Three bins by the lift

Until last spring, throwing away rubbish in our apartment building in Hanoi was easy. You put everything into one plastic bag, tied it up and dropped it in the large bin next to the lift. A cleaner collected it every evening. Nobody thought about what was inside, and nobody asked.

Then a notice appeared on the wall by the lift. Because of new regulations, it said, every household had to separate its waste into three groups: food waste, things that can be recycled, and everything else. The single bin was removed, and three smaller bins in different colours took its place. The management board also organised a short meeting to inform residents about the changes.

At first, many people found it annoying. My neighbour on the fifth floor complained that she rarely had time to cook, let alone sort her rubbish. Others were not entirely sure where to put things like milk cartons or broken glass. For a few weeks, the bins were a mess, and the cleaner had to sort a lot of it again by hand.

Slowly, though, things improved. Someone stuck a simple picture guide above the bins, with examples of what goes where. Children in the building seemed to learn the system faster than their parents, and they began correcting the adults. My own family now keeps a small box for food scraps in the kitchen, which we empty every night.

I was surprised by how much less we throw away now. Our bag of 'everything else' is about half its old size, because most of our rubbish is actually food or packaging. I know that sorting at home is only the start, and the rest of the process depends on what happens after the truck leaves. Still, it feels good to do it properly. It is a small habit, but it makes me notice how much we buy.