New Haven Independent

Posted by: elmcityguy | March 14, 2008 3:18 PM

Why not start with actually picking up the recycling?. At least the bins can be brought back up if the recycling truck never comes. The yard bags sit out at curbside for weeks until they eventually do what they are supposed to disintegrating and leaving a nice mess on the curb. Cardboards or paper turns into a lump that sits for weeks as well. Things I can get away with simply putting in the trash, I do, simply to avoid the piles of crap that don't get picked up.

Posted by: cedarhillresident | March 14, 2008 3:55 PM

1.00 a bag??? Don't we already pay for trash removal in our taxes??? My... I see that plan turning the city into a mess.

But you know I love the larger bins!

Why not just turn the big blue ones into recycle bins and deliver a smaller one for the trash??? Just get recycle stickers for the big blue ones? That would be cheaper then taken the big blue ones and providing 2 new bins right??

Posted by: cedarhillresident | March 14, 2008 3:59 PM

elmcityguy
I have to be honest my area always had problems but for about 4-5 months now it has improved 100%. And we talk about how much better it has been and what has changed to make this improvement? We (the community) are trying to educate people as best we can and it helps. But they are complaining the bins are to small. And we have a new guy at the helm that is making big improvements in that department...BRAVO!!

Posted by: robn | March 14, 2008 4:41 PM

Instead of making recycling a "pay-to-throw" entitlement program, how about fining those who don't recycle.

Weigh the trash and recycling man. There has to be some statistical median for recyclable vs non-recyclable waste. The scale is an ancient technology...just hook it up to a spreadsheet(which is itself, ancient technology in the world of database management).

Posted by: Come on! | March 14, 2008 4:56 PM

Nine months later, Smuts has the DeStefano administration saying the exact same things that Alderman Lemar and Sandman were saying for the past year and a half, including at two public hearings. I know Smuts doesn't particularly care for Lemar or Sandman, but stealing their words and ideas completely and passing them off as your own is pretty awful.

Posted by: Carole | March 14, 2008 5:33 PM

Good ideas from this interview:

1. Turn the giant blue garbage cans ("toters") into recycling bins, and give out much smaller bins for garbage. This will not only encourage recycling and discourage excessive trash; it will also keep the recyclable papers and plastics from blowing all over the place, since the toters have lids.

2. Track each household's recycling by weight, and give financial credit. Not clear from the interview, as edited, how this would work: credit against a garbage fee? against property taxes? But it's a good principle.

3. Have the city offer to pick up recycling from commercial buildings -- *if* we can sell the recyclables for enough to make back the costs, or if the commercial building owners pay for the service.

4. Make curbside recycling pickups consistent and on-time. In my neighborhood, this has improved enormously already.

Bad idea from this interview:

Refuse to pick up refuse unless it's in a special City of New Haven garbage bag. Gotta believe this would lead to lots of trash being dumped, curbside or elsewhere, in unauthorized bags or without any bags. Plus, for households like mine that reuse grocery bags for the trash, requiring new bags would just add more waste to the waste stream.

Good ideas not mentioned in this interview:

1. Get the state to enforce the recycling law for businesses. It's been on the books for many years but is widely disregarded.

2. Get the NH public schools to obey that very same state law! The schools generate a huge amount of waste. And if kids learn recycling as a matter of course at school, they'll bring that habit home.

Posted by: outcast | March 14, 2008 10:03 PM

The taxpayers are paying enough, I'll tell you how you can have people in compliance. First go after all of those residents over 6 units and charge the property owners for instance look at Florence Virtues, do you know this is a majior housing complex recieving federal monies and the city of New Haven is still picking up their trash, let's also look at Liberty Square over 6 units and trash is still being picked up there also.

Come on everybody just look in your back yard, this new method of recycling will be hurting us the taxpayers.

Let the city first deal with those inside deals that they currently have.

Posted by: Rob Smuts | March 15, 2008 1:07 AM

If Paul Bass ever walks into your office with a video camera, duck under your desk...

"Come On!" is right that my thinking on this is very influenced by Alds. Sandman and Lemar - two good friends (I introduced Roland to his fiancee and helped convince him to run for alderman - hopefully the first outweighs the second and we're still friends) whose thinking about recycling is probably influenced by me, in turn.

In addition to talking with aldermen/friends about how to improve our recycling, I hope to harness the enthusiasm many residents feel about this issue for other ideas. I want to get folks who are interested in helping out on this issue together to both brainstorm ideas and to help spread the word about the changes that we decide upon. I hope people will post any ideas, but also email me at rsmuts@newhavenct.net with ideas or your contact info if you'd like to be part of that.

And Carole is right about the schools - after the video stopped, Paul and I talked for awhile about his daughter's efforts to improve recycling in her high school and what the City's working on for the NHPS. Schools are critical both for the volume of potential recyclables they produce, but also because kids have a huge influence on their households' efforts and (to state the obvious) are the key to recycing in the future.

- Rob Smuts

Posted by: ericaholahan | March 15, 2008 3:09 AM

Carole,

There is not a recycling program in the NH Schools? Or at least one that is enforced?

How dismal, and yet like you said, a great educational opportunity. I do seem to remember trashcans full of uneaten meals and all their recyclable waste when I was teaching.

Anyone interested in helping to create a new recycling curriculum?

Posted by: Ned | March 15, 2008 9:03 AM

"Track each household's recycling by weight" I can already see where that is going, either people stealing recyclables to get credit, and or dumping their garbage in other people's bins to avoid a fine. Also a lot more dumping on city streets and in the parks, and a lot more garbage going through the garbage disposal to avoid the scales, putting an extra burden on the sewer system. How about opening your packages at the store and let the seller deal with the excessive amounts of packaging? Who is going to get fined for not recycling? - the tenant, the landlord, the New Haven Housing Authority - the largest slumlord in town. The current blue bins do not work well at all. I thought I already paid for trash pickup through a program called "taxes"? The "fee based" system seems kind of regressive for all of the closet communists in New Haven. LOL Why not charge a "fee" to send more than one child to public school and a credit for those who don't have children? "Birth control the number one pollution solution"

Posted by: cedarhillresident | March 15, 2008 9:54 AM

ericaholahan

There is a new bill in hartford to provide schools with money and supplies for school programs. And it looks like it is going to pass. So We may see our schools more involved in it.
I think we need to educate commercial and large property owners in recycling as well. My company does have recycling for our apartments. Think about the trash that comes our of a 100 unit building. If those buildings recycle like we do that is alot less waste!!

Come on!
I don't think Rob is stealing Lemar's and Sandman's project I think he is just talking about it. We all know this is there baby.

Posted by: urban ed | March 15, 2008 12:07 PM

The problem in the NH schools isn't lack of curricula, programs, student enthusiasm, or will. Indeed, many schools have kicked off many recycling initiatives only to see them go by the wayside.

Why?

Because the custodians' collective bargaining agreement does not require them to deal with recycling.

Posted by: WestvilleMom | March 15, 2008 6:22 PM

Just a couple of thoughts...if the city makes my garbage can smaller, the sanitation guys will just have torn bags sitting on the curb to pick up. I refuse to cook less so that I will make less refuse. Also, giving financial credit for recyclables is asking for trouble. When I want to get rid of something that has value, I put it out on the curb and it's scooped up by someone in a pick-up truck in less than 24 hours (usually.) Giving credit for junk at the curb will only encourage people to go around in the middle of the night stealing recyclables (duh). .......Final thought----less micro-management, more freedom. Lessen the effort required to recycle at the users' end. Make it easier and people will be more willing to comply. I've already had piles of cardboard "rejected" because they weren't tied up in just the proper fashion (along with the insulting day-glo orange sticker)--cutting off your nose to spite your face, if you ask me. Micro-management by the apparatchiks (see Sheridan School Skittles story) creates only self-defeating, wheel-spinning, bureaucratic busy work (see most of New Haven.) Oh, and if I might add a touch of irony by discussing aesthetics in a forum on the subject of garbage: cobalt blue boxes and/or garbage cans don't make the most attractive addition to a garden (for people who are avid gardeners.) Other municipalities and states use dark green, dark brown, and even black. I've complained to the city about this and wasted my breath on a couple of occasions. SOME cities actually care about curb appeal and backyard gardeners.

Posted by: cedarhillresident | March 16, 2008 10:32 AM

WestvilleMom

With ya on the BLUE MONSTER BINS. We were horrified when we saw the color. I even called to see if we could paint them....which was a no on that.

Rob...
Why Bright Blue???? Does anyone know who and why we picked this color???

sorry off the topic but I started laughing at her comment because it is so true.

Posted by: robn | March 16, 2008 11:35 AM

ned,

The likelyhood of people carrying trash 50 feet and putting it in their neighbors trash bins is inversely proportional to the likelehood of that persons laziness.

Anyway, we shouldn't judge households by weight, judge by the ratio of recyclables to trash. There MUST be some median ratio for this and if you make it a broad range, you'll get the gross offenders (non-recyclers) and you won't punish statistically anomolous households who's consumer habits tend less towards plastic, glass and paper waste.

Posted by: cedarhillresident | March 16, 2008 4:15 PM

robn
is right about the weight and ratio. Because some family's may have 6 people living in the same SQ FT as some may have 2 or 3.
I do think that once we have a larger Recycle bin we will see an increase in recycling.

I do have a question about separating. Right now that is my personal down fall. Sometimes I may through something in the trash because of the whole separating thing. With these larger bins how will that work???

Posted by: JSJ | March 16, 2008 8:56 PM

I'm guessing that the bins are bright blue for better visibility- so that cars won't run them over after they've been emptied and haphazardly tossed along the side of the road.

Posted by: WestvilleMom | March 17, 2008 12:41 AM

JSJ--Wish I shared your trust in New Haven's decision-making logic. Example: One year some Westville streets were suddenly paved because the city got an unexpected deal on some really cheap asphalt. Then the utilities came in and dug up (ruined) these beautiful streets to run new lines. Total waste of money. My guess is that the blue bins were just cheaper than the other colors because nobody else wanted them...and not much thought went into it at all. But your point about them being tossed into the street is apt. Now if I could just get the guys to stop putting my garbage can in my driveway after it's been emptied......oh well, at least their large size and wheels have been a huge improvement in the quality of life at our house.

Posted by: Jacki | March 17, 2008 10:11 AM

Maybe if the kids are taught recycling in school, they will stop tipping over the recycle bins in my neighborhood. I take my recyclables to work. Yale has a great recycle plan. Maybe New Haven should look into the Yale plan?

Posted by: In the hood | March 17, 2008 10:16 AM

Progress:
I noticed for the first time that the trash bins are now being placed neatly back on the curb.

Regress:
In my neighborhood it seems that the city street are being used as recycle bins. My family pick up trash at least 2-times daily in front of our home.

Often neighbors go around and pick up trash on curb sides and streets.

Smuts, you should consider a policy (enforced) that fines homeowners for allowing trash to pile up in front of homes. Maybe, the homeowners will hold themselves and their tenants more accountable for a cleaner environment.

We know it can be done. Monterey Place, formerly the Ashmun Street housing projects rarely if ever has trash all over the the neighborhood.

Posted by: MaryRose | March 17, 2008 11:24 AM

I am a frequent visitor to England and have seen the wheely-bins (as they are called there)for years. I have never seen an acid blue one parked curbside anywhere on the entire island, including Scotland and Wales. Why would this be true? Because, aesthetically speakiing, they are butt-ugly. In the pursuit of uniformity we have foregone style when it is not necessary to ignore it, or thumb our collective noses at it. This may be a non-starter for a lot of people, but there are those of us who care about our surroundings and think New Haven is a beautiful city worthy of respect. Why ever else would we live here and pay these atrocious taxes? Next we'll have ones that have public service announcements on them or the Mayor's likeness to contemplate out our window into the back garden.

Posted by: Ned | March 17, 2008 11:34 AM

Does anyone else think that the real agenda regarding the sudden interest in recycling has to do with grabbing more money from taxpayers?
"studying ways to push New Haveners [around]" Don't you love it? Hasn't the government already perfected "pushing" people around? (please note the Yale connections).
You'd think the mafia was running the garbage disposal business...

Posted by: observer | March 17, 2008 1:23 PM

On the color --

When the bins first were delivered several years ago, I called Public Works to complain about 1) the size (way too big for my small household, small house, small garage, and small yard), and 2) the atrocious color.

A helpful man calmed me down by offering a smaller size (which they did substitute a few weeks later), and he explained the color (also helpfully, but not satisfyingly) by saying they chose it because (are you ready for this?) -- Yale is in New Haven, and they thought Yale Blue would be nice.

True story.

Posted by: cedarhillresident | March 17, 2008 2:10 PM

observer

I freaken' knew it!! And yes I do believe it.

Posted by: nfjanette | March 17, 2008 5:15 PM

No offense to the esthetic concerns expressed, but we should worry about increasing recycling compliance first, and then the fashion designers can debate this season's best color palette for the bins. Keep the current large bins for the trash and add similar units (in two optional sizes, medium large - with lids - yes!) for recycling; almost every week we have to leave paper bags with overflow cans/bottles/paper on the ground that get wet from weather and fall apart or get blown from wind, etc. It's low hanging fruit to address such reported problems from residents trying to use the program.

Posted by: Kyle Dugdale | March 18, 2008 2:02 PM

NFJanette,
I am not sure that these two issues - color and compliance - are unrelated. Make a proposal attractive (in every sense) and it may be more readily accepted. My front yard is tiny; its most outstanding feature, especially around this time of year, is a large bright blue bin.

Posted by: Bill Saunders | March 18, 2008 5:24 PM

How 'bout some recycling oriented receptacles in public spaces, aside, or as part of the current public trash cans. Before the city starts tagging and classifying our trash, it needs to show a true public committment.

When I was in Berlin a few years ago, I was surprised at the microscopic household garbage cans, with special sections for glass, plastic, and cardboard. The public garbage containers were much larger, but similar in design. (Leave it to those efficient Germans).

Of course, Europe is much more conscious of using 'eco-friendly' packaging than us wasteful slobs. Here, the amount of junk mail that comes through an average household's mail slot would quickly fill such a receptacle.

In the 'think big' department, I say Tax those high-volume corporate solicitors to the point that mass mailings become financially unfeasible. (a 'no call' list for the mail system?) The only thing worse than dealing with your own trash, is dealing with someone else's.

Aside from the benefits to "Garbage Control"'s spiralling costs, the person that might thank you most is your postman.

Posted by: Deuce | March 19, 2008 12:29 PM

The large bins for garbage are adequate to contain the garbage of a family of four. That has been an improvement on garbage disposal throughout the city. The recycle bins should be made larger, as they overflow often. And yes, the Yale-Blue color does indeed suck, but it sure beats seeing beat-up overflowing garbage cans and litter spilled on the streets.

Posted by: cedarhillresident | March 19, 2008 3:14 PM

Bill
I am laughing, every day my mail man at work gives me an amazing stack of mail.Most of goes straight to the pail. Why do these company's think this is a marketing technique. I is a bother. I know last session there was a bill for ESTABLISHING A RESTRICTED MAILING REGISTRY in 2007 but I think it died and no one took it up again

Posted by: Bill Saunders | March 19, 2008 5:44 PM

Cedarhill,

Something happened at the beginning of the year to seriously lessen the amount of junk emails I recieve. Have no idea what legislation was passed, but it was certainly something, since nothing happens in a vacuum.

So, maybe Bob Smuts will read these posts, paraphrase the rhetoric, and tell Don John to take the junk mail battle up to Hartford, where the benefits will be felt for all state residents and city budgets.

Government needs to stop pointing its fingers down at the general populace, and force feeding us junk solutions, and instead, deal with the major sources of the Garbage State. Unfortunately I am sure garbage has a stronger lobby than the everyman.

There is an interesting discussion between two garbage engineers in Don Delillo's novel, "Underworld", that goes something like this:

Garbage Engineer #1 - "You know, I took this job four years ago .......and now I find that everything I see is garbage."

GE#2 - "You see it everywhere, because it is everywhere".

GE#1 - "But I didn't see it before."

GE#2 - "Your enlightened now, be grateful."

Posted by: cedarhillresident | March 19, 2008 8:21 PM

The email is something my man Richard Blumenthal has been fighting for years. I love when I get the Viagra ones.

here are some tips at this site for junk mail.
http://www.ecocycle.org/junkmail/index.cfm

I have reduced mine a great deal at home. I have called company's and asked them to take me off there lists and surprisingly they do.

Great quote bill.
I myself am a dumbster diver at times sooo I see garbage as my own personal WalMart.....ok ok not Walmart maybe goodwill :) one man garbage is another mans treasure.

Posted by: Ned | March 21, 2008 8:56 AM

How many times do people have to be reminded that it's all about the money??? Trash Hauler Gets 15 Months In Price Conspiracy The only thing the city apparently is interested in doing is screwing taxpayers out of more money.