What’s the point of recycling if the city starts picking and choosing what’s going to be considered recyclable. I’ve had bags left at the curb because they contained Styrofoam or some form of plastic that’s not “approved”. What’s the point? Why bother having this program if you’re going to pick and choose plastics and worst of all, not even bother with one of the biggest problems in waste management… Styrofoam! I spend a significant amount of time cleaning and sorting my recyclables to make it easy for handling but for some reason find any excuse to leave at the curb side. I’m DONE! It’s going to brown bag now, what’s the point if they’re not gonna recycle it all? If the city wants a recycling program to work, they should be picking up ALL recyclables! —I’m Done
This article appears in Jun 16-22, 2011.
Or learn what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. Lots of people are doing it and seem to have no problem.
Right now, Halifax will only recycle plastics 1 and 2 I believe? But they’re going to change it sometime this year to include practically everything. I don’t even bother sorting my recyclables, all I have to do is just leave my bag of recyclables outside, and magically all of the bottles and cans get taken out and what’s left is all the other stuff. It’s craaayzee.
Hahaha the local homeless population is pretty efficient, eh mel?
September.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/…
Oh, and thank you for washing your garbage. Is that hot water your using? Your pretty much canceling out any good you’re doing by recycling.
Styrofoam – not for blue bags. If something that is not recyclable, is in the blue bag, they won’t take it.
http://www.halifax.ca/wrms/recycling.html
You sound lazy.
Check the little triangle at the bottom of the container it shows a number. If that number (say #2 or #6)is recyclable in your area, see HRM website or info sheet you received in the mail, then bluebag it. If not, garbage it. Styrofoam is still garbage.
1 & 2, not 6.
http://www.halifax.ca/wrms/recycling.html
They’re not “picking and choosing” for the fun of it. Currently, they only have a buyer for the #1 and #2 hard plastics, plastic bags and plastic wrap/bubble wrap. If they don’t have a buyer, then they can’t take it. Do you think the city recycles this stuff themselves to put into new products? No, someone else does it, and HRM is supplying that company with the plastic needed.
Like another poster said, that will change in the near future. Then you can recycle all plastics, but still not styrofoam.
In the meantime, don’t be so friggin’ lazy. It’s not that hard.
As Snubiz said, Sep 1st HRM will be accepting all types of plastic…but still no styrofoam.
So your response to a few items not being included in the recycling program is to abandon it all together?
Clearly you possess the ability to make logical, rational decisions.
Is there room for improvements in the recycling program? Yes. Hopefully that will change in the near future. In the meantime don’t be a lazyass, recycle what can be recycled and garbage or compost everything else.
I just put chicken bones in the GARBAGE.
That’s right.
I feel so… dirty.
On a completely unrelated note: the cat here snores.
haha, how’s the weather ms kitty http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RZI0IXI0Ds
I am anything but lazy about my recycling and if any of you put any thought into this other than shooting your mouths off for the soul sake of putting me down, you would know that.
1. I wash recyclables as I’m doing dishes so there’s no extra water being wasted.
2. I don’t care what you people say. My taxes pay for garbage pick up and management … as time goes by, the city is putting that responsibility onto us when they have been getting paid to do it all this time!!!
3. This wasn’t 1 episode. I’ve had bags left at the curb becasue the fools mistook some of the contents for being “not blue bag worthy” when the in fact were.
4. I’m not some complaining oil loving, littering asshole here. I tie up my paper, I keep a compost in my back yard and I sort my recyclables.
But what’s the point if they don’t take it all. If they’re not yet selling the raw material, then they should store it till they do. Styrofoam and other numbered plastics should not be going into a landfill just because there are no buyers! GOD!!!
Store it where? If they’d been storing the other plastics someplace since the reycyling program began, it’d probably fill a large city by now. That’s not a solution, and you know it.
Whats the point?
So you would rather the other recyclables end up in the landfill?
1) so do I.
2) so do mine.
3) mistakes happen.
4) so do I.
Gold star for us both! YIPPEE.
“Stryofoam and other numbered plastics should not be going into a landfill just because there are no buyers.”
Ummmm……so instead you’re going to put ALL your plastics and recyclables into the landfill in retaliation? That’ll learn ’em.
The recycling program is what it is. Yes, it needs improvements. However, at least there is a program. And it does keep stuff out of the landfills.
ohhh Ms bread lady — it’s gray, rainy and huuuumid. I miss NS, but I’ve got three little furry tards here to keep me company 🙂
It’s sunny in halitown, isn’t it? 🙁
“If they’re not yet selling the raw material, then they should store it till they do.” I fail to see any sort of logic in that statement as storing the materials would (probably) require building a facility to store said materials, which would be paid for with your tax dollars. Then once a buyer was found, the facility would be useless and would need to be either sold (at less than what it cost to build it in the first place) or demolished (costing even more money).
and by stryofoam I mean styrofoam.
yes, breezy and sunny/cloudy. the bear is in san fran…it’s 95
It gets put into a container, sent to China, and burned.
There’s obviously no money to be made recylcing then using the recycled material or there would be local businesses getting into it, employing locals to recreate new plastic from old.
I thought I’d be ‘smrt’ and portion out my drinks this past weekend by getting juice boxes so that I know every drink has the same amount… so as to pace.
They had a sale on the juiceboxes so I was all set…
then I get to the checkout and they charge me a deposit on every box.
Now, I still begrudgingly bought them to continue on with the plan…
please tell me I get 5 cents back for them???
(fucking crock how it’s 5 cents more per just to portion it out. grrrrrrrrrr.
won’t be doing that again)
OP your right your doing everything right….that’s why they wont take your shit. It is everyone else that is wrong.
Couldn’t you’ve just ‘portioned out’ your drinks with a measuring cup?
I’ve heard that recycling paper and plastics is pointless and ends up costing more energy than it saves anyway. Apparently, metal is the only thing really worth recycling… if the rest was worth while you’d get money back for it.
recycling plastic isn’t about saving energy its about leaving room on the planet for us to live. It doesn’t breakdown on its own, so the only thing to do with it is recycle it into something else and make less plastic to begin with.
I’m with you OB.
Screw them, I have to pay them to pick up my garbage, so do your damn job & pick the shit up !
If you’re not going to do it, decrease my property taxes & I’ll take care of it myself .
I wonder how well plastic will burn with my used tires ????
Syrofoam in the garbage, how hard is that to remember? If styrofoam pisses you off that much OP, burn it (safely). Otherwise, quit whining when the collectors reject your bags.
that’s why people are stealing copper and rail lines in the states-snoop
Ah, have any of you been to the landfills and disposal sights? I have! They have multiple buildings, huge in fact, for storing, sorting, etc …. I’m not saying this stuff lightly, Styrofoam has a high half life, it’ll be around forever as well! If we recycle then we recycle … we can’t pick and choose what goes into landfills … we either do it right or it’s not worth doing!!!!
Styrofoam in the garbage, #1 and #2 plastics, and no waxy plastic (ie cereal bags). This information is readily available on the HRM website (except for the part about cereal bags, which I emailed them about and was replied to immediately). If you’re not going to take the time to find out what’s accepted, you can’t complain when they don’t take it. End of story.
OP, you must be doing something wrong if the garbage workers are refusing to take your trash bags. I rarely recycle anything and I have never had a garbage bag rejected. Just don’t place anything in the bag that has your address on it or name. If you have garbage you want to get rid of, but can’t wait, just throw it in some random dumpster around the city.
I still fail to see your logic.
Every little bit helps. So your logic says to, given the current state of the program in HRM, put EVERYTHING into the landfills? I do not see how that is at all beneficial.
As for the storage issue: thats a bit of a ridiculous idea, don’t you think? Sure, in theory its a great idea, however realistically you and I both know that there isn’t a building large enough to store all that stuff until it becomes recyclable.
Until there are improvements and changes made to the program sort things as stated by HRM to recycle as much as possible to reduce that amount of non-biodegradable stuff ending up in landfills. I don’t know about you, but I kinda like having trees and nature around. Reducing what ends up in landfills allows for more room on the planet for us to live and enjoy.
Screw you all. I pay taxes here and that includes Garbage handling! They barely handle anything anymore, where’s my money going???? If I put it to the side of the road, pick it up God Damn it … I’ve paid to have that right!!!!
I’m just sick and tired of doing all of this if they’re not going to address it all! Garbage handling is garbage handling, whether it’s refuse or Recyclable! PICK IT UP GOD DAMN IT!
FYI to all you know-it-alls (Mole Rat), many plastics are not identified and I know first hand the kind of space and building that are used for Halifax wast and recycling … the6y can store Styrofoam till a solution is found … TRUST ME!!!
I don’t care what any of you say, Recycling is redundant if we don’t address it all!
I can’t find the reference, but there’s a Scandinavian country (Sweden maybe?), that uses people on social assistance to work in the recycling stations, and you don’t have to sort the recycables into different bags/containers, they do it all 🙂
Time to get up to speed Canada.
I’m not a know-it-all….I just read the website, which has many interesting facts pertaining to what may or may not be recycled in HRM.
boy oh boy OP, you are a jerk. You are not the only one with styrofoam – 300000 people (or whatever the pop of HRM is) can produce a lot of trash including styrofoam. HRM is supposed to store it till a solution is found? Rose colored glasses I’d say.
If in doubt, I put it in the blue bag (like plastic with no number) and it’s never been rejected. Buy with care, minimal packaging for one. With kitty litter, I throw out less than 1/2 bag of garbage every two weeks. Not all that hard either.
Grow up and think about someone else beside yourself. If HRM had to put all garbage in the landfill, our taxes would be higher to pay for all the landfill cells. How about YOU save all your non-recyclable plastics and styrofoam until a solution is found or HRM starts to accept it – like over the summer – or is that too much to expect? Easier to throw it all out I guess.
funnygirl, inthe winter time my garbage heats my woodworking shop. IF you can burn it, I do…which includes tires, my trash burner 30+ year old Vermont Castings woodstove gets a good cherry red glow on with a load of hard wood & a bunch of trash tossed in & touched with a match. If it wasn’t for the bottles & cans some foods come in, I wouldn’t need trash pick up at all.