Recycle Signs: It’s Monkey Business

Kitar Semula = Recycle

The directions are clearly stated on the sign posted at the entrance to Penang National Park. “Think before you throw.” Place your items in the correct bins, so they can be correctly recycled and used again later.

Throw glass items in the brown bin on the left. Throw paper in the blue bin in the center. Throw aluminum cans, steel cans, and plastic in the orange bin on the right.

The task of the Garbage Inspector at work in the photos is to ensure that no one has mistakenly dropped any food items into any of the bins.

Hmmm. Checking to ensure there is only glass in the bin.

Next, he checks to ensure there is only aluminum, steel, and plastic in the orange bin.

After carefully inspecting each bin, the Garbage Inspector was assured that no food items had been left in the bins. Had there been any food items, he would of course have carefully removed the food and would have quickly disposed of it.

In the photo below a Garbage Inspector at the Penang Botanic Garden checks to see if food was thrown into this trash bin. His method is to carefully inspect the bottom of the bin. He knew there was a hole in the bottom so he was checking the contents from the ground level. He found some food, successfully removed it, and quickly disposed of it.

We are back in Florida again now so we don’t have monkeys inspecting our trash bins. Here the raccoons take on the role of Garbage Inspector. They are just as capable as the monkeys at opening the garbage bins and checking for food.

Other Signs of Our Times

Signs: What They Taught Me Wandering Around Romania by Adrienne Beaumont — “ Slow down. Happiness is trying to catch you.”

Norway’s Funniest Signposts by Tim Ward, Mature Flâneur — “Another common signpost reads dint fart — “don’t speed.”

The Sign of Tutankhamun by Brad Yonaka — “Part of me never left during the many years I physically moved on to other regions of the world. Every time I go back, I remember that a version of me still lives there, unfazed by time and happy to experience the world with eternally young eyes.” This story made me nostalgic for my walks through Cairo and my tour of the Nile many years ago.