Calgary recycles

[Me&You]

Originally Posted by freeweed

Time vs money. My friends think I'm insane that I don't store up all sorts of crap in my garage, and take a run down to the ever-nice smelling bottle depots, all for a few dollars. I'll gladly "throw out" a few bucks a month just to avoid that hassle. And yes, it works out to much less than $10/month in my household - we're not chronic pop or beer drinkers.

Quite frankly adding a bottle levy now that we have curbside recycling (that we pay for!) is completely disgusting. The levies worked wonderfully when there was no other option other than throwing them out, but really, there's no excuse not to recycle now, so what the hell is the point of a levy?

I suspect a lot of people will be like me, and just toss it in the blue bin anyway. And the city (or whoever is charging this levy) will reap the profits. For absolutely no reason at all.

That was how I felt as well. Like you, I don't see enough benefit in taking my recycling in, so I just leave it in the alley for the local 'pickers' to take... seems to work better for everyone.

I just think it's a little annoying that this easy-to-use curb side program finally arrives, only to have even more fees that undermine it's utilization.

[You Need A Thneed]

Before, there was a 10 cent non refundable levy on milk jugs, now it is a 25 cent refundable levy. For some yes, that will be annoying, but for many people, they will save a few more cents under this new plan.

it would be nice just to be able to throw them in the blue bin with the rest of the stuff though. Now that we have blue bins, it would be nice to get rid of the deposits altogether, and just throw the bottles in the blue bin too. That would make all of the recycling so easy.

The only drawback that I can think of is that bottle deposits are a good way to "provide" for the monetary needs of the less fortunate who at least try to provide for themselves by picking bottles.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by mersar

The deposits for the milk containers are provincially managed, same as the current system for pop/juice/beer. Though the city will probably reap the profits anyways, from what I'd heard they've been separately sorting all the containers that currently have a deposit on them and those are processed separately and sent back to the ABCRC.

Interesting. It would be nice for the city to step up and re-direct all refunds from those bottles to a charity or something. Akin to the bottle drives that most of my refundables have gone to until now.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by You Need A Thneed

Before, there was a 10 cent non refundable levy on milk jugs, now it is a 25 cent refundable levy. For some yes, that will be annoying, but for many people, they will save a few more cents under this new plan.

To be pendantic, this won't "save" anyone a thing. It will cost a lazy person like me an extra 15 cents, but for people who go to the bottle depot, all they're getting back is the extra 15 cents they already paid at the checkout.

I do agree with comments about bottle pickers though - I've also been wanting bottle slots on all Calgary garbage cans ever since seeing that in action in Vancouver.

[frinkprof]

Originally Posted by freeweed

To be pendantic, this won't "save" anyone a thing. It will cost a lazy person like me an extra 15 cents, but for people who go to the bottle depot, all they're getting back is the extra 15 cents they already paid at the checkout.

I do agree with comments about bottle pickers though - I've also been wanting bottle slots on all Calgary garbage cans ever since seeing that in action in Vancouver.

Agreed with this, and your earlier comments about not wanting to go to the bottle depot. Spend a good part of your Saturday every few months, lose a good chunk of storage space in a basement or garage (for those that have either of these), only to get back less than $20? Fuck that.

Give me a convenient place to "throw out" my empties one or two at a time and everyone wins. I don't have to keep it in my residence, I don't have to take the trip to the bottle depot, and either the City, a charity, or Joe bottlepicker gets an extra nickel, and the tin/bottle still gets recycled.

[You Need A Thneed]

Originally Posted by freeweed

To be pendantic, this won't "save" anyone a thing. It will cost a lazy person like me an extra 15 cents, but for people who go to the bottle depot, all they're getting back is the extra 15 cents they already paid at the checkout.

I could be wrong, but that's not the way I read it. The way I read it, there used to be a unrefundable 10 cent levy, which is now being replaced with a fully refundable 25 cent deposit. Meaning that, for people who take their bottles back anyway, a jug of milk is now 10 cents cheaper in the end.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by You Need A Thneed

I could be wrong, but that's not the way I read it. The way I read it, there used to be a unrefundable 10 cent levy, which is now being replaced with a fully refundable 25 cent deposit. Meaning that, for people who take their bottles back anyway, a jug of milk is now 10 cents cheaper in the end.

Oh.

A non-refundable levy is just so retarded I never thought about it.

[DizzyEdge]

I'm the same way, I'll probably just throw my bottles into my blue bin now rather than do the $5-10 month drive to the depot. That said though, I don't mind there still being a deposit on bottles, as multifamilies dont have blue bins, and the city's cart pushers pretty much have a full time job recycling the bottles people throw away, and I think keeping that incentive is just fine.

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by freeweed

To be pendantic, this won't "save" anyone a thing. It will cost a lazy person like me an extra 15 cents, but for people who go to the bottle depot, all they're getting back is the extra 15 cents they already paid at the checkout.

I do agree with comments about bottle pickers though - I've also been wanting bottle slots on all Calgary garbage cans ever since seeing that in action in Vancouver.

At least there's some garbage cans which have a flat surface encircling the hole, I tend to prop bottles on that.

Is this what you were talking about re: Vancouver?

[freeweed]

Bingo. Took me about 5 seconds to clue in the first time I saw one, and then immediately thought "Genius!!".

[freeweed]

Hey gang, what's up with this one neighbourhood in Calgary (Citadel) all having "grey bins"? They're exactly like the blue bins but for regular garbage.

Is this some sort of pilot program?

[mersar]

Originally Posted by freeweed

Hey gang, what's up with this one neighbourhood in Calgary (Citadel) all having "grey bins"? They're exactly like the blue bins but for regular garbage.

Is this some sort of pilot program?

Yep, see the article in the Citadel Link from last fall.

[Stang]

Originally Posted by mersar

Yep, see the article in the Citadel Link from last fall.

I saw the same thing in Huntington Hills a week or so ago. I'd love to be able to use a "wheelie bin" for both garbage and recycling. I only ever have a single bag of garbage these days - if that.

[lubicon]

Noticed several bins out on the street this morning (it's garbage day today in Tuscany) although collection does not start until next week.

I am very impressed and surprised by how much our garbage volume has gone down since they brought the carts around. The cart is pretty much full now (we've had it for about 3-4 weeks) but for the second week in a row I am not setting out any garbage as there is not enough to justify it. Our garbage bag is only half full and that is for a family of 4 over a 2 week time frame. That said it looks like most of the neighbors on the street are still putting out as many bags as they always have.

[93JC]

LOLlerskates: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2009/06/04/calgary-recycling-blue-bins.html

Synopsis: "The bins are too blue, people should put them in their garage, they make the neighbourhood look crummy and it's driving down my property values."

[lubicon]

People should put them in their garages or in an enclosure of some sort. There are plenty of houses on my street where people have put them outside, beside their garage and in plain view from the street. My next door enighbor has decided to put theirs out of sight beside their garage. That just happens to be in plain view of my front sidewalk. He doesn't have to look at it but I do every time I enter or leave my house. And from the look of it so far, they are not going to bother using it. I look after the grass etc on that side of their house as it's just a small extension of my yard, but I am definately not going to cut and trim around his bin. (Not) looking forward to seeing how long they go before deciding to move it because it is totally overgrwon with grass and weeds.

[Stang]

Originally Posted by 93JC

Synopsis: "The bins are too blue, people should put them in their garage, they make the neighbourhood look crummy and it's driving down my property values."

Would he like a recycled cheese wrapper with that wine bottle?

I'm getting sick of a) people's complaining and b) the media giving them a soapbox. Surely there are more important issues to worry about?

Having said that, I don't see any particular reason for leaving it out front all week. But I don't think that it is whine-worthy or news-worthy.

[You Need A Thneed]

Give it a couple of weeks for people to figure out where they want to put the bins, and how they want to use them. They will be put away.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by You Need A Thneed

Give it a couple of weeks for people to figure out where they want to put the bins, and how they want to use them. They will be put away.

I dunno, parts of the city that have had collection for weeks now are still leaving bins everywhere.

I gotta say, I agree with that article somewhat - come on people, we're not savages. Most of you own garages.

I don't think it's a total negative to the program though. I'd still rather see blue bins everywhere than not have it at all.

[93JC]

For what it's worth I keep mine next to the back door (I have alley pick-up). I don't have a garage.

Ideally I'd devise some sort of system where I could toss recyclable refuse into a chute and it would end up in the bin, but I'm not quite sure how to go about it without significant modifications to the house's structure...