Armed with RFID chips and a disdain for those residents who simply refuse to put out their recyclables in a timely manner, an army of "smart" recycling bins will soon descend on Cleveland to enact their green environmental goodness.
The bins will be an expansion of a 15,000 resident experimental program that tracked whether or not people were putting their recycling bins out on the curb. If a resident does not take their bin out for a few weeks, the system is notified and a fine could levied against the offender if a visiting "trash supervisor" determines their normal trash bins are filled with more than 10% recyclable material.
The $2.5 million program goes into effect next year for 25,000 residents, with 25,000 person expansions planned for each following year until all of Cleveland's 150,000 residents are covered.
If you think this program sounds fantastical and futuristic, it really isn't, as England has used a similar program for several years now to weigh garbage output of its citizens. Those people who throw out too much refuse are fined. Cleveland will implement a similar trash program as part of its smart bin plan as well.
There's a lot to be gained from recyclables if you're the Cleveland cit government. For instance, Cleveland.com reports that for every ton of recyclables they collect, the city makes $26. On the other hand, the city was paying $30 per ton to dump trash in a landfill. [Cleveland.com via Slashdot]
Send an email to Jack Loftus, the author of this post, at jloftus@gizmodo.com.
Someone did some math, and figured out that if only 5% of the residents on any given month didn't comply, that it would generate $750,000 in fine revenue for that month. Extortion in the name of the greater green good. Its coming people.
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�Poor Al Gore. Global warming completely debunked via the very Internet you invented. Oh, oh, the irony!� -Jon Stewart
Re: Watch Out Cleveland....the Recycle Your Garbage Police are coming. Big fines for not recycling
"An appeal to arms and the God of hosts is all that is left us. But we shall not fight our battle alone. There is a just God that presides over the destinies of nations. The battle sir, is not of the strong alone. Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death."
Speech at the Second Virginia Convention at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia (23 March 1775) Patrick Henry
Re: Watch Out Cleveland....the Recycle Your Garbage Police are coming. Big fines for not recycling
I could see some good from something like this, but there are some things here that just don't make sense...
People who use more trash paying more for collection makes sense to me. If I'm using 1 bin/month, why should I pay as much for collection as my neighbor who is using 2 bins/week?
However, fining people for not putting out their bin could mean you're fining them for not using as much (minimizing resource use should be the goal!). This part is twisted as @!#$ in a clothesdryer...
fortune cookie say: better a delay than a disaster
Re: Watch Out Cleveland....the Recycle Your Garbage Police are coming. Big fines for not recycling
That reminds me of when I lived in NY. The town I lived in required recycling of a list of things, which had to be sorted and cleaned to their standards or they would refuse your entire bin. I used to get a reject sticker for something like 1 glass jar still having a little part of the wrapper on it. However, if the code nazi came and found any required recycle items in you regular trash, you got a $500 fine. Gotta love that kind of crap.
Re: Watch Out Cleveland....the Recycle Your Garbage Police are coming. Big fines for not recycling
im going to kick up the @!#$storm and say good for cleveland, im in no way an evirofreak, but since we have been given new cans. a 55 gallon or more sized trash can and a smaller recyclable can that is maybe 75% the size of the standard can, its amazing how much recyclable trash i used to throw away. my recyclable can is almost full every other week, the trash can maybe gets filled 25% each week, im easily throwing out as much recyclables as i am standard trash. if your ass is too lazy to use recyclables then go ahead and fine them. landfills just keep filling up. people need to recycle that stuff. its not like cities have enough money as it is to stay afloat in most places. id find it higly doubtful that they are being fined for not making enough trash. if they are putting out the trash can every week and just not putting out the recycalbles. if you go to the grocery store you will have recylcables. what R.W.E. is talking about is way strict and over the top though.
as far as toledo finding people who don't put there cans out right. consider that a tax on the stupid. i mean its not hard to put the cans out properly. its not like its major work to set them out the right way.
I recycle as much as I can. I also was composting for a while. I really don't care if my city makes a buck off it, or if it is really all that good for mother earth. I feel good and we have noticeably less garbage weekly, less for me to drag to the curb.
Re: Watch Out Cleveland....the Recycle Your Garbage Police are coming. Big fines for not recycling
as far as toledo finding people who don't put there cans out right. consider that a tax on the stupid. i mean its not hard to put the cans out properly. its not like its major work to set them out the right way.
I have no problem with fining the morons either but they don't take into consideration that sometimes it's punk kids with nothing better to do than to @!#$ with @!#$ for kicks. Plus how lazy are the garbagmen that they can't get out of the @!#$ truck for a few cans on their route, I can understand if a whole bunch of idiots(which Toledo has alot of) don't seperate the cans enough for the arm to grab it, but if it's just a couple than get the @!#$ out of the truck instead of fining them and also let them know they're not doing it right.
Re: Watch Out Cleveland....the Recycle Your Garbage Police are coming. Big fines for not recycling
...Up until the paper section, well, duh. I was under the impression that people understood the extra cost (energy and $$$) involved with recycling plastic
The benefits are with reduced petroleum useage, and reduced landfill useage.
However, P&T completely the "trees". They give the "there are more trees now than in 1920 because we're farming them for paper products". What they fail to mention is that some VERY big changes occured in the 20's. Up until the 20's deforestation ran rampant. Trees were harvested, but not replaced. Now we plant approximately 6 seeds for every tree cut down. However, we are cramming 6 trees into the space previoulsy occupied by 1, so they are not growing to be as large before harvesting occurs.
In the 30's was the start of wildfire prevention education (yep, Smokey the Bear, although he waited until the 40's). This has significantly reduced the 20-50 million acres/year previously lost in the US.
And finally, the 20's brought the onslaught of wilderness protection programs (National parks and whatnot). Although Yellowstone had been protected since the 1870's, things were pretty slow at first.
Finally, let's not forget that many 'virgin' paper products are manufactured overseees, where re-forestation programs are not as widespread.
fortune cookie say: better a delay than a disaster
Re: Watch Out Cleveland....the Recycle Your Garbage Police are coming. Big fines for not recycling
Kevin Trudeau wrote:It has nothing to do with saving dear mother earth. Its a backdoor tax.
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When the landfills get full, we can always send it over to your backyard.
sndsgood wrote:im going to kick up the @!#$storm and say good for cleveland, im in no way an evirofreak, but since we have been given new cans. a 55 gallon or more sized trash can and a smaller recyclable can that is maybe 75% the size of the standard can, its amazing how much recyclable trash i used to throw away. my recyclable can is almost full every other week, the trash can maybe gets filled 25% each week, im easily throwing out as much recyclables as i am standard trash. if your ass is too lazy to use recyclables then go ahead and fine them. landfills just keep filling up. people need to recycle that stuff. its not like cities have enough money as it is to stay afloat in most places. id find it higly doubtful that they are being fined for not making enough trash. if they are putting out the trash can every week and just not putting out the recycalbles. if you go to the grocery store you will have recylcables.
Bingo.
THE POLITICALLY INCORRECT ONE.
Re: Watch Out Cleveland....the Recycle Your Garbage Police are coming. Big fines for not recycling
i watched penn and teller above. man i like that guy. but for the most part (and i havnt watched part 3 yet) but it seemed to be just harping on the fact that it cost more to recycle then it does to just throw it away. by that theory, its cheaper for me to just throw my trash on the streets or in someones backyard then it is for us to throw it away. i dont think people excpect the cost to go down. its not nessicarily about the cost of it verus just filling up more landfills. wich people seem to be fighting new landfills every day there was a landfill in colerain near where i used to live in cincinnat. it was several hundred feet tall. they called it mount rumpke. and in summer when it got hot out you could smell the stench for miles. not something most people want in there back yard. i'll agree most companies are using it as a marketing tool. because it is great to say your using recycled materials. your green etc. but is that a bad thing if it cuts there material and waste consumption in half?
It might be in part 3 where they address the "landfill" issue. IIRC they claim the the issue of running out of space and landfills is BS, but then again I know they don't present all the facts. If you have ever watched P&T BS before they pick one side and harp on it. I was just providing insight and another view.
In Pittsburgh we have to blue bag our recycling and it is picked up every other week by a separate crew and truck. They also do mix pick up, where you don't have to separate plastic/paper/glass etc, I assume it is done at a processing plant.
From the most recent newsletter from City of Pgh.
Quote:
Why Should You Recycle?
Recycling is the easiest way for you to go green at home. Not only will you do your part for the environment by reducing waste, you�ll save taxpayer dollars at the same time.
� For every ton we recycle, the City saves $23 in landfill fees and gains more than $45 in revenue.
� In 2009, recycling saved the City more than $287,500 in landfill fees.
� The money saved allows the City to expand and improve recycling in your neighborhoods and business districts.
Saving close to 300k is peanuts with the size of the city budget, however not everybody recycles. For the past 4 years I have never seen or heard of anybody being ticketed for failure to recycle. Enforcement is a scare tacit, they know full well they don't have the staff or resources to check the garbage of every house on every street.
and I am starting to get really tired of "green" tag line on everything. It is being abused as a marketing ploy and is on so much crap now that is barely "green"- unless you talk about the money being made. Just like "High Def" BS!
Re: Watch Out Cleveland....the Recycle Your Garbage Police are coming. Big fines for not recycling
I don't have a problem recycling, but when they start putting fines on it, especially with bullsh!t of sending a supervisor out to inspect your trash if your bin hasn't been registered in the system as being at the curb in a few weeks, it's too much.
Also, how many people here have a local dump that actually places their trash in a landfill? The last 4 places I have lived burned it, and the local drop off was merely a transfer station for the burn facility (which is a power plant, BTW--cutting down on fossil fuels, anyone?). From what I see, every place is getting away from landfills.
Quote:
Saving close to 300k is peanuts with the size of the city budget, however not everybody recycles.
Probably saved two city jobs.
In my town we now have to pay for our trash delivery, on top of the town taxes that go to the service. We have to purchase our bags, and they will not take anything that is not in them. And guess what argument they used to get this one? "We'll have to lay off police, firefighters, and school teachers if we don't pass this bill."...same crap, but I'm going on a tangent. The bottom line is they keep finding more and more ways to control our lives, under the bullsh!t guise of "need".
Re: Watch Out Cleveland....the Recycle Your Garbage Police are coming. Big fines for not recycling
How come the cities never have to lay off the mayor's personal assistant, or a city councilman? Nope...quik's right. They always drag out the spectre of layoffs for police and firemen.
�Poor Al Gore. Global warming completely debunked via the very Internet you invented. Oh, oh, the irony!� -Jon Stewart
Re: Watch Out Cleveland....the Recycle Your Garbage Police are coming. Big fines for not recycling
mcclone. ever lived near a landfill? even several miles away on a hot day you can smell them. its not about running out, but more about were to put them. anytime someone wants to put in a landfill everyeone in that area fights it tooth and nail because who wants a landfill in there backyards. id still rather recycle our trash then just burn it. once you burn it, its gone. as for the green tag line sure its just marketing and thast what companies are doign it for. but the bottom line is, does it really matter if company A cuts recycles all its trash because they love trees versus company b recycling all its trash because they want to advertise they are green?
kevin, do you think anyone would care or give a damn if the mayor goes. "well i'll have to layoff my assistant" no, nobody would care or bat an eye. you dont get the votes you need for something by waving something in the publics face that they dont care about.
sndsgood wrote:kevin, do you think anyone would care or give a damn if the mayor goes. "well i'll have to layoff my assistant" no, nobody would care or bat an eye. you dont get the votes you need for something by waving something in the publics face that they dont care about.
That's exactly the point. They get people to fall for the crap of raising taxes, or charging for trash pick up, etc. by telling the public that layoffs would be needed in places people are afraid of having them, when in fact they have plenty of other places to cut. It was a tangent, but it's something a lot of people need to wake up to.
Re: Watch Out Cleveland....the Recycle Your Garbage Police are coming. Big fines for not recycling
R.W.E. of the J.B.O. wrote:That's exactly the point. They get people to fall for the crap of raising taxes, or charging for trash pick up, etc. by telling the public that layoffs would be needed in places people are afraid of having them, when in fact they have plenty of other places to cut. It was a tangent, but it's something a lot of people need to wake up to.
But, I've noticed that they often do layoff those positions first. They're not just trying to scare people, they actually follow through. It's easiest to make cuts to services which have no clear requirement as to labor size.
If they cut the trashman, you're guarenteed your trash doesn't get taken away. But, if they cut the policeman, it doesn't necessarily mean you're going to get robbed; and if they cut the fireman, it doesn't mean your house is going to catch fire. Cutting responding services is (in this way) "safer" than cutting proactive services.
Now, is the Mayor's assistant absolutely necessary? When is the last time a Mayor went without one? On one side, I'd rather pay some pimpled intern $10/hr to filter through junk mail and set appointments than pay $30/hr for the Mayor to it himself. However, on the other side, I'd rather pay the Mayor $30/hr to go through his own mail than $20/hr to attend a ground-breaking or ribbon cutting The only way to find out if the assistant is necessary would be field testing, and I don't see anyone volunteering for that anytime soon...
fortune cookie say: better a delay than a disaster
Re: Watch Out Cleveland....the Recycle Your Garbage Police are coming. Big fines for not recycling
sndsgood wrote:kevin, do you think anyone would care or give a damn if the mayor goes. "well i'll have to layoff my assistant" no, nobody would care or bat an eye. you dont get the votes you need for something by waving something in the publics face that they dont care about.
That's exactly the point. They get people to fall for the crap of raising taxes, or charging for trash pick up, etc. by telling the public that layoffs would be needed in places people are afraid of having them, when in fact they have plenty of other places to cut. It was a tangent, but it's something a lot of people need to wake up to.
but again, if your goal is to raise more money, you wont get the votes by offering them something they don't care about, if you expect them to do otherwise i think you being a bit naieve.
they do that also allot of times because that is the reality of it. more in the bigger cities because people are moving out of the big cities so you have less taxes. but it is happening. same goes for teachers and such. now granted there is allot more involved to it then that though, then you start getting into the budget etc. etc. and here or at least indianapolis are mayor just brought on his budget for the new year and its balanced. (two years in a row now)
My aunt lives within a mile of a landfill...never smelled anything in her 40+ years living there. I've never smelled anything foul or out of the ordinary any time I've been by to visit in 30+ years, even on 90+ degree days.
Re: Watch Out Cleveland....the Recycle Your Garbage Police are coming. Big fines for not recycling
sndsgood wrote:kevin, do you think anyone would care or give a damn if the mayor goes. "well i'll have to layoff my assistant" no, nobody would care or bat an eye. you dont get the votes you need for something by waving something in the publics face that they dont care about.
That's exactly the point. They get people to fall for the crap of raising taxes, or charging for trash pick up, etc. by telling the public that layoffs would be needed in places people are afraid of having them, when in fact they have plenty of other places to cut. It was a tangent, but it's something a lot of people need to wake up to.
but again, if your goal is to raise more money, you wont get the votes by offering them something they don't care about, if you expect them to do otherwise i think you being a bit naieve.
I don't expect that to change, but what I would like to see is more of the general public stop falling for it.
Notec, of course they're going to cut there first. For starters, that's what they said had to happen if they don't get their way, and also when they cut there, they can get everyone up in arms about it so they can bring the issue back up and hopefully get it through the next time.
Re: Watch Out Cleveland....the Recycle Your Garbage Police are coming. Big fines for not recycling
These cities are losing money because of less property tax income available. Fine, fewer people living here an we'll shut down and consolidate three middle schools. Then the teachers unions scream about crowded classrooms...try to get a "jobs" bill passed in congress.
�Poor Al Gore. Global warming completely debunked via the very Internet you invented. Oh, oh, the irony!� -Jon Stewart
the "trees". They give the "there are more trees now than in 1920 because we're farming them for paper products". What they fail to mention is that some VERY big changes occured in the 20's. Up until the 20's deforestation ran rampant. Trees were harvested, but not replaced. Now we plant approximately 6 seeds for every tree cut down. However, we are cramming 6 trees into the space previoulsy occupied by 1, so they are not growing to be as large before harvesting occurs.
