[RP TownTalk] trash "cans"

Thu Aug 7 20:56:46 UTC 2008

Here is a new twist on our new trash cans with wheels.  Before leaving on a field trip this morning, I placed my new trash can on the curb as I usually do.  During the second storm that came through this afternoon I just happen to notice that my Bates trash can which was not put back on the curb, had taken off down Taylor Road!!  Having just returned from the field trip and barely had time to unload and get the kids inside before the storm hit.  I thought I was seeing things when the rush of the water carried the trash can down the road with great speed.  As I was watching my trash can float away, I notice my neighbors trash can was floating by as well (maybe they were in a race).  Now I am not one to complain much, but I strongly believe that Bates should be held accountable and put the darn trash cans back were they got them from (THE CURB) instead of leaving them in the street.

I want you to know that I called my husband who came to the rescue of both trash cans at his own peril before they crossed Oglethorpe Street or collide with oncoming traffic which had slowed down to avoid the floating trash cans.  Furthermore, he was stoking wet and pissed off that the trash cans had been left in the street to begin with!!  Please, please let Bates know about this situation especially on Taylor Road because it is a downward slope from were I live.  Furthermore, I am certain that my husband's rescue days are over!!   
Thanks A Million!

           Novella 

Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2008 08:51:32 -0500From: lisagrob at verizon.netTo: lking at knob.comCC: TownTalk at riverdale-park.orgSubject: Re: [RP TownTalk] trash "cans"
 You don't have to fill it :)  I find it be easier than my smaller cans because it has wheels. 
On Tue, Aug 5, 2008 at  2:20 PM, Lou King wrote:
> Did I miss a memo????
(Those of of you that remember my rant about the SIZE of the recycle container can move on to the next email.)
I don't think I missed a council meeting covering Bates taking over trash collection for Riverdale Park - but when was it discussed that each single family home would be required to move around an APARTMENT SIZED trash bin?
{NOTE this is not the "Cranky Old Coot" speaking but, me, his serious minded keeper.}
If I were not the healthy, strapping, young male that I am, and say I was my neighbor Mickie G.,  I would be unable to take out my trash! Not to say Mickie is a helpless little old lady, (if she heard me say that I would leave town for my own safety) but; For her to take out a bag of empty protein supplement jars from the bodybuilding store, she has to, with one hand, open the lid (that rises over my head), and use here other arm to jerk and clear her trash almost shoulder high (over 1 meter) to get it in these new cavernous roll-on dumpster.
{I'm sorry, it is just not possible to speak seriously about such a ludicrous situation.}
Reading TownTalk I know that all my neighbors are concerned about the environment and expanding landfills. As such they all take their reusable (or recycled) bags to RP Farmer's Market and generate mostly compostable trash and make other purchases with an eye on the produce-to-packaging ratio. For example, myself, I have only half fulled the small yellow recycle bin sense mid-May when I tried to leave town. It is mostly dog food cans and is an old story. This is about trash.
In the winter I take my 30" tall trash can to the curb every-other week or so (more often in warm weather for obvious, odious reasons). I have to start using the green dumpster left at my house, the container will weigh more that my weekly trash! Wheels or not, I will have to drag this thing across my yard to E. Beale. This is easier than haling it up the drive to the front of the house.
What I think will happen with the trash "dumpsters" is what I have observed with the recycle bins-on-wheels. Several people in town don't/can't hide their big recycle bins behind their steps, by their back door as they did the smaller yellow recycle bins.  Drive through town. How many recycle bins do you see sitting our front? Where before a home owner/renter would buy a trash can sized for their needs, and that they could hale to the street.  We are now concerned with what to do with these "people" sized containers and obliged to uses over sized containers.
Personally, when I moved to town I planted a flowering, red berried cane by my back step to hide what I needed for trash from E. Beale. No, the new behemoths will not fit.
I just went out and checked, the trashcan I fill ever week/week-and-a-half is a 30 gallon container. The recycle bin from the county is 64 gallons and the new Bates container is bigger than that!
Now I "know" this is all for efficiency, etc. but have you notices that the recycle truck workers don't have, or don't use, equipment to empty the recycle bins? What I see is two guys flipping open my neighbor's container, grabbing it and dumbing it in the back of the truck. There is a message here. OSHA -  or the trash collector, requires TWO workers to hale around the container to avoid injury. A single resident, on the other hand, is expected to move the same container to the curb. Why? Because the resident is not employed as a trash person and therefore not covered by OSHA.
In short what I see is a system designed for the convenience of the trash collection entity - customers (taxpayers) be damned.
Louis King
PS If you want to hear this rant again come to the working session, 25 Aug.  I know it is a done deal. But I do wish to let the elected officials know how their efforts to save money have reduced the quality of life (and the view) in Riverdale Park and how that may effect my decisions next May. COC
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