Support NeoGAF

[CornBurrito]

Sure, leftover scraps from dinner. Not a expired chicken breasts or a drawer's worth of old vegetables.

People do that?

 

[Zoe]

And of course NPR talks about it in NE Seattle, lol.

For reference, it's not a big fee currently like a dollar but it's pretty easy to note do this. They give us compost bins to toss food scraps in that they pick up, I believe.

How much is the pickup fee?

The city gives households bins to fill with their food and yard waste. But residents don't have to compost it themselves: They can just leave the bins curbside and have the city pick it up for a fee.

 

[Somnid]

I don't understand what's so bad about food waste going to a landfill. Does having it rot in our neighborhood backyards instead do something special?

Yes. It takes space while it breaks down, space that we don't have and it becomes impossible to sort and use once it hits the landfill because it's probably contaminated with other things. It's much more eco-friendly to separate it cleanly and then process it by composting or extract energy out of it.

 

[CrocMother]

I don't understand what's so bad about food waste going to a landfill. Does having it rot in our neighborhood backyards instead do something special?

1) landfills are responsible for about 17% of methane leaking into the atmosphere ( a greenhouse gas)

2) food waste is a significant portion of a landfill. Landfills filling up is bad.

3) the goal isn't to compost the food waste. It is to anaerobically digest it in a controlled facility, converting it into biogas (natural gas essentially) which can be used for heat and energy

I'd put links but I'm on my phone sorry

 

[Futureman]

if you don't compost you are lazy.

 

[UraMallas]

I'm just overeating so I won't get fined.

 

[gutter_trash]

if you don't compost you are lazy.

then I am lazy then, I get better things to do then hunt down for a brown bin in the other part of town

 

[shira]

I thought every major city has it's own home food waste service. This is so fucking easy and if you want compost, just save it up.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Thank God I don't live in Seattle.

 

[benjipwns]

Seattle alone sends some 100,000 tons of food to wither away in landfills that are as far as 300 miles away, according to the city. And that's despite some of country's most stringent recycling laws, some of which require residential properties and multi-family buildings to offer composting collection service. People, it seems, are less willing to sort out their food scraps than the government had hoped. Even now, with the new compost law in effect, residents have still been slow to adapt.

"Right now, I'm tagging probably every fifth can," Rodney Watkins, a waste contractor in Seattle, told NPR on Monday. "I don't know if that's just the holidays, or the fact that I'm actually paying a lot more attention."

The city is hopeful that the prevalence of tickets is merely a result of poor awareness about the new law. By Seattle's own estimate, the new requirements will divert as much as 38,000 tons of food waste away from landfills.

Think of the poor landfills....

 

[kendrid]

Sure, leftover scraps from dinner. Not a expired chicken breasts or a drawer's worth of old vegetables.

Why not? Old veggies grind up easily if you have a good disposal.

 

[terrisus]

In Seattle, wasting food will now earn you a scarlet letter — well, a scarlet tag, to be more accurate.

Seattle is the first city in the nation to fine homeowners for not properly sorting their garbage.

Misleading headline is misleading.

 

[slit]

I thought every major city has it's own home food waste service. This is so fucking easy and if you want compost, just save it up.

Well you thought wrong.

 

[Timeaisis]

Why not? Old veggies grind up easily if you have a good disposal.

*if you have a good disposal

 

[WanderingWind]

I'm Canadian

Not in spirit, comrade.

 

[Shining Sunshine]

Good!

We need to start penalizing for all kinds of polluting.

 

[terrisus]

Garbage sorting is such a pain. Especially since people in condos and apartments don't have to. They still dump everything in a dumpster.

I have 3 bins to sort and it gets collected differently each week.

You had your stuff collected?

We had to bring it to places ourselves.

 

[ElNino]

Every where I've lived (in Canada) for the last decade have done this.

We are provided two recycling bins and one compost bin for each household. The compost and recycling are picked up every week and trash (up to four bags) is picked up every other week.

It's been a while since I've "failed" an inspection, but they usually just leave the bag with a note on it on your driveway or in the case of recycling they will discard the non-recyclable item behind and take the rest.

 

[Fuchsdh]

Sounds like a good way to fuck your neighbors.

I know it wouldn't work in my apartment. Using the recycling bins for recycling is beyond many of my fellow residents.

Composting is good, and providing a service for those who can't to dispose of food waste is also good.

 

[BorkBork]

Organics form the largest percentage of municipal solid waste by weight by far in my area (Metro Vancouver). It would be great to divert that away from the landfill or the wastewater treatment plants.

 

[gutter_trash]

wanna really penalize polluters??

what about them smokers who toss their butts on the sidewalk?

every spring time thaw....... thousands of cig butts

smokers, now those are the real urban discustos

 

[Auron_Kale]

While I was housesitting for my aunt and uncle, I was putting spoiled/rotten food in their yard waste bin which I thought was cool since it has it's own separate bin that is picked up during garbage day.

Unfortunately, my condo complex doesn't have a separate chute for food scraps so it just goes in the garbage. I do wish we did have a separate chute for compost though I can imagine they'd probably have to make a slightly different chute so that stuff doesn't get caught.

 

[terrisus]

Also, to OP, in the past two days, first being unaware that people still write checks, and then being unaware of trash sorting (which is definitely nothing new on a larger scale, even if some specific implementations of it may be new on a local scale), I mean... No offense meant, but... Awareness and all that.

 

[Shouta]

How much is the pickup fee?

Micro-can that's 13 gallons or so is like 5.45 a month, I think? So basically a 1.30-1.40 per week roughly or something, Too lazy to do math right now. Bigger cans get more expensive.

 

[slit]

I know it wouldn't work in my apartment. Using the recycling bins for recycling is beyond many of my fellow residents.

Composting is good, and providing a service for those who can't to dispose of food waste is also good.

Mine doesn't even have recycling bins.

Everything goes in the garbage.

 

[benjipwns]

wanna really penalize polluters??

what about them smokers who toss their butts on the sidewalk?

every spring time thaw....... thousands of cig butts

smokers, now those are the real urban discustos

Even worse are the e-cigarette people, it's like unfair all the loopholes they get.

 

[Zoe]

Micro-can that's 13 gallons or so is like 5.45 a month, I think? So basically a 1.25 per week roughly, Bigger cans get more expensive.

So a person who can't be bothered to sort their trash can just pay a $1 fine (assuming they even get caught) instead of a >=$1.25 fee.

Seems kind of backward to me.

 

[daviyoung]

wanna really penalize polluters??

what about them smokers who toss their butts on the sidewalk?

every spring time thaw....... thousands of cig butts

smokers, now those are the real urban discustos

UK has you covered. £50 - £80 for throwing your butts within sight of an available police officer.

Our councils threaten charges for not putting the right items in the right bins but they don't enforce anything.

 

[Necromanti]

So a person who can't be bothered to sort their trash can just pay a $1 fine (assuming they even get caught) instead of a >=$1.25 fee.

Seems kind of backward to me.

You forgot the red tape of shame. You can't put a price on humiliation.

 

[Shouta]

So a person who can't be bothered to sort their trash can just pay a $1 fine (assuming they even get caught) instead of a >=$1.25 fee.

Seems kind of backward to me.

They're starting with 1 dollar but the fine will probably go up down the line.

 

[Syriel]

Overeating is a big problem in America. If someone decides he can't finish his burger and fries, then he's better off throwing it away and sparing his health than forcing it down. The cents you waste in food isn't worth the potential health-related costs associated with overeating. That doesn't mean I support wasting food. Portions could be smaller, and people also tend to overbuy. It'd be nice if I could repackage my uneaten food and donate it to the needy, but that isn't realistic. Rather, if this was an ongoing dilemma, I'd have to reassess my whole approach to food quantity.

Did you read the OP? This has nothing to do with not eating the food.

Seattle is simply requiring that people toss food waste into a compost bin rather than a trash bin.

If they're too lazy to do that...well there's no hope.

What if you have to get rid of food and you don't compost because you live in an apartment? Am I supposed to cram it down the garbage disposal?

You do like any normal person does...you put it in the compost bin. Keep a small one in your unit and when it fills up, bring the bag down to the main bin in the building. Yes, it probably requires a few more steps than walking to the trash chute.

Then you probably have to do it, unless you share a big garbage dumpster with others.

There is no way they force people in a multi-level integrated buildings as there is no way to know what garbage belongs to who

In that case, as the article states, the entire building is assessed a fine. The same is true in SF.

For apartments, that means you'll ultimately see higher rents. For condos, that means you'll ultimately see higher HOA fees.

 

[espher]

I didn't even know this was a thing. Guess I'm super out of touch with garbage disposal.

We've got recycle bins (plastics one week, paper/cardboard the next) and unsorted garbage, here.

 

[Timeaisis]

Did you read the OP? This has nothing to do with not eating the food.

Seattle is simply requiring that people toss food waste into a compost bin rather than a trash bin.

If they're too lazy to do that...well there's no hope.

There is no hope.

 

[ElNino]

Micro-can that's 13 gallons or so is like 5.45 a month, I think? So basically a 1.30-1.40 per week roughly or something, Too lazy to do math right now. Bigger cans get more expensive.

How many cities charge for compost collection? None of mine have specifically, it is just part of your property taxes.

 

[terrisus]

Did you read the OP? This has nothing to do with not eating the food.

Well, the article led with a misleading headline

Spoiler

, and that's probably as far as some people got >.>

 

[slit]

In that case, as the article states, the entire building is assessed a fine. The same is true in SF.

For apartments, that means you'll ultimately see higher rents. For condos, that means you'll ultimately see higher HOA fees.

Then they are essentially punishing people who have no control over it.

If that's how they want to live. It's fine with me.

 

[terrisus]

How many cities charge for compost collection? None of mine have specifically, it is just part of your property taxes.

Our city didn't have town collecting of any sort (garbage, compost, recyclables, anything).
You either brought the stuff there yourself, or hired a private company to do it.

Spoiler:

Spoiler

Lower property taxes - especially with not paying for people who don't know how to/don't know they're supposed to/don't care to sort stuff

 

[Syriel]

Then they are essentially punishing people who have no control over it.

If that's how they want to live. It's fine with me.

Well, it's not like most apartments or condos have individual trash bins. They choose to have a single pickup.

And if there is competent management, they fine the units that don't sort trash. It's usually part of the lease or HOA agreements. My building here in SF does that.

Ex. if you put trash in the recycling, you get fined by management.

 

[Shouta]

How many cities charge for compost collection? None of mine have specifically, it is just part of your property taxes.

You don't have to pay if you're composting it yourself, I think. So it's not built into the fees we pay the city normally.

 

[CrocMother]

wanna really penalize polluters??

what about them smokers who toss their butts on the sidewalk?

every spring time thaw....... thousands of cig butts

smokers, now those are the real urban discustos

Yeah but you can't convert cigarette butts into energy (and $$$)

 

[slit]

Well, it's not like most apartments or condos have individual trash bins. They choose to have a single pickup.

And if there is competent management, they fine the units that don't sort trash. It's usually part of the lease or HOA agreements. My building here in SF does that.

Ex. if you put trash in the recycling, you get fined by management.

What I'm saying is I don't know how they would know whose trash belongs to what person even if there is different bins for different recylables. What if they just don't use the recyling bin?

 

[Coins]

Good, this will teach people not to waste food. It really is a shame to throw stuff away like that. I've seen my coworkers throw away half a tray of rice cause they were full.

So should they just eat too much and get fat?

 

[terrisus]

What I'm saying is I don't know how they would know whose trash belongs to what person

So anything bad that happens in the apartment, management just has no clue who did it?

Let a wild hyena loose in the hallways, and "Oh, darn, we don't know who did it, oh well."
Or something like selling drugs or lighting a fire or something.

One would think apartment management is a bit smarter than that.

 

[Futureman]

So should they just eat too much and get fat?

if you are throwing away "half a tray of rice" you should just put it in a container and eat it later.

 

[slit]

So anything bad that happens in the apartment, management just has no clue who did it?

Let a wild hyena loose in the hallways, and "Oh, darn, we don't know who did it, oh well."
Or something like selling drugs or lighting a fire or something.

One would think apartment management is a bit smarter than that.

Are you kidding me? Some places have 100's of units.

You think they could possibly keep track of people's garbage?

 

[Trouble]

I thought every major city has it's own home food waste service. This is so fucking easy and if you want compost, just save it up.

Why they throwing away perfectly good food in Toronto?

 

[RumblingRosco]

I would be happy to pay about $3-5 a month for my city to pick-up my biodegradable food waste separate from the rest of my trash. Banana peels, raw chicken scraps, small amounts of expired food, etc. all make up a decent amount of our non-recycled waste products each week. I don't do enough gardening to make composting worthwhile, but fuck, if the city would re-use it somehow I'm happy to pay them to put it to use.

Good job, Seattle.

 

[terrisus]

Are you kidding me? Some places have 100's of units.

You think they could possibly keep track of people's garbage?

If a problem arises, they take steps to identify and address it.

Unless you really are planning to rely on that assumption and let a hyena loose in the hallways.

 

[ElNino]

Our city didn't have town collecting of any sort (garbage, compost, recyclables, anything).
You either brought the stuff there yourself, or hired a private company to do it.

Spoiler:

Spoiler

Lower property taxes - especially with not paying for people who don't know how to/don't know they're supposed to/don't care to sort stuff

You don't have to pay if you're composting it yourself, I think. So it's not built into the fees we pay the city normally.

I guess that is true if your property taxes are actually lower for it. Myself, I'm fine to pay the city through taxes to have it all taken care of (after I properly sort it of course).

 

[slit]

If a problem arises, they take steps to identify and address it.

Unless you really are planning to rely on that assumption and let a hyena loose in the hallways.

Oh get out of here with the riduclous hyena analogy. It's not the same. People would be able to witness someone letting a hyena loose. People aren't going to be checking garbage bags.