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Free the beer bottles!

Friday night is beer night at the offices I've been working with for the past few months. It's a hip, modern web agency with standard new media perks like a pool table and an open frig policy on Friday PM.

But, despite protest, it's one of those modern companies that's lazy about things like recycling. (Thus making it stone age, really.)It recycles paper but no bottles or plastic. I've sent emails to to the head of operations but to no avail. I've even tracked down the dude that picks up the paper in his huge green recycling truck who said 'We can pick up everything but this company just does paper.'

So Friday I offered to recycle the bottles of the people I was chatting to by taking them home. No one thought it was weird. (I stopped myself at picking bottles out of trash cans though someone offered to do it for me! I'm just to vain to be propery green, huh?)

In fact, everyone who gave me their bottle thought it sucked that there was no recylcing in the office.

One of my Germans colleagues said -
'It's so strange that they don't recyle here. It's not even a part of the dialogue in the UK. In Germany we just came in at the top of the recyling league tables and everyone talks about it but here, it's like no one cares.'
Then he handed over his Becks bottles. Good man!

I got home and looked for the European recycling tables online but found nada. I'll keep looking. If anyone knows where I can find them, please do tell!

But I did find these:
+ Quick overview of European nations with great recycling records from Recycle Now
+ A 121 page country-by-cuntry green analysis for Europe by the EEA (European Envoronmental Agency I think?) for 2005. It's pretty heavy reading but if you're interested, I can send you a copy. Just drop me a request in the comments.

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