New recycling bins
Our neighbourhood received the new recycling bins yesterday. Pretty huge, eh?
We opted of the standard "large" size. Could have gone for the smallest "medium" size, but were worried that it would be too small at certain times.
Fortunately, we have a big enough front porch where we can store this thing, along with our green bin.
However, these huge bins are becoming more of a problem for people with smaller front porches/yards, no laneway access, etc.
Here's an email that was forwarded to the DIGIN mailing list from a South Perth/Sterling resident:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/diggingin/message/5973
In addition to the green bin, and "huge" blue bin, we will also be required to store garbage bins soon as well. Fortunately for us, the smallest size garbage bin is actually pretty reasonable, and we can also keep it in the garage because our garbage is picked up in the laneway. Not so lucky for others.
What are your own experiences and opinions about this?
Cheers,
vic
Robotic arms
Interesting. I haven't seen the robotic arms in action yet. I've always had my doubts with those, especially around parked cars etc.
The truck that did Symington this morning didn't have a robotic arm. Just a lifter/shaker on the back. A person had to drag the bin over to the truck and put in in place for the lifter to do its thing.....then the person put the bin back where it belongs.
I wonder if they will continue to use this system (no robotic arms) in our neighbourhood, because I doubt they will be able to manouver around parked cars and other obstacles.
You're ablsolutely right that the plastics industry has benefitted the most from this! :)
Cheers,
Vic
New Blue Bins
Well,
I live on Perth, and while not able to see the pick-up in action on my street, I was able to see the chaos that was left behind as I drove along Caledonia on my way to work.
According to the City's FAQ page, the robotic arm will set the bin back exactly as it was found.
Um.....no it doesn't.
There was not one bin standing upright after it was emptied, and as I came to a stop at Eglinton, and saw the truck, now I know why.
This robotic arm had about as much dexterity as a baby trying to use a spoon for the first time. It was clunky and jerky, and by the look of horror on those waiting at the bus stop, not safe to be standing near.
The city claims that all of this is a way to decrease the amount of landfill, but honestly, once you are already recycling as much as your household can, the box that it goes into on the curb isn't going to increase that.
Would it not make more sense to take that 60 million and invest it in altering our recycling facilities to accept more items such as packaging from meat, salad, vegetables etc?
Today's recycling pickup
I watched the recycling truck pick up a few loads along the east side of Symington this morning. There are no parked cars there (except for the odd illegally parked / sidewalk parked motorist), so the pickup actually looked really easy and efficient. Didn't seem any faster or slower than before, though I can't say I've ever actually studied the timing.
Coming back along our side of Symington, the truck stopped up the street for a while with a City of Toronto pickup behind it. Maybe there was some kind of mechanical problem.... so I didn't get to see in person how the pickup worked infront of my own house, and between parked cars. Though during the day, there are many openings between the cars for the recycling collectors to get through. If we get a really snowy winter again, this may become more of a challenge.
One of my neighbours got the biggest sized recycling bin and apparently it's not big enough! I was kind of surprised at that, since our "large" bin was less than half-full. I noticed a few other neighbours bins were over-loaded as well.
I liked the fact that on such a windy morning, there was no paper/etc. flying around all over the street. It's definitely a tidier way to collect.
I think there will be some kinks to work out, but it seems that on Symington it will work out for the best. I think some of the south Perth and Sterling residents will have a tougher time with space though. Hopefully something can be worked out for them.
On a related note..... does anyone know *why* the recycling is picked up from the street, and garbage picked up via the laneway??
Cheers,
Vic
Blue Bins
Hi there,
Im on Perth, south of Bloor. Before receiving the bins I had called the City in regards to the size of the bin. My lane is 2ft wide, the porch isn't very big. The City sent an offical over to our place. After measuring the lane and looking at the porch, he had concluded that we should receive TWO Medium bins. The medium bins would fit thru our side lane. He also mentioned we would receive one medium bin 1st and the second would come later on in the year once everyone in the city recived their bins.
The bin came and unfortunately it was large. I called the city on it. They were not sure when I would receive a medium size bin. They only told me it would later on in the year.
Very dissappointed as to how they handled this, especially sending over an inspector of some type on rate payers dollars. The bin company must be making a killing on this contract from the City.
Ran
Laneway / street pickup
Yesterday we got a notice in our mailbox from the City saying that effective immediately, ALL garbage and recycling will be picked up in the laneway.
This is certainly a welcome change from the alternating "Recycling on the street / garbage in the lane" schedule. Can keep all the bins together in the garage / backyard now too, rather than on the front porch.