What English do you need for daily life abroad?

Oh yeah, it's different everywhere — I had the same problem when I moved here. So, the blue bin here is single-stream recycling, meaning you can mix paper, cardboard, plastic, and metal all together.

是啊，每个地方都不一样——我搬来的时候也一样搞不清。这里的蓝色桶是混合回收，就是说纸、纸板、塑料和金属都可以放一起。

Well, actually — that's one of the tricky ones. If the pizza box has grease stains on it, it can't be recycled. The grease contaminates the paper. You'd need to tear off the clean parts for recycling and toss the greasy parts in the trash.

嗯，其实——这是一个容易搞错的。如果 pizza 盒上有油渍，就不能回收。油脂会污染纸张。你得把干净的部分撕下来回收，油腻的部分扔垃圾桶。

No, no — that's the other big one. Plastic bags jam the sorting machines at the recycling plant. You need to bring those to the grocery store — most of them have a collection bin right at the entrance.

不不——这是另一个大坑。塑料袋会卡住回收厂的分拣机器。你得把它们送到超市——大多数超市入口处都有回收桶。

Smart thinking. Okay, the big no-no list: plastic bags, Styrofoam, food-contaminated paper, broken glass, and electronics. Oh, and no tanglers — like garden hoses or Christmas lights. Those wreck the machines too.

聪明。好，绝对不行的清单：塑料袋、泡沫塑料、有食物残留的纸、碎玻璃和电子产品。哦还有缠绕物——比如水管或圣诞灯串。那些也会弄坏机器。

Ha, right? Actually, the city does have a website with a search tool — you type in an item and it tells you which bin. I'll text you the link. And hey, don't worry if you mess up a few times — everyone does at first.

哈，是吧？其实市政有个网站有搜索工具——你输入物品名它告诉你放哪个桶。我发链接给你。而且别担心如果搞错几次——大家一开始都会搞错的。

Oh, that happened to me once! Let me see... Yeah, it says 'contaminated.' That means something in your recycling wasn't supposed to be there. Did you maybe put plastic bags or food containers in it?

哦，我也遇到过一次！我看看……对，上面写'已污染'。意思是你的回收桶里有不该放的东西。你是不是放了塑料袋或者食物容器？

Yeah, unfortunately neither of those can go in there. Styrofoam goes in the regular trash, and plastic bags need to go to the drop-off at the grocery store. It's confusing, I know.

是的，很可惜那两样都不能放。泡沫塑料放普通垃圾桶，塑料袋要拿到超市的回收点。我知道很容易搞混。

Exactly. Pull out the Styrofoam and bags, toss those in the trash, and put the bin back out next Tuesday. They should take it. If they don't, you can call the city's waste management hotline — the number's on the sticker.

对。把泡沫塑料和塑料袋捡出来扔垃圾桶，下周二再把桶放出去。他们应该会收。如果还是不收，可以打市政废物管理热线——电话在贴纸上。

Ha, tell me about it. The city actually mailed us a guide last year — I might still have it. Want me to drop it off later? And honestly, when in doubt, just throw it in the trash. Better than contaminating the whole recycling batch.

哈，可不是嘛。市政去年寄过一份指南——我可能还留着。要不要我一会儿送过去？说真的，拿不准的话就扔垃圾桶。比污染整批回收物好。

Anytime! We've all been there. Welcome to the neighborhood, by the way.

随时可以问！大家都经历过。对了，欢迎来到这个社区。