Welcome to the last installment of our recent series of posts about how dirty Taiwan is....errr....I mean how multipurpose the streets of Taiwan are. The above picture is what you will see plenty of on any street. Usually eateries will have their trash cans outside on the sidewalk and ask patrons to dispose of their trash when they leave.
Needless to say it's not so appealing to always be walking past open trash cans of thrown out food all day. But as with anything you get used to it. So much so that I even forgot all about this practice, despite walking past dozens of them every day. For me it just has become part of the backdrop of the smells of Taiwan, and always having to pay attention where you are walking. It's also a particular pain when walking a dog, especially a dog that likes to pretend she is still a stray dog and must eat every bit of food she finds outside.
The setup above is also a common one. A bag for paper trays and bowls, a bag for plastic soup spoons and chopsticks, and a bag for any remaining food. The last bucket looks like it could be for liquid waste, but I think for this particular establishment the owner fills that bucket up a sauce of sorts and will marinate the meat in it. Yes this is done in bucket right next to the bucket that is for thrown out food. Yes this does make it seem like people could easily get confused. Yes that meat probably gets marinated with trash.
