As I’m sure you know, Sweden is big on recycling and being environmentally friendly. And I happen to like that. We recycle our plastic bottles and aluminum cans and get money back (pant) at the store. Those plastic bottles and cans that can’t be returned for pant go into normal recycling bins.

And we have recycling bins for nearly everything. There’s a bin for newspapers, advertisements and that kind of “soft” paper, there’s a bin for cardboard and paper packaging. There’s a bin for metal containers. There’s a bin for “white” glass, and there’s another for color glass. And there are also special bins for stuff like batteries and light bulbs. And then, there’s a bin for plastics.

Sorting your trash before taking it out is fun. Instead of one basket in the kitchen, we have six, plus a special bag for pant-able bottles and drink cans. It’s a lot of work sometimes, but you get used to it pretty quickly. The whole system seems to work, and I feel better knowing that I am doing my part to help the environment. And I’m glad to live in a country that takes the environment so seriously.

So, I was very please to see that now we can also recycle plastic foil, bags, and other “soft” plastic products. We even got an official newsletter from our housing company telling us the good news.

I read the announcement very carefully and shook my head. Am I the only one that has a problem with this particular sentence:

En plastfolie/film rengör du enklast genom att torka av den med hushållspapper. (Plastic foil/film is easiest cleaned by wiping it off with a paper towel.)

I’m sorry, but isn’t it a bit odd to tell people to wipe off plastic foil (so it can be recycled) with a PAPER towel? Hmmmm…