Garbage Truck Fire and Recycling

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Rosemary1
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Garbage Truck Fire and Recycling

Post by Rosemary1 »

http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-st ... htm#177226
This incidence raises some thoughts about garbage collection.

Wonder if fire was caused by flammable garbage that should have been taken to a recycling depot? Not long ago recycling curbside pickup was reduced from weekly to bi-weekly. The list of items not acceptable for curbside pick up that must be brought directly to a recycling depots keeps increasing.

The result - some who do not have vehicles, or space to store recyclables until they can get to a depot bury them with regular garbage - a danger to garbage collection workers and defeating purpose of recycling. Everyone has likely heard of, or know someone who does this.

As well, pickup of larger items is annual only. We see larger items being left in alleys, roadsides, on sidewalks etc. . Are these folks who don't want to pay recycling fees for some items.

We need to encourage recycling by making it easier for all. Restore weekly pickups, for standard recyclables and include smaller recyclable items that folks must now bring to depots. A separate container may work. Provide quarterly pickups for larger items such as furniture or provide a number that residents with such items can call as needed to arrange for pickup for a nominal or no fee - since garbage is garbage after all and a service paid thru property taxes.
rustled
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Re: Garbage Truck Fire and Recycling

Post by rustled »

The problem with encouraging recycling is that although it's the least effective (by far) of the 3 R's, it's the easiest (by far) for most people to do. People can then feel really good about doing something to reduce our ever-increasing waste stream problem, completely unaware of the huge amount of energy and resources that are wasted dealing with recycling, and the huge amount of pollution recycling creates. I was disappointed to see that our recycling carts are so huge. It sends the wrong message.

I do agree that it's quite pointless to expect people to take their recyclables to the depot instead of having them collected. It was beyond bizarre that we were expected to put our recyclables in plastic bags to be collected (rather than using the blue bins we already had on hand), but we were not allowed to put plastic bags in the plastic bags. And the ever-changing "rules" are unhelpful, too. Family members keep asking "where does this go now?" and it's just plain weird that bags with zippers go into the garbage, while bags without must be taken to the depot. The whole thing is irrational.

The bulky items in our lanes are often people who have no means to get their old couch etc. to the landfill (although some probably are avoiding paying to dispose of their waste). I wonder if it would make sense for some enterprising person to offer a once-a-month pick-up for a reasonable fee, by arrangement? I'm not sure how much of this I'd want to fund as a taxpayer, and it may make it easier for people to landfill still-useful items instead of calling on a charity to pick them up?
There is nothing more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. - Martin Luther King Jr.
twobits
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Re: Garbage Truck Fire and Recycling

Post by twobits »

rustled wrote:The problem with encouraging recycling is that although it's the least effective (by far) of the 3 R's, it's the easiest (by far) for most people to do. People can then feel really good about doing something to reduce our ever-increasing waste stream problem, completely unaware of the huge amount of energy and resources that are wasted dealing with recycling, and the huge amount of pollution recycling creates.


I'm of the opinion that we are swimming against the current in trying to recycle. Rather than trying to educate the public on ever changing recycling rules, great strides could be made in reducing the volume of waste by legislation that controls packaging. Just yesterday I purchased a two tube expoxy glue. The 4 by 6 inch plastic package dwarfed the desired product in both size and weight. Why?
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twobits
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Re: Garbage Truck Fire and Recycling

Post by twobits »

Rosemary1 wrote:
Wonder if fire was caused by flammable garbage that should have been taken to a recycling depot?


Not following the logic here. Since when do recyclables present a fire hazard. It was more likely someone emptied an ashtray into the garbage bag and took it to the curb.
Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard.
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