The type of the informant: Citizen from Ballerup Municipality The interview Date 16th April 2016 Place Informant s apartment Length 01:02:59 Language of the interview English Interviewers Dace Lasmane, Carina Bendsen, Margareta Birca, The informant: Name Kacper Age 22 Gender Male Country of origin Poland Family type Living alone Occupation Student and part time worker in Burger King Brondby Type of housing Number of people living in a house/ an apartment The municipality where he/she lives currently and for how long Municipalities/ Countries where the informant lived before The way we got in touch with the informant: Rented apartment from a private owner. The landlord owns the building and renting it out. 1, he lived before with his ex-girlfriend before she moved for studies to Canada. Ballerup Municipality Municipality for 1,5 year. Poland for almost 15 Brondby for 5,5 years. Informat is work colleague with one of the authors. He agreed for an interview when being contacted personally.
What is your understanding of waste? - I don t use a thing so I just throw it away. A paper or bottle is waste for me. Maybe also food but I try to not throw food away. 5 associations for waste? - Empty box of milk, black bag under my sink, mainly food, my waste comes from the fridge, paper after bred. Do you sort your waste? - I sort paper and bottle to throw away to another garbage can that my garbage bag under my sink. But I am not sorting food from the plastic, everything goes under the sink. What is your attitude towards recycling? - I like the idea but I don t think the place gives me the opportunity to do it. And only place for the bottles and papers. I have the opportunity to recycle those things so I do that, but I don t have the opportunity to recycle plastic or stuff like that. If I will have 3 different cans outside, then I will do it. You did it in Brondby? - Never had the opportunity to do it. But my family can do it, cousins. They lived in Poland. Do you do it at job? - Yes. Would you like to do it? - Yes, I care about the nature. But right now if I would start to do it will be way too difficult for me, because I have to go with the garbage somewhere else. You know where another place is? You tried to find out? - No. Are you sorting the organic waste? - Not the organic waste, no. What means for you organic waste? - Fruits, and egg shells. Coming from nature. Not plastic but food. What it s your attitude about sorting organic waste? - I don t have attitude for that. You experienced something related to that? - My grandmother lives in the village, in her own house. People do that but not in the city. I never experienced that when I was living in the city. People are doing that in the houses because they made their own opportunity to recycle things. What were they doing?
- They made a fence and then put organic waste there. Making compost. I don t know the story. What type of plastic do you mainly use? - Bottles. Also black plastic bags, this is not hard plastic. The bottles I bring back to the shop. I sort them and go to the shop. SHOWING THE KITCHEN. 1 How often do you bring out your garbage? - Every second, third day maybe. I can push it, so I can put it all the way down so I have more space. What are the most common things you throw away? - Packages of what I eat. When the containers are being emptied? - I don t know how often they are doing that, maybe once a week. - I don t know who do it, maybe commune. Do you know where they take it? - No, I have no idea. Do you follow your consumption? - Yes, of course. I hate to waste the food, especially the food. If it happens, last time I cannot even remember. I would rather buy too less than too much, because it s a waste, waste of money. But if you do, what is it then? - It s more vegetables that can get bad by time. Don t you think you are producing too much waste? - Maybe I lied a little bit about 2 days because it s ridiculous for one person. So I think it s maybe 3-4 days. I think I produce kind of lot of garbage, for a normal person. - In LIDL, you can buy freshly baked bread. So I usually put all bread in one bag. I don t think I am producing too much of waste. Do you wash hand after taking the garbage? - When I do it I am usually on my way to somewhere. I don t have a habit that I have to take my garbage now and go back home. I am doing it later because I am on the way to the shop. So I don t do it then, but when I am coming back from the shop yes. Do you find it disgusting? - Sometimes when they didn t emptied, sometimes it s smelly, and it s stinky and sticky. What do you do then? 1 He said they have another container for glass bottles, wine bottles. He has the bags with stripes, but it s not that he would search specifically for these once.
- I use one finger If you would have the possibility to design, what would you change so it will be easier for you to sort? - I would say, more space for the recycling things. To have those 3 garbage bins for some kind of special, like organic, metal. And outside also. How often should it be emptied? - Every once a week at least. So maybe when it s need for that. Do you find any effort for you doing it? - I don t get anything from that, I just do it, don t see any effort. I do it for myself, just because you should. What do you mean by you should? - I always did it with the bottles. So when I came to Denmark it wasn t new for me. So I saw it with my parents and I am doing it because I got it from home. It s obvious the good for the planet, and it s easier for the people in fabrics to sort the garbage afterwards. It makes easier job for other people. You have been taught to sort by you parents doing? - Yes. Have you ever been to a recycling plant? - Yes, when I was young, 7-8. In Poland. And it s easier to recycle stuff when you are recycling so it doesn t goes to one garbage place. Have you been to one in Denmark, would you be interested? - No. not really, not my kind of stuff to see how they recycling garbage. How many people are living in this building? - There are 25 apartments maybe. 20 to 25 people living here. Do you have meeting? - Not meeting but we live close with our neighbors. So not meeting to discuss but meeting to have fun, to get together. Do you know if they sort? - I visited my neighbors yesterday and I saw that they have empty bottles of vine. And also cans from the beer, and I also think they are giving out to the store. Do you have house meeting, house administration? - The owner lives over there, so you can go and ask the owner. We don t have needs like, something together; it s something, like going wrong with my bathroom. So it s only me with this. Did you saw your friends sorting garbage, have it been a topic of discussion? - No I never talked about it, and never think, but I think they recycle the bottles like I do, but don t think they recycle organic.
How you been informed from Ballerup municipality about the new sorting plan? - No. I never received information from the municipality. I don t get letters from Ballerup commune. Who is organizing the containers outside? - It might be the owner. Would it be difficult for you to start sort? - If I will have the opportunity and the containers out there, I would do it. It wouldn t be difficult for me to do it. And organic waste? - Yes, sure. For me it s another container in the house where I should put the waste in. Would you find that you have to bring it more often out, because it s food, or you will do it the same as it is now? - Same as it is now. I mean, it will be a headache to do it other way. Do you know what is a biogas? - I ve heard, but I cannot remember seriously. Bio it s biologically, maybe from waste. 2 Would you like to have something in return? - As I said, it will be for me a habit to do it, so I don t need something in return. That will be nice to know what is after and why I m doing it, the reason why I am doing this. How would it impact you if you ll find out that they are burning all, would you keep on sorting? - Really I don t know. Maybe I would start. But I ve been doing this all my life so I don t know if I ll stop or not. Maybe it s easier to put all in one bag if I knew that all it s mixed together. Do you think there s need for law or regulation? - I don t know, I think this is a private think, so if commune it s giving the opportunity to do it it s your choice to do it or not. I don t think that should be any regulation about it. You think people should do it voluntarily but you said it s good for the planet. - I think that s why we have those stations, recycling stations (he obviously means sorting here) where people are doing it for us. We just can make it easier for them by sorting here in our houses. How sorting impacts your life? - I cannot see any consequences when I do or do not recycle, but the bottles, the cans, it s really good because you get actually money. I think it s a great idea Denmark came with, but for the other things I don t see any. What does it means sustainability for you? - Never heard this word. 2 Our explanation about the plan of municipality and what is biogas are left out from the transcript.
Dace explaining Carina explaining - I think people are thinking this way to recycle more, when looking at the car people are coming with electric car and everyone has a bike in Denmark. You just came with 2 bikes. Electricity? - When I am opening the window I am closing the heater. When I open the window I want to lower the temperature in my room, so it s stupid to keep the heater high. It s money. Follow the electricity? - I am getting a bill from the company and once a year they are asking me for the numbers. But I don t know if it s higher or not. I don t think I am using too much electricity, I don t leave something turned on when I am leaving the room. What is your perception of climate change? - The temperature it s getting higher. You can see outside that it s hot in the summer and not so cold in the winter. It s not so often snow in Denmark, it s mostly rains. You think you can impact by you individual activities? - Not really, I don t produce so much CO2. People with cars are producing more of it. Do you know if your house it s energy-effective? - I have no idea. How important is the environment around where you re living. - I like it, it s like living in a forest. What are you doing to conserve it? - I don t throw the garbage outside. If I have a paper I keep it in my pocket. I seriously do that. Who it s cleaning outside the house? - Owner. Do you participate? - No. 3 How can you contribute? - Recycle things and don t throw everything on the ground! DRAWINGS 4 3 The green day in Poland and collecting the garbage from the street, and the fact that now he will not participate. 4 He thinks it s a good idea to not waste the energy was said while drawing the circle with biogas. While pointing out in the fridge: 1. Box of the salat it s the plastic.
Photos - Kacper: My garbage Where are the bottles? - On the other side. You have glass also? - It s over here, yeah. Every bottles and cans I sort them. We have another containers for wine bottles so I also do that. Are you all the time using those black once for garbage? - Yeah, sometimes when I don t have those I use shopping bags. Do you have the stripes to close them? - Yeah. I do. When I am buying it is not that I am looking to have stripes, so it was that I firstly saw these once. Do you search for bio-degradable? - I don t. Paper and cardboard? - Yes, I do. I just put it here, when the pile gets bigger I just throw it away. We have container for the paper. DRAWING - Let s assume that biogas comes from fruits and vegetables, so fruits are into some containers and they are collecting it somehow, so here is collection. And then I don t know, in some kind of the energy you can use it So, its fruits, then you throw it, then it s collected and then it s produced into biogas? And who is collecting? - This is I am thinking how you can do it by yourself, you know, making and sorting your waste into energy. One Israeli made something that you can use it (explaining the process) - From what you are saying I think it s a good idea because you don t waste energy from the fruits. So, production of energy and then out to the customers, I don t know, houses and transport. I don t think is something else that comes to my mind, and there s maybe heat. DRAWING 2 2. Bread, food to food. 3. Milk package is cardboard, and juice package the same. I know that the proper way it will be to emptied and then to throw it away but I will be too lazy to do it
- It s me, so I come at the truck, and it s big, and the garbage men takes the garbage, and they will say I will say, isn t different from company to company? So it goes to a fabric, recycling, maybe recyclingrecyclable stuff and maybe burning stuff, I don t know what they do, and then there are persons that are recycling, by hands, and then this back to the stores So there s sell persons involved? - Yeah, I think that s all, and then it goes around.