Calgary recycles

[You Need A Thneed]

Originally Posted by lubicon

We had our first pickup on Thursday. Not sure if it was due to extremely heavy volumes filling up the trucks, but they didn't pick mine up until well into the evening. Hopefully this is not going to be an ongoing trend as the bins end up out on the street well into the evening.

For the first pickup, everyone has jam packed their bin full of stuff, the trucks get full. When volumes level off, pickup will go much quicker, as everyone won't fill their bin every week.

[Stang]

Originally Posted by lubicon

We had our first pickup on Thursday. Not sure if it was due to extremely heavy volumes filling up the trucks, but they didn't pick mine up until well into the evening. Hopefully this is not going to be an ongoing trend as the bins end up out on the street well into the evening.

I must have lucked-out as my bin was getting emptied when I pulled out of my garage at 7:15, which is roughly when the garbage trucks normally come anyway. I believe we both live in Tuscany.

I think that you're right about the added volume making it a more lengthy process. My bin was completely full after 3 or 4 weeks of stocking it.

I also saw one of the workers putting a "notice" on one of my neighbours bins. I was driving and didn't see what the rest of it said, but I can only assume that it was a friendly reminder about the placement of the bin (maybe it was too close to an obstruction, etc.). The process should get more efficient once everyone has gotten used to it.

Anyone from other communities (SE and SW) notice their pick-up dragging on until late in the day or is this something that gets speedier after a a few weeks?

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by lubicon

Some initial thoughts so far:
1. they need to look at what times they do the pickups in certain areas (ie around schools) and adjust the schedules. The wife said that on the first pickup day, they were going down the street in front of our school doing the pickups (there are houses across the street from the school). It is a narrow road at best and when you factor in school busses parked on the road, parents dropping off their kids, and a big truck trying to pick up recycling bins it just didn't work. They need to wait until school is in session before doing these types of streets.

Don't they just pick up at the same time garbage comes? How do you deal with that?

2. one big drawback to front street pickup in new subdivisions is that there is practically no room to park on street when the bins are out. There is almost no room to start with due to narrow lots and driveways, but add in a street full of bins and there is no room at all.

Is this because the bins need room around them or something? I just leave mine in front of my driveway, to one side, and it works just fine. I assume you're talking front drive style houses here. Not sure how the bins make this worse than garbage, unless you mean people are stupid enough to not put them in front of their driveways, instead taking up those tiny strips of green in between (if you even have one).

[lubicon]

Originally Posted by freeweed

Don't they just pick up at the same time garbage comes? How do you deal with that?



Is this because the bins need room around them or something? I just leave mine in front of my driveway, to one side, and it works just fine. I assume you're talking front drive style houses here. Not sure how the bins make this worse than garbage, unless you mean people are stupid enough to not put them in front of their driveways, instead taking up those tiny strips of green in between (if you even have one).

Your point #1.
Not sure about that as I wasn't there. But they were trying to pick up the recycling at the same time as the road was full of school busses, and cars dropping off students. Not a good idea IMHO. I'm sure it is a one time thing, or I certainly hope it is, but our garbage was picked up at 7:30 AM and the recycling was picked up approx 12 hours later.

Your point #2:
Yes, I am talking about front drive style homes. The parking spaces in front of each home (I'm talking about grass, not parking in front of your driveway) are big enough to fit 1 vehicle max. Put 2 recycling bins (one at each end) on the street and most people won't be able to park in between them. People generally put their garbage bags on their lawns, not the road so they don't take up any space. The blue bins have to go on the street. People won't put them in front of their own driveways as you would block your own way out of your garage.

[Stang]

Originally Posted by lubicon

Your point #1.
Not sure about that as I wasn't there. But they were trying to pick up the recycling at the same time as the road was full of school busses, and cars dropping off students. Not a good idea IMHO. I'm sure it is a one time thing, or I certainly hope it is, but our garbage was picked up at 7:30 AM and the recycling was picked up approx 12 hours later.

I saw the recycling truck twice coincidentally: once last Tuesday in Rocky Ridge, and once last Thursday in Tuscany. Both times it was on its own.

Strangely, the time I saw it in Tuscany it was very early in the morning around the same time as my usual garbage pickup (was actually before the garbage got picked up), and in Rocky Ridge it was around 2 PM or something and the garbage had already been picked up.

My guess is that they run independently from one another. Maybe this will change as the recycling gets more efficient, or maybe it is just better to run separately as they are technically separate processes.

On a similar note - does anyone know how it works in Huntington and Citadel (?) where they have the grey bins for garbage too? Is there a truck that does both (separate containers or something) or a separate truck that comes around for each type of bin?

[Danma]

We just our bins here in Coventry Hills. We've nearly filled it up as we have weeks of recycle waiting around anyways. Today is garbage day; wonder how many people put their bins out expecting pickup?

[mersar]

Heres an interesting (and long needed) program the city is launching:

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CITYSOURCE - CITY OF CALGARY NEWS SOURCE
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Calgary – Calgarians now have Blue Cart recycling at home, but what about recycling away from home?

In partnership with The Alberta Beverage Container Recycling Corporation (ABCRC), and some local Calgary community groups, The City of Calgary Parks is providing Calgarians an opportunity to recycle beverage containers in public places. The ABCRC is a provincially incorporated not-for-profit corporation whose mandate is to operate a common collection and recycling system for beverage containers.

Through ABCRC’s Community Champions program, The City received 50 blue beverage container recycling bins, which will be placed in local parks. They will be accessible year round, strategically placed next to garbage bins. Participating community groups will ensure the bins are emptied regularly and will deliver the beverage containers to a recycling centre and keep the proceeds. Community groups will also track the volume of recyclable beverage containers collected.

Parks will also maintain some of the bins, with recycled containers taken to the Vocational Rehabilitation and Research Institute (VRRI). The VRRI is a non-profit, registered charity that has been serving the needs of people with disabilities and the community since 1969. The VRRI operates a non-profit bottle depot and employs Calgarians with disabilities.

Maggie Thompson, Parks Centre Division Superintendent stated: “Our parks are popular locations for picnics and other recreational activities that often include bringing water, juice and pop containers which would otherwise end up in the garbage. This partnership with ABCRC will help keep our parks
clean and divert returnable bottles and cans from going to the landfill while also supporting community groups.” This initiative is a pilot project.

Some of the community groups partnering in this program include the communities of: Braeside, South Calgary, Willow Park, Palliser/Bayview/Pumpill, Oakridge and Millrise community associations. Local scout troops are also maintaining bins in North Haven and at the Valleyview Spray Park.

Source

[DizzyEdge]

One thing I've noticed, is on my block in Mount Pleasant, almost everyone's garbage and blue bins are parked by the alley in the same spot all the time. I know for me I could easly go 2-3 weeks without a pickup before my bins were full... I'm concerned that every week the truck is coming by and emptying almost empty bins which is a huge waste of time/effort.

[Stang]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

One thing I've noticed, is on my block in Mount Pleasant, almost everyone's garbage and blue bins are parked by the alley in the same spot all the time. I know for me I could easly go 2-3 weeks without a pickup before my bins were full... I'm concerned that every week the truck is coming by and emptying almost empty bins which is a huge waste of time/effort.

I have noticed that too. I have started leaving mine out bi-weekly as it seems that I can probably fit up to 3 weeks of recycling in there if I had to. I keep mine away from the alley when I don't want/need it to be picked up, but it seems that others nearby have found permanent homes in the alley.

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by Stang

I have noticed that too. I have started leaving mine out bi-weekly as it seems that I can probably fit up to 3 weeks of recycling in there if I had to. I keep mine away from the alley when I don't want/need it to be picked up, but it seems that others nearby have found permanent homes in the alley.

They need to include plastic flags like country mailboxes to alert that it should be dumped

[Stang]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

They need to include plastic flags like country mailboxes to alert that it should be dumped

Timely article, based on our discussion:

http://www.660news.com/news/local/more.jsp?content=20090713_100021_10016

I would be in favour of bi-weekly pick-up. I often find that I don't even have a full bag of garbage each week, and the recycling bins obviously take more than a week to fill.

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by Stang

Timely article, based on our discussion:

http://www.660news.com/news/local/more.jsp?content=20090713_100021_10016

I would be in favour of bi-weekly pick-up. I often find that I don't even have a full bag of garbage each week, and the recycling bins obviously take more than a week to fill.

I'm a bit torn about that.. if you have a family of 5 or 6 you may need the weekly pickup.. but maybe not

[Stang]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

I'm a bit torn about that.. if you have a family of 5 or 6 you may need the weekly pickup.. but maybe not

True enough. I speak from the perspective of a two-person household. Throw a few kids into the mix and I can imagine that there will be a little more to pick up.

[lubicon]

I was jsut talking about this with some friends yesterday as well. Bi-weekly pickup, at least for the recycling would seem to work well for most people. As it is we only put our bin out every few weeks yet we are paying for weekly pickup. The City could probably save some $$$ by moving to bi-weekly.

[DizzyEdge]

just put a barcode on each bin, and get charged $2 each time it's picked up (for recycling anyway).. if it's not at least 1/2 full, then don't put it out

[lubicon]

I was a little disappointed to discover that Calgary's recycling program does not cover styrofoam, not even the food packaging type that is marked with the recycling symbol. Up until now we have been putting this stuff in the recycling bins based on the fact that the packages were marked with the recycling symbol. However my wife was at one of the community recycling depots the other day and discovered that apparently they do not accept this type of material. On the radio this morning they did a story on the fact that Cochrane now accepts this type of material as they have purchased some sort of shredder / compactor to process it. So now we have a small town that CAN accept styrofoam and a city of 1 million plus, with a brand new recycling program, that CANNOT.

Not impressed.

[mersar]

Yeah, we've been trying to figure out a way to handle it for a while now. The town bought a compactor which can compress it to something like 10% its original volume and the bigger part, actually found someone who wants to buy it. Thats the biggest issue that prevents a lot of places from recycling it, there is very little market for it.

[mooky]

I will give them a big thumbs up for allowing my condo-dwelling ass the ability to finally recycle plastics at the community drop center! That's going to cut down my garbage output immensely.

I also like just pitching everything into one large bin, though I would have still happily separated it myself, had they just added a bin for plastic.

[lubicon]

Noticed an elderly lady going through all the blue bins yesterday morning as they sat on the street. This is in Tuscany so I doubt it was a homeless person (but I guess you never know). I was kind of torn between feeling sorry for her, and telling her to quit going through what is not hers.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by lubicon

This is in Tuscany so I doubt it was a homeless person (but I guess you never know).

As the C-train pushes further and further out, I wouldn't be surprised if it was. The number of shall we say "out of place" types at Crowfoot is amazing. I don't know if it's intentional or if they just pass out on the train, or what... CPS has had to escort at least a couple of people in the past week alone.