Rag Writers Take Aim at New and Old Trash Cans

Editordude: Two Rag writers take aim today at the city’s rollout of the new trash cans. South OB Girl and Abby (who writes under Csaba) offer their observations.

The New Gray Trash Cans Have Arrived

By South OB Girl

The new City of San Diego Environmental Services gray trash cans have arrived.  The new policies regarding trash have been a topic of much discussion in previous months and there was much discontent expressed by many San Diegans when the ballot measure was voted into action and approved by San Diego voters.  Some residents have filed a lawsuit in response and it is still under way.  For those still deciding about their trash service and trash can options, here are links to contact City of San Diego Environmental Services and calculate your potential trash fee, which would be part of your taxes:

https://www.sandiego.gov/environmental-services
https://www.sandiego.gov/environmental-services/trash-service-updates/fee-calculator

There has also been much talk among San Diegans that these new trash cans have tracking devices implanted in them and that there is some kind of surveillance system installed.  Some people even conjectured, as outlandish as it may seem, that these various devices would scan and monitor the contents of your trash and detect if you had placed organic materials in the gray bin and not the organic materials bin or aluminum cans and plastic bottles in the gray can and not in the recycle bin.  Has the day come that the contents of our trash cans are under surveillance and the location of our trash cans is being tracked?

With so many various sorts of theories circulating around, I called the City of San Diego Environmental Services, i.e. City Trash, to get the answers.  There is a barcode and a serial number printed in white near the top of the can.  That serial number and barcode are assigned to you and your property by APN (Assessor’s Parcel Number).

There is no tracker or GPS device installed somewhere in your trash can (according to the representative at Environmental Services with whom I spoke).  Soon, as this next part of the plan is not fully in action yet, when the garbage truck picks up your gray can, the fork on the truck will scan the barcode on the can and make sure it is your can for your address.  Much like at the grocery store when the cashier scans the barcode on a gallon of milk, and scanning the barcode confirms the price.  This scanning of the trash cans by the trash trucks will confirm that your neighbor a couple doors down or someone across town hasn’t snatched your can (which you paid for) and used your can at his/her address.

With the large amount of discontent stirred up in San Diego concerning the end of free City provided trash service, this barcode scanning is some sort of reassurance for you that your trash can is used by you and only you, and nobody else is benefiting from your taxes and your payment for your trash.  Although the questions still loom of whether San Diegans want their trash cans scanned for any reason at all or connected in any way to a specific property address and APN.  Who knew trash, garbage, rubbish – whatever your preferred term is – could stir up so much discussion, but it most certainly has.

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City Spends Money on Smashing Old Trash Bins, Leaving Remains All Over

By Abby Petre

Much has been said about the bait and switch of the trash fees, but the rollout of the new bins has proved to be (quite literally) a mess as well. Of all the priorities for the city to spend money on, replacing functional bins doesn’t seem like it should be high on the list. But a plan is a plan and about two weeks ago, the shiny new gray bins arrived; only one task remained.

Take a moment to imagine how the city might be expected to collect old trash bins. Whatever you might have imagined, I’d bet it wasn’t this. Sitting in my living room on pickup day, I heard what sounded like someone trying to break into a garage with a hammer. Looking outside, it took a moment to understand the surreal scene: a rickety pickup truck sat in the alley, while a man with what appeared to be a metal pipe loudly smashed the wheels off each bin, leaving plastic and metal pieces of wheels and bins strewn all over the ground. At first I really thought this was some rogue operation, but who would want to steal broken trash bins?

We collected all the trash we could from our alley after the city’s improvement and beautification effort was complete. Pictured is the collection from 3 blocks of the alley, keeping in mind that not all the bins were removed that day and due to the steep incline some has likely rolled down the hill. The cherry on top was that for some reason, our bin was not collected; it sat, upside down in front of our garage, for an additional two weeks before a van finally came by to collect it.