By Eva Dias Costa in Signals — 19 Jul 2025

#22. Instructions for Putting Out the Rubbish (Porto, alternate Saturdays).

In certain parts of Porto, the rubbish goes out by category.
Organic on Mondays. Plastics on Wednesdays. Regret on alternate Saturdays.

The trick is to label it correctly.
Shame is not recyclable. Nostalgia is.
Bitterness must be double-bagged.

Never leave disappointment in the wrong bin.
It contaminates the whole load.

You must put it out yourself. No one collects betrayal from the doorstep.
If you wait too long, it starts to speak.

On rainy days, the bins smell of old letters and unsaid things.
The city forgives, except on public holidays.

Some say if you walk far enough past the recycling centre,
you’ll find a skip labelled Unclaimed Joy.
But no one knows if that’s real.

What matters is that the lorry comes.
Early.
Only once.