@TheBreadmonkey While the first part is true, they're not directly the reason Dutch streets are mostly clean.

They are locked by an electronic card system so they cannot be used by the general public and every use is charged.

The streets stay clean because those charges are what pay workers to come and clean them. The Dutch still litter and dump trash above ground like crazy!

@TheBreadmonkey The nice thing about it is that it allows you to take out the trash (to that underground container) whenever it suits you. No need to put up with a smelly bag or bin until it gets collected.

@TheBreadmonkey I was surprised how tall they are

@TheBreadmonkey Dow will sell you 10% biodegradable plastics, claiming 90%.

Yay petrochemicals and #FossilFuels #Oligarchy!

@TheBreadmonkey rad! I love that it appears to have toilet paper stuck to its bottom, gives the appearance of having one’s shit all together.

@TheBreadmonkey
Ha, yeah. It saves people from having to have a wheelie bin, but in stead of having to fill out the bin every 1 or 2 weeks, we now have to walk up to 200m with a trash bag about twice a week to get rid of the trash.
Not sure which is better.

@TheBreadmonkey that’s some strong toilet paper holding onto the bin

@TheBreadmonkey omg that is so clever

@TheBreadmonkey same here. Especially obvious in nearby Vendoire (left) where the bits above ground are even smaller than our village’s ones (right). Ours you can peer in and see the bottom and it’s about 2m down maybe.

@TheBreadmonkey
Still smelly though.

@TheBreadmonkey In the quarter where I live, in Italy, we had that system 20 years ago, as a pilot test. It could also weigh the different type of trash, to eventually adapt what you payed to what you discarded.
After a few years we received a letter saying that the test had been a tremendous success, but the test time was over: they removed everything.

Now we lay bags of trash on the curb, which is probably considered a best acceptable failure.
In this country we make sure it ain't by chance.

@TheBreadmonkey that is simply a regular trash in Europe I suppose. Denmark and Germany have them too.

@TheBreadmonkey https://www.telegram.hr/vijesti/zagrebacki-hdz-postavljanje-podzemnih-spremnika-na-trgu-usporedio-s-komunistickim-micanjem-bana-jelacica/

In Croatia, the ruling party called installation of these underground bins to political and urbanistic devastation of city center, basically saying that anyone who supports them is a communist. 🤣

Link in Croatian.

@TheBreadmonkey Wow. Like emptying the vacuum cleaner, only mostly hidden from view. I like that the streets and sidewalks seem to be free of litter. I can tell a lot about how much people respect a place, by whether there is trash strewn or not.

When J and I had to fly to the West coast of the U.S. for a funeral, we played a little game I call "spot the trash." We were in one of the most Posh places you can find in California: Los Altos. We were there for three whole days and did not spot one bit of trash anywhere on any street or sidewalk. We could never ever afford to live there (even buying a small apartment would set you back $1.2 million USD) but it was so fun to visit, like a strange land. And as a side note, I got to meet my Iranian extended family members, which was fascinating. They escaped, right before the revolution in 1979. We learned a lot from them about how different and open the culture had been there, before the religious crackdown. Both my stepbrother's wife and her brother were able to continue their education here and thrived. It made me sad to think of the families who didn't have the money to leave and start a new life, but I was mesmerized by their story.

Sorry, Ben. I really went off on a tangent there! Thanks for letting me reminisce.

@TheBreadmonkey Hah, a video about this was one of the first ones that made @notjustbikes go viral.
https://youtu.be/0JtoSafhvLM

@TheBreadmonkey

Some newer build areas in Germany are also getting them, to save space more than anything else. But, as someone else pointed out, bulky items still need to be set out separately on special days.

@TheBreadmonkey Same system over in (in Portugal). Streets could be cleaner, but that’s on us 😅

@TheBreadmonkey Tardis bins, bigger on the inside. What a brilliant idea!

#GoodIdeas

@TheBreadmonkey we have them in Oslo too! mostly part of the newer apartment blocks. And talking bins!

@TheBreadmonkey

It's a pretty sweet system but most of the time I've seen it brought up has been in a "make the perfect the enemy of the good" way to block simple improvements to garbage infrastructure and that makes me irrationally dislike it

@TheBreadmonkey I've seen a similar system in Spain. Works well in areas of low rise apartments. And especially where it's hot as it keeps the smell and flies down. When you head out on foot/bike, you take a bag of rubbish/recycling with you to drop in the communal bins. I think they're great, but I think there'd be a lot of cultural resistance in the UK.

@TheBreadmonkey yep! every household can get a pass to open them. it's a pretty dope system

@TheBreadmonkey looks like a good way to keep rats and trashdivers out of the trash too