Throughout the day, people go through my trash cans. It’s a depressing sight. Among the streets of affluent Newport Beach are legions of trash pickers, pulling out cans, bottles and other recyclable material. Most are Latinos, recent immigrants or illegal immigrants, I would guess. Often they might be accompanied by one or two small children. It always makes me thankful I’m not having to take my children to scavenge through trash cans, plus makes me wonder why things can’t be better.
We don’t separate our recyclable material in Newport. I don’t know exactly why. One rumor is that residents are just too lazy. Another is that with the small streets and alleys in Balboa, the part of Newport where I live, there’s not room for multiple bins. Instead, the city ships everything off to a “Materials Recovery Facility” where everything is sorted through by others, using machines and by hand, to pull out what should be recycled. Apparently, it gives the city a 50% recycling rate.
I guess. I’ve always wanted to somehow get a tour of this MSF and see the recycling happen in action. It always feels weird to just toss bottles and cans in with the rest of the regular garbage. And by doing so, the alleys of Balboa get turned a place for the scavengers to harvest each day.
A minor problem, aside from the inhumanity of people surviving by picking through your trash, is the inconvenience. Plastic garbage bags get ripped open, so that any pickings can be extracted. That lets in flies, and when it’s hot, you get lots of them.
We consider putting out all the cans and bottle separately, so that people who wanted them could just get them in a far more humane and efficient way. The problem is, apparently, that the bags still get ripped open anyway, just in case there’s stuff inside worth getting.
That led to a search for see-through bags, so that those coming to our trash cans could see there was nothing inside worth harvesting. It’s one of those things you never imagine doing, standing in a Home Depot looking for see-through trash bags, so that young mothers with their children won’t waste their time on your garbage.
We never found the bags. The harvesting in the alleys continues on, as well as in the trash cans along the beach itself. Such a world.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Danny, we have had similar problems in Vancouver. We found clear plastic “see-through” leaf bags at home depot (Canada) while the bags are larger than standard trash bags, they get hauled out of the bin and opened much less.
Good luck.
David
Down in San Diego we seperate our recyclables, but EDCO (who collects our bins) asks that we don’t use bags. If we do, they need to be clear; we get them at Costco.