Where Are All The Rubberbands?

I was in the kitchen this evening doing something and started thinking to myself that I needed a rubberband. That spawned an interesting thought. Where are all the rubberbands in this country?

Looking back to life in the U.S. I never once bought a rubberband. Rubberbands where things that were always somehow a few steps away. One could find rubberbands in the junk drawer, around a couple of doorknobs in the house, or holding the daily paper in a nice round bundle. Whenever I found myself looking for a rubberband there was always one in reach. And I never ever paid for a rubberband.

Here not so much. In fact, I can't remember the last time I have seen a rubberband in this country. Where have then gone? Are they extinct because of loss of natural habitat? No junk drawers, no cluttered closets, no extraneous coffee mugs full on random desk junk at work.

As I refuse to pay for a rubberband I will continue to look. And hopefully I would someday come across one of the last remaining examples of such a fine innovative tool in this all too clean country.

Swiss Electronics Recycling

As part of the 4 day Easter holiday here in Switzerland I have been doing some cleaning up around the house.  Yesterday I spent a good bit of time in our basement storage area rummaging through things looking for items that can be trashed.  

I found an old suitcase which I packed with garbage and will toss this weekend.  I also found an old laptop computer I had bought back in about 2001 which needed to be recycled.  

Given the complexity of the Swiss recycling system I was a bit fearful of how in the world I would be able to recycle a computer here but after a quick search online and reading through a few websites I found a note on the Baden town website that said all electronics will be accepted back at the place of purchase.  

It is a similar policy to the U.S. regarding things like car oil, and car batteries.  If you buy new from the garage they accept the old and recycle it.  The difference in my case is I did not buy the computer form a local store.  Before walking over to the local Migros store, which sells electronics, I took the time to remove and destroy the  hard drive to make sure no personal data was available to anyone.  Then a short walk to the store and the service desk where I inquired about recycling the laptop. 

The customer service person politely told me to walk down to the electronics desk where I could leave the computer.  I had half expected to be charged a small fee, 5 or 10 Francs for the recycling service.  I would have gladly paid, but instead the gentleman took the computer and without asking me for any money bid me farewell.  

The ease of the entire process was great.  I didn't have to get in my car and drive a million miles, or find a special location for recycling, just back to the store and drop it off.   I have to give the Swiss credit on this one.  They have it figured out.