The Greenest of Greens

Trastevere is the most environmentally conscious area in one of the most environmentally conscious cities in the most environmentally conscious of continents. It is the model community of Rome. Each apartment is allotted a certain amount of waste per week. There are no garbage disposals, so that makes food about the only thing thrown away. Luckily the food is so good no one throws it away. All types of plastic, glass and paper are recycled. If something isn't able to be recycled, it is reused. Everything is so much more efficient. This morning Giulio, whose parents are stuck out of town because of the 2 inches of snow, drank his coffee in a mug, then used the mug to eat his cereal, then used the mug for water. He is also the first 12 year old I have seen drinking rice milk. I don't know if this is a choice, or if he is lactose intolerant. I bet it's his choice. Using it for water is kind of rare though, since these people don't seem to require it in order to live. At dinner each night, no one but me drinks more than 4 oz. of water. I'm not used to this yet. The glasses only hold about 6 oz., so I end up refilling mine about three times. Rome still uses the aqueducts that I'm sure are thousands of years old. The water is crystal clear. This makes the fact that all restaurants serve bottled mineral water very strange, since they are so conscious of waste. I'll look into this more.

I'm going to try to find some better pizza or some cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper) today. Since I'll be in a restaurant I won't feel bad about drinking a lot of water. I guess I'll have to start liking wine too. People seem to enjoy it here or something. There are no "wine lists" either. The owner knows which wine goes best with each meal. I have never seen a charge for wine in a restaurant. It's expected to be part of the meal.

Cacio e pepe