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One of the things that I've noticed traveling internationally for work is how much this differs from country to country. You'll be hard pressed to find a public

One of the things that I've noticed traveling internationally for work is how much this differs from country to country. You'll be hard pressed to find a public trash can anywhere in Suwoon, South Korea. Meanwhile there's a trashcan on every single street corner in Düsseldorf, Germany. Neither city had much trash.

dboreham 7y ago
One data point: litter bins (public trash cans) were all removed from Central London decades ago because terrorists began planting bombs in them. Afaik they have been restored in recent years but the cultural memory of having to pack your trash home remains.
- tdeck 7y ago
  This is the same reason there are so few in Tokyo: https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/05/trash-cans-japan-garbage-bin-recycling-waste-tidying-up/589825/ https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/05/trash-cans-japan-garbag...
  - autoexec 7y ago
    I'd heard this for ages, but Tokyo in my experience had a lot of places to leave your trash. Not the giant trash cans I see stateside, but small bins next to many of the vending machines which are everywhere. The streets were pretty clear of litter though. The lack of litter was still impressive.
    - mikekchar 7y ago
      You have to have a recycling bin next to drink machines. These bins are only for bottles and cans, though. You shouldn't put trash in them. Convenience stores are required to have trash bins, so that's the easiest place to dispose of something if you need to. I don't think this has anything to do with terrorism, though. There is a culture of take your trash home with you. Even at work I was not allowed to use the trash bin for anything except work trash. Trash from my lunch, etc, I had to take home.
    - kaybe 7y ago
      It seems to be extremly impolite to put anything into the vending machine bins but the bottles you bought from that exact machine though. My Japanese friends were visibly uncomfortable at the idea. Same for any convenience store bins - only what you bought there is fine.

dboreham 7y ago

One data point: litter bins (public trash cans) were all removed from Central London decades ago because terrorists began planting bombs in them. Afaik they have been restored in recent years but the cultural memory of having to pack your trash home remains.

tdeck 7y ago
This is the same reason there are so few in Tokyo: https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/05/trash-cans-japan-garbage-bin-recycling-waste-tidying-up/589825/ https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/05/trash-cans-japan-garbag...
- autoexec 7y ago
  I'd heard this for ages, but Tokyo in my experience had a lot of places to leave your trash. Not the giant trash cans I see stateside, but small bins next to many of the vending machines which are everywhere. The streets were pretty clear of litter though. The lack of litter was still impressive.
  - mikekchar 7y ago
    You have to have a recycling bin next to drink machines. These bins are only for bottles and cans, though. You shouldn't put trash in them. Convenience stores are required to have trash bins, so that's the easiest place to dispose of something if you need to. I don't think this has anything to do with terrorism, though. There is a culture of take your trash home with you. Even at work I was not allowed to use the trash bin for anything except work trash. Trash from my lunch, etc, I had to take home.
  - kaybe 7y ago
    It seems to be extremly impolite to put anything into the vending machine bins but the bottles you bought from that exact machine though. My Japanese friends were visibly uncomfortable at the idea. Same for any convenience store bins - only what you bought there is fine.