My memory about recycling, water use, and community

Hello!

I lived and worked in America. We moved back to Germany a year ago. I still miss America and some day I will move back.

We lived in WA State for 10 years. WA State is an interesting state. It has so many different areas; for instant: trees, mountains, ocean, cost, and desert too. We lived in the desert area. When we moved to that area no one actually cared about watering their lawn many hours and/or washing their car (using a lot of water) on concert. I still remember a couple years ago--it did not snow a lot and therefore the rivers had not so much water. As a result of that, the city forbad us to wash our car and/or use water for our lawn.

I also realized people used the car wash a lot. I always get a strange feeling when I think of it. I realized after years that in our area were we lived these car wash areas use good water and they do not recycle it. In Germany the car wash areas do recycle the water and reuse it.

Also in the areas where it rains a lot in Germany public areas use the rain water to flush their toilet. It is the airport in Bremen. I think it is a good idea.

I also was used to recycle when we lived in Germany. We have the green, yellow, brown, blue, white, and black bin. When we moved to the USA we lived in an area where not many people recycled and I called the city office where we lived. I asked them if I could order recycling bins. They said, not in our town. I wondered and asked why? This person told me that the city voted for and against recycling bins. Then, the voter were against the recycling bins--it would have costs 50 cents more a month for the private household to pay the garbage company. I was shocked.

These were small stories about recycling, water use, and my community.

Take care,

Petra
From Germany