Residents of San Francisco who fail to separate food scraps from general waste “would face fines of up to $1,000 and eventually could have their garbage service stopped”. Many other cities and jurisdictions in the U.S. have made recycling mandatory as to other waste categories, but apparently none has done so with food waste. (John Coté, “S.F. mayor proposes fines for unsorted trash”, San Francisco Chronicle, Aug. 1)(via Ed Morrissey).
11 Comments
SF will probably start having problems with lack of capacity in their sewage system as more and more people install garbage disposals.
It’s absolutely mind-boggling to see the nanny state ideas some of these socialists come up with.
I do not sort my garbage for any city, and any city that requires it gets a garbage can filled up with water to deal with.
I could be wrong, but I thought that as soon as trash bins are put out on the street they become public (meaning a cop doesn’t need a warrant to go through your trash cans). What’s to keep a jogger from tossing an empty water bottle in a bin as they run by (as I have done before)? The thought of having to create a chain of ownership of one’s refuse seems like it might not be worth the effort.
while i agree the city enforcement angle is a joke, the garbage companies should be assesing any penalties. It costs $26 for a black 32 gal container, and an equal size “blue” (and “green”) contanier, mandated by the city. for $5 you can get another 32 gal “blue” recyled bin. some/many use both for pure trash, most of the “recycled” needs to be recycled again, maybe a little less thats why the whole recycling thing is a joke. The garbage company is complaining and they are right. now the pressure is on pretty boy newsome and the board of supervisors they found a perfect way to enforce their stupid mandate, that the garbage company would have done anyhow. I guess i will have to wait until I see the truck, bring out my stuff, lest some nitwit cost me $1000. Solzhenitsyn you are already missed dearly.
Well, one more reason to toss on the pile not to move to SF. It’s quite a large reason, really, but the pile is already so big that the change is impreceptible.
During the Carter administration, I started to get into the whole recycling/environmental/alternative energy thing. One thing I learned about composting: you can’t compost everything. Meat, fat and grease do not compost well, and will mess up a compost heap. A compost heap has to have a mix of organic material (non-meat food scraps, leaves, grass clippings, etc), manure, and dirt to function optimally. So does Mayor Noisome expect people to separate out compostable/nocompostable food types? Or does everybody in SF only eat vegetarian?
How will people in small houses without back yards or people in apartments compost? And whay will they do when the rats discover this new source of food?
Maybe they are supposed to set up compost bins inside the house…
And what about the flies that accumulate? How about the SMELL? (Some smell really bad.)
thank god i’m leaving for good at the end of the month.
“Or does everybody in SF only eat vegetarian?” Yes. This fact, in addition to the fact that they are all very enlightened and tolerant is the true explanation of why San Francican’s waste products do not stink.
Seriously, most of the “recycled” stuff in my city (to remain nameless to protect the guilty) goes right back into the landfill after many man-hours of sorting at a transfer facility. The recycling bins are bigger than the trash cans, for crying out loud, and anything and everything can be found in it.
But, the point is, it makes everyone feel very smug and self-satisfied. If it can raise the self-esteem of one resident alone, it is worth it. Please, someone think of the hippies! Somebody’s gotta, and it ain’t gonna be me.