A surprising find

The waste system in Toronto is amazing. There are brown bins, blue bins, and green bins. The brown are for garbage - simple enough. The blue are for recyclables, and there are so many things you can recycle in that blue bin. If it has a recycle symbol on it, put it in the bin - easy. The green for compost. (Sadly apartment buildings do not have compost bins due to sanitation laws.) Plus, you are supposed to be able to put disposable diapers in the compost! Whoa.

Isn't that amazing? The city pays (yes, taxes pay) to pick up all that stuff.

But that's not all! If someone in a home doesn't want something that could still be used anymore, they put it on the edge of the yard close to the sidewalk. Then if you walk by and want it, its yours for the taking. It seems like if the items aren't taken within a few days, they're put in the trash.

The things I typically see are shoes, books, chairs, old mattresses...but check out what I came across today:


An eastern toilet, affectionately known as a squatty potty.

And it wasn't new. I say this not because it was disgusting because it wasn't. I say it because we live in an OLD neighborhood that has been heavily populated by Eastern Europeans for many decades and yet a house that is now being renovated had one of these inside. It's been said that Toronto is the most diverse city in the world and now I believe it.