near to anyones house without massive uproar.

So the next time someone says to me 'Oh, how primitive it is in Portugal to have to take your own rubbish away.' I will be thinking about the stinking maggoty wheelie bin thats sitting on their drive.

Anyway, I feel better now for getting that off my chest!