Recology Rolls Out New Carts to San Carlos Today.

September 28, 2010

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New Carts, No Bins.

When you get home from work today, you're likely to find a little present in your front yard.  No, the neighbor's dog didn't make another deposit on your lawn, but the folks at Recology were certainly busy today delivering the new garbage and recycle “carts” to a good portion of the flats in San Carlos in anticipation of taking over the collection service in San Carlos on January 1, 2011.    According to the original schedule that I published a few weeks ago, this means that they're about 2-3 weeks ahead of schedule in delivering the carts.    Uh oh, maybe that's grounds for a strike…

Got Garbage?

One thing you'll notice right away is the size of the wheeled black garbage cart.   The standard issue from Recology is a 32 gallon garbage cart, which probably looks dinky next to your existing can.   With a family of 5 who does an excellent job of diverting as much stuff as possible into the recycle bins, I know that this little cart still won't be big enough for us.   No sweat — if you need a bigger cart, Recology offers 64 gallon and 96 gallon service carts too.  Simply call their customer service line at 650-595-3900 and request one of the bigger ones.   Note that they haven't yet determined what the weekly premium will be for the larger carts — that info will published in a letter that will be going out to residents in the upcoming weeks.

One Cart, Lots of Recyclables.

The other big departure from the old recycle routine is that you no longer have to sort your recyclables into those impossibly small rectangular bins.  Simply put your paper recyclables in the same blue wheeled cart as the your cans and bottles.  How cool is that?   Almost as cool as the fact that it has wheels.  No more double hernia trying to lift bins full of waterlogged newspapers and junk mail.   Are you an uber-recycler?   You can request  extra blue carts from Recology for free.  Your standard service covers one blue-cart pick-up per week.  If you want to put more than one out, it's a $3 charge per cart.  (editors note:  In 600 posts on this site,  I have never once used the word “uber”.  You probably won't see it again for another 600..)

Getting Rid of the Old Bins.

Love your new carts so much that you want an immediate divorce from the old cans?  No problem.  Attached to the new bins are “Take Me” stickers that you simply apply to your old garbage cans, so when Allied Waste takes the garbage they'll take the old can with it.   If you don't want the old rectangular recycle bins either, you simply leave them on the curb upside down, and Allied Waste will pick them up during their rounds.    According to Recology customer service, you can do this right now, in time for tomorrow's scheduled pick-up from Allied Waste.

So get on it — just what you wanted to do on a 100 degree day, right?

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22 Comments

  1. Anonymous on September 28, 2010 at 7:24 pm

    Sounds like Recology is putting their best foot forward. I also hope that since all recyclables will be in one closed bin, this will cut down or eliminate the recycling thieves that are clearly not an enforcement priority (we have reported them many times and they seem to elude the authorities even with vehicle ID and license number).

    We have had the same thieves in our neighborhood almost regularly, even going onto our property before we put the bins out so they can STEAL. I am waiting for one of them to get cut on a broken bottle and sue us.



  2. Pat B on September 29, 2010 at 3:15 am

    If you want the police to run around chasing can thieves, you need to support a larger police force. Where were you when the force was cut year after year?

    You’d better hope the garbage man doesn’t cut himself. The CA Supreme Court says he CAN sue you.



  3. Pat B on September 29, 2010 at 3:44 am

    Chuck,

    What do you put in your garbage can that takes up more than 32 gallons a week???? When the composting program started we went to a 20 gallon can that holds 3 weeks’ garbage for a family of 2. All we have in our garbage can is packaging, and I wish they’d cut down on that.

    Even Baskin Robbins has gone to paper cups for their shakes, so the whole thing goes in the greenwaste bin except the plastic top, which takes up very little space in the garbage can.

    I believe Recology will recycle all plastics, so I don’t know what will be left to go in the garbage can. We actually had to fight to get them to provide SMALLER cans. Our city council thought 32 was small enough for a minimum. Some councilmen were reluctant to sign up for the hazardous waste pick up program too. That program was so popular that the company had to double their crew. They didn’t want the composting program either; it took us a year of lobbying to get that. Don’t encourage them to think brown!



  4. Chuck Gillooley on September 29, 2010 at 4:42 am

    Pat,

    Take a look at what 32 gallons actually is — each of those tiny white Costco kitchen garbage bags that everyone uses is 13 gallons. So what does that cart hold in theory? About two and a half of those white bags. Or, barely a single black garbage bag. No matter how much we recycle, a family of five will have no problem filling that bin before the week is up. Too bad the next size up is a 64 gallon can — 45 gallon is a standard sized garbage can. That would have been the logical choice.



  5. Michael on September 29, 2010 at 2:39 pm

    So Pat, you think that it’s ok for people to roam your neighborhood and steal whatever they want whether it is on or off your property?

    What is the line that has to be crossed before stealing is right or wrong?

    If a law is on the books, what is the requirement to expect that it be enforced? Is it a monetary value? Is it a level of infraction? Is it traffic related?

    I think the point of that post is that the new bins will help cut down on the bottle poachers that I think MOST every other person in San Carlos wants off of our streets.

    What are your thougths on people who steal recycling? Is it ok and we shodl allow them to do it? Don’t you think if we let them steal recycling, they will start helping themselves to other things in our yards?

    Crime is crime and it should not be tolerated.



  6. Peter on September 30, 2010 at 2:50 am

    If you ask me, this was a bonehead analysis. You can’t put much in a 32 gallon cart. San Francisco residents have the same problem. They just dump the extra trash into the recyclable bins. It defeats the purpose of recycling. Seems to me, the Recology people didn’t use their noodles on this one.



  7. Andres on September 30, 2010 at 5:45 am

    Anyone thought of buying a trash compactor?



  8. Lance on October 7, 2010 at 4:03 am

    Sheriffs Office does respond to theft of recycled cans. Get a life



  9. John on October 7, 2010 at 9:58 pm

    All neighborhoods have people that go around and take the recycling stuff. WHO CARES, it’s garbage, if they want to take it, then let them, what is the problem with all you people and the garbage company complaining about people stealing garbage.

    We pay a fee when we buy this stuff, we could take it back to the store ourselves and get the money, so who cares if a bum takes it and turns it in. Total Greed from everyone, that is everyone’s problem, GREED, that is what is bringing down our society. God hates greed.



  10. Michael on October 8, 2010 at 4:10 pm

    John,

    Greed? Are you serious??

    It’s either right or wrong…Maybe you don’t mind having transients and homeless people rooting around your neighborhood for castoffs. It is not their property and it should not be fair game for them to take. I paid the CRV, I paid the collection fee, so I own them and want them to go to the recycling and benefit our garbage collection companies…they are providing the staff and trucks to collect it; they should get the revenue.

    It begins with looking through trash, but soon you will notice things missing from your yard. Stealing is stealing. If it is in my trash can or recycling bin, it is still mine and I want it to go to the proper processing center. If I want to donate it to a charity or other outlet, I will do that.

    If I put a sign on it saying “free”, then yes, they can take it.

    I think you will change your tune if they hurt themselves on your property and they sue you…and believe me, they will. Do you want to see opportunists the likes of Gloria Allred on your doorstep accusing you of all kinds of offenses? Sounds far-fetched, but it could happen. And before you say it, I am NOT being paranoid.

    They are uninvited people commiting crimes (yes, the law is on the books) and are not welcome in our neighborhoods. What level of crime do you expect to be enforced? Is kidnapping or murder the minimum?



  11. Pat B on October 8, 2010 at 9:05 pm

    Michael,

    I’m sorry you are so angry and bitter that recycling gets you so fired up. I’ve never seen anyone who looks like a “transient” or “homeless” person in our neighborhood. How do you identify those categories of people?

    Actually, your garbage is not your property. Many years ago, the CA Supreme Court decided that once you put it out on the curb you’ve abandoned it and it’s available to all. That’s why cops don’t need a search warrant to pick it up and go through it. If it were your property, they would.

    Many, many laws in San Carlos are not enforced unless someone complains. Most of the houses on my block have some violation of the municipal code in some way, but the city doesn’t go around looking for violations.

    So sorry this is so upsetting to you.



  12. Pat B on October 8, 2010 at 9:11 pm

    Why bother? If you just use the bins properly, you don’t need a compactor. The only thing in our garbage can is what little plastic can’t be recycled yet, and you can squish that down with your hands.



  13. Pat B on October 8, 2010 at 9:14 pm

    What is a bonehead analysis?

    I’ve asked, but no one has yet said what takes up all that room in a 32 gallon garbage can.



  14. Jonquil on October 11, 2010 at 8:45 pm

    In my house, it’s packaging. We recycle bottles and cans (in fact, the new recycling bins are too small for us; we’ll need a second), but a lot of the food we buy from Trader Joe’s comes in transparent plastic clamshells that can’t be recycled. Add in plastic clamshell packaging for things like batteries, printer cartridges, small appliances (recently bought a label maker), the non-biodegradable peanuts some mail-order places use… it adds up. I’m still working on training my kids to put the frozen-food boxes, which are compostable, into the food waste.

    It’s by no means the entire problem, but a lot of our waste stream is large non-shopliftable non-recyclable packaging.



  15. Pat B on October 11, 2010 at 9:06 pm

    I agree. I hate all that stuff. As I understannad it, we will be able to recycle clamshells starting Jan. 1. I think the shrink wrap plastic favored by Costco can go into the grocery bag recycle bin at the store, but that’s a pain. I hope they’ll pick that up too.

    I make it clear to restaurants that I don’t want my leftovers in a styrofoam container inside a plastic bag. It’s too bad our council doesn’t have the spine to outlaw this stuff. Despite all Brian Moura’s bragging about how green we are, we are behind many other cities and SMM County. It took us a year to convince them to sign up for the food waste program.



  16. Anonymous on October 12, 2010 at 4:34 pm

    By the way, did the Vietnamese place you mentioned earlier (on Holly) make a go of it? Is it still in business?



  17. Michael on October 15, 2010 at 11:57 pm

    I see the clamshell containers in many of our neighbors’ recycling bins (not that I am out snooping, I walk our dogs twice a day) and they are always picked up by collection and never left behind. Whether they are too busy to sift threw the curbside bins or they are actually allowed remains to be seen.

    I still find it strrange that so many people are unaware that pizza boxes go in the yardwaste containers and not in the paper.

    We still have not received our new bins so I cannot comment on the sizes of them.



  18. Michael on October 16, 2010 at 12:00 am

    Thanks Pat B…nice to see we can always count on your postive thoughts and sweet-natured comments.



  19. Pat B on October 18, 2010 at 2:30 am

    According to the website, any plastic with a triange and a number 1 through 7 can be recycled. So if your clamshell has a number, put it in the bin.

    I’m always surprised by the pizza boxes too. They actually use a pizza box in their training materials as an example of what does NOT go into the mixed paper. But then I was amazed that anyone could still consider one 32 gallon can insufficient for garbage.

    I don’t have to worry about thieves because I save my cans for an undocumented immigrant I know. They are a wonderful, hardworking family, and I’m happy to help them out any way I can.



  20. Pat B on October 18, 2010 at 2:42 am

    A 32 gallon can is just the average garbage can that most people use. The new ones are a different shape; that’s the only difference. I don’t buy garbage bags, so I don’t know how many of which size fit in a 32 gallon can.



  21. Pat B on October 18, 2010 at 2:49 am

    Anon,

    Yes, the noodle house is still open.



  22. Tim on October 19, 2010 at 5:19 pm

    Not only is it open, but they serve a delicious bowl of soup and their french crepes are awesome. Their version of Chinese food (Viet) beats any Chinese restaurant hands down. prices are very reasobable. At first I thought their restaurant name was weird, but i later found out Bewesnick stand for the co owners Benny, Wesley and Nick.



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