Solid Waste Changes in Tacoma
Do you recycle your food scraps yet?
The News Tribune this week ran an article about the possibility of Tacoma going to a twice-monthly garbage pick-up schedule along with the introduction of its new food waste recycling program.
This seems like a good potential cost-cutting, energy-saving, recycling-encouraging move for the City, but are there some hidden problems with the scenario? The TNT article includes gross-out stories of maggots (fixable) and mice (not proven to be connected) that reportedly plagued some participants in the pilot bi-weekly and food scrap recycling program.
Does anyone care one way or the other about bi-weekly garbage pick-up? Are you quaking in your boots at the thought of rampant vermin infestation as we all start recycling our food waste?
The City of Tacoma has a list of tips and suggestions for the new food waste containers at: www.cityoftacoma.org/foodwaste. What are your tips for food waste recycling in your household?
Read the full Tacoma News Tribune story.
Filed under: green-tacoma
13 comments
C Catherine Oleson May 1, 2012
The new bi-weekly pick-up is an appalling idea. Meat scraps, especially, meat and seafood, stink as they deteriorate. Vegetables turn into nasty slime. You can’t store those items for 2 weeks in your refrigerator or a cooler, much less in an unrefrigerated container outside. The aging food will undoubtedly attract vagrants looking for scraps, as well as dogs, raccoons, rats, mice, flies, and maggots. The vagrants, dogs, and raccoons can be expected to leave garbage strewn everywhere. This is NOT hard to understand or figure out; it’s basic sanitation. We are abandoning basic health standards with this newplan.
It’s cheaper? Than what?
A Altered Chords May 2, 2012
I have a very minor ant issue already. The stinky brown container filled w/ stinky old food looks like a wonderful ant magnet to me. I am now motivated to purchase an in sink garbage disposal. (*legal disclaimer – this has nothing to do w/ the musical group InSync or the fact that their music is garabage)
T tacoma_1 May 2, 2012
I didn’t know that rats could lift the lids of trash containers.
I guess u learn something every day on blogs.
A Altered Chords May 2, 2012
Garbage
It does not smell good.
I hate it.
A Taiku by Altered Chords.
J Jayhawk May 3, 2012
I threw my food waste container straight into the garbage…yes, not recycling. The garbage.
C Christine May 3, 2012
Jayhawk go get that out of the garbage right now! It would make the cutest little tote for someone, just sand off the words and Tah-Dah! A gift for someone. It could be awesome.
J jd May 3, 2012
Here’s a crazy thought people…let’s give this program a chance. All the complaints I’ve heard so far are anecdotal and border on the ridiculous. A whole lot of “what-if…”, and “my neighbors friends cousin says…”. I can’t really see a future, where packs of garbage-sifting vagrants roam the streets looking for delectible morsels in our recycling bins, nor the aforementioned manually dexterous canines leaving mounds of lettuce leaves and egg shells in their wake.
We’ve been putting vegetative kitchen waste in our yard waste container for years, and have learned only one thing during this time: kids, opossums, and racoons (and vagrants) all have one thing in common. They don’t like vegetables. That obviously has to be the reason that we haven’t had one single episode of kitchen scrap theft in years.
We also keep our compostable kitchen scraps in a bowl on the kitchen counter for days at a time. Been doing it for years now, with no foul odors.
In case you’re curious, yes, our yard waste gets picked up every two weeks. And the thing that actually stinks? The grass clippings after a while. Good God people! Where are are you keeping your cans? In your living rooms? Try a different location if where they are now doesn’t work for you.
T talus May 3, 2012
Jayhawk, you sound so cool and rebellious and intelligent! And constructive!!
I don’t expect any problems with biweekly pick-up.
J jd May 3, 2012
We’ve had two large yard waste containers, one slightly smaller recycling bin, and one small garbage can for about ten years now. Our garbage can is rarely full after a week, but we’ll be getting the next size up with the start of the new program.
The City Dump (ours, not the one that JP was the mayor of) is expected to reach capacity this year, and people are still bitching about recycling. Maybe when our bills start to go up because our garbage is getting hauled out to Orting or Eatonvile or wherever it’s going to be taken, people will make a little extra effort.
Recycling only takes a little longer, it’s easy, and it doesn’t stink. Quit throwing recyclable, or reusable stuff in the garbage. It’s lazy, selfish, and in the case of some people (who do it to try to sound like a badass), just plain stupid.
A Altered-Chords May 3, 2012
When I scrape my food waste into the brown bucket, My dog Pepper gives me a funny look with his head cocked to one side and his ears straight up as if to say “I’ve been replaced by a dumb brown bucket? Seriously? You think that dumb bucket is going to bark at a burglar in the middle of the night? I don’t think so.”
J Jim C May 3, 2012
A serious comment: the biweekly trash collection proposal is completely forgetting the many apartment/condo residents of the city that don’t have yards to keep our trash/recycle bins in. Mine live in my garage. There is no way in h$!! I’m going to start a compost INSIDE my living space. I don’t even have a big brown bin since I have no yard and no yard waste, the brown bucket is useless to me. Please consider your high-density-housing residents, City of Tacoma, before reducing the trash collection schedule.
J jd May 4, 2012
I’d read somewhere that this program is only for residential households, and that apt/condos aren’t being changed.
T tacoma_1 May 4, 2012
This an optional program. No one is saying that you have to use it. If keeping food wastes in the yardwaste container for two weeks is to odiferous for you, then just put it in the yardwaste one week and the garbage the next week. That way it will still be picked up every week.
Personally, I think that by recycling my food wastes, that I should be able to lower my trash volume down enough to be able to use a smaller can, and then end up saving money here.