TRASH TALK: 1+1 = Non(sense)

By A.F. James MacArthur Ph.A.L.

New Waste Plan A Bunch Of Garbage

Mayor Sheila Dixon’s plan of reducing trash pickup to one day a week is ambitious, yet extremely short sighted.  It shows a complete ignorance to the realities faced by many residents of Baltimore.  A direct contradiction to her much touted goal of a cleaner, greener Baltimore.  The implementation will be a complete and utter disaster.  It’s not gonna make us cleaner!

With trash pickup currently twice per week, cans everywhere are filled passed the rim to the point of overflowing (see photos).  The concept is that by also increasing recycling pickup, it will reduce the landfill bound waste.  Think again!  This is Baltimore hon.  It ain’t gonna work.  Illegal dumping is already at a shameful level, you think there will be less of it if pickup is reduced?  Where is the logic here?   Remember I told you so when illegal dumping picks up (pun intended), and the alleyways become even more litter strewn than they are right now.

AN UNFUNDED MANDATE

The city plans to step up enforcement of the law requiring all rubbish be placed into cans with a tight fighting lid versus bags on the sidewalk.   There’s a simple solution;  provide city owned trash cans with ATTACHED lids to every address.  Other cities have, it works well.  Why can’t we do things proven to work elsewhere? 

Baltimore is a city with a large population living at or beneath the poverty level.  Fining people who use only bags, but may literally not be able to afford trash cans is a joke.  How are they supposed to pay the fines if they’re already broke?  Oh I forgot, this city has no compassion for the personal economics of it’s citizens.  The level of punitive fines and liens levied against us is proof enough.

Picture this; I’m dead broke and on public assistance.  Having no car I use public transit.  Somehow I’m able to scrape together funds to buy a can with a lid. Now how do I get it home from the store?  In the hood there aren’t stores in walking distance selling trash cans.  Besides, I can guarantee you, if I were walking down the street toting a trash can, I’d most definitely be harassed by the police feeling they have some sort of probable cause.  Trust me, folks have been stopped and arrested for much less in this city.

Try to boarding an MTA bus with a trash can?  I can see it now, the police and Homeland Security being called out to an evacuated bus due to a suspicious object.  A trash can…with a lid!

The subway would be even worse.  I can just see the station manager stopping me.  “Where do I think you’re going with that large trash can?  What’s inside?  Oh it’s empty huh, sure, lemme see?  Uh huh, so it’s empty right now, but I still B E L I E V E you’re up to no good.  You plan to rob people and toss their bags in the can and run?”

PEOPLE STEAL TRASH CANS

With cans individually numbered and engraved, there’s no worry about someone stealing trashcans, as happened to me before.  When everyone has one, there’s little incentive for theft.  Concerning the lids; I love our trash men, but have you ever seen what they do with lids?  Can we say, frisbee toss?  Try finding the lid after they pickup?  There’s a reason so many cans are set out without lids.  They’ve all disappeared!  By the way, it is impossible to purchase a lid without a can.

From where I stand, the most successful aspect of the new plan, officially known as One Plus One, is that it will provide yet another tax to the city.  With plans to double the current squad of code enforcement/revenue agents, there’ll be plenty of tickets to write and lots of money to collect.  Talk about a greener Baltimore.  More like greener Baltimore City coffers, filled with tax payer loot from punitive extortionist citations.

I can go on and on listing all the reasons why this program will be a total fiasco, but you know, last time I pointed out misguided errors of the city, they picked me up and  threw me away, right into jail (true story).  Guess now that I’m back out I can consider myself recycled.  ;-)