Garbage Out

After months of procrastination, I called Recology for a bulky-item pickup. The original strategy of sorting the trash and clutter then calling the garbage company wasn't working. I needed a deadline--which was today--to focus.

Once started, the process was easier than expected. The guideline for the household was: don't agonize over an item, when in doubt, keep it. Even so we had enough for two pickups.

Out to the curb went an unrepairable exercise bike, used carpet, a beat-up particle-board cabinet, a Samsonite suitcase that had served us for 30 years but wasn't immortal, cracked plastic containers, and a tattered office chair, not to mention six trash bags. There was momentary suspense when the truck came: did we set out too much? was there an item that didn't fit the criteria? No, they took everything.

We spend most of our lives acquiring stuff, and happiness is achieved by getting rid of it.

If You Won't Obey, You Just Need a Behavioral Change

We've written before how the recycling racket is uneconomic to consumers, businesses, and the recyclers themselves.

We have previously noted how Yale Law Professor Stephen Carter tried to comply but finds the recycling regime to be "heavy-handed, coercive, distant and thick with detailed rules."

Composting (green bin) is different in SF than in my town.
(Examiner photo)

Now we discover that the residents of San Francisco, the Vatican of the green religion, are recycling less than half of what should be put in the green and blue bins. According to Debbie Raphael, director of the City's Department of the Environment, [bold added]

a survey by the department showed people knew why they should recycle and how, but didn’t do it because “it’s too much trouble, it’s just too much work.”

“Here, we have a system with the ultimate convenience. Everybody’s got the bins. We have signs to show you. We have outreach campaigns. And they still don’t want to do it because it is still not convenient enough” Raphael said. “Whatever that culture of convenience is here, we’re up against it in a big way.”

The deplorable people are stubborn as mules. They do not think it's convenient to unwrap stale hamburger and throw the slimy meat into a maggot-filled green bin, the plastic film into the black cart, and spend a minute washing their hands with hot water and anti-bacterial soap. Yes, I'm speaking from experience.

Because mere encouragement hasn't worked, the next step in the Progressive playbook is to force them to obey:

Supervisor Hillary Ronen suggested The City ramp up enforcement. “It just seems like we should have been in the enforcement compliance phase a while ago,” Ronen said. “It’s pretty outrageous that 60 percent of what’s going to the landfill is still recycling and compost in San Francisco in 2018 after all of the work that both Recology and the Department of the Environment has been doing and I think it’s time to step it up.”

She added, “We just need a behavioral change.”

Bring out the cattle prods.

Green Lining

Scraps aren't smelly when frozen.

During the hot summer the compost bin is quite odoriferous. If we deposited only yard trimmings, it would hardly smell.

On the other hand table scraps, which now go into the bin, become very ripe after a few days. Ants are the first to invade, and if a stiff wind should blow the lid open, birds and vermin swoop in. We now put organic garbage in the freezer until the night before the weekly pick-up.

Both the time spent on garbage and our energy consumption have gone up, but at least we can pat ourselves on the back for being green.

Another green lining: we have stopped mocking people who freeze their jeans.

Merely a Gesture

A lot of sticky messiness for $9.73.

The holiday festivities were pau (some Hawaiian words just stick with you throughout your life). I took the plastic bottles to the recycling center. For a couple of hours' worth of sorting, transporting, waiting, and dealing with sticky messiness the compensation was $9.73. I probably won't bother next time and just put the bottles in the blue container that Recology picks up every week.

I felt sorry for the sole worker at the site. He had to deal with long post-New Year lines and overflowing bins; he told me that the truck was very late. I gave him $2. No, the amount made no difference to him or to me. Amidst the vermin-attracting grime it was merely a gesture toward civic society. © 2014 Stephen Yuen

Not Only Tech Companies

Normally we donate our used furniture, but our worn leather sofa recliner had too many holes and broken frame sections to be usable. Our waste disposal company allows two bulky-item disposals each year at no extra charge.

I was surprised when they scheduled the pick-up within five days of my phone call. Having planned to go through the house and put out more trash, I only had time to amass three bags--the previous garbage company required at least two weeks lead time; it's not only tech companies that are getting faster and better.