Friday, March 21, 2008

garbage in, garbage out

item 1: i rolled my dumpster to the curb this morning. big deal? so does everyone else on 48th street? well, maybe, but this is the first time since long before i broke my collarbone in january. the last time i took my "pay as you throw" mini-dumpster to the curb was sometime in december. how do i know? well, for one, the huge snowfalls of the now-ended winter blocked the gate at the end of my driveway, and i didn't need to take it out before i broke my wing, and couldn't thereafter. some landscaping now that the ice has left the surrounding area allowed me to roll the brown buddy of mine out front, filled with an odd assortment of genuine trash and decaying crap from the basement, and before tip-off of drake-western kentucky, the coffin for my cast-offs will be back in place for a few more months.
my smaller green recycling basket, which sees much more action, sits more conveniently on my front porch during the winter months.
.....
item 2: i don't like the proposed recycling plan which allows residents simply to put everything recyclable into one roll-away container and then have us pay to have someone else sort it.
.....
item 3: another reason to think before you drink is this news item. in brief, a giant coffee chain has long had this tipping policy: throw cash into a tip jar, and the shift supervisors get it to share. it doesn't go entirely to the baristas who take your order, make your beverage, and set it on the counter for you to pick up. "...spokeswoman Valerie O'Neil said the company planned an immediate appeal, calling the ruling 'fundamentally unfair and beyond all common sense and reason.'"
[some folks think that, as supervisors, the "salary" they receive should be sufficient compensation.] this policy, coming from the mega-corporation which as recently as last month shut down ALL stores for a THREE HOUR training session, during which they taught the baristas how to make coffee beverages.
now, i realize that in this sequence, it would appear that perhaps the initial corporate tip policy was justified. i would suggest, however, that the true coffee lover would see this whole sordid affair as perhaps a reason to reflect on where one buys one's coffee and coffee beverages.

9 comments:

Buckshot77 said...

I've got to say I disagree on the recycling bin thing Kim. We routinely fill up 3 of the green bins during our 2 week cycles. We all ready pay the garbage man to sort it curbside as they still have to empty everything by hand and sort at the same time. It's not like you can really sort everything into separate neat little piles in a single bin (part of the reason we use 3 bins other than sheer quantity).

From the news article I saw, most of the sorting will be done mechanically and on top of that, the faster pickup times for the bins will decrease fuel consumption on the trucks.

Our friends in LA have the recycle type trash can and it's a lot more convinient to use. As we all know, convinience is the best bet for getting most people to do something. I'm just pissed that it's not supposed to happen until December.

the mostly reverend said...

that may well be; i'm just a single guy here with my little piles of crap, and it's no biggie for me. if it really DOES increase recycling, then that's very good.
but i look forward to teaching my grandkids what is recyclable and why, and the hands-on approach to sorting helps them to comprehend better, rather than just tossing all blithely into a tub.
it also stresses how MUCH we consume, and it affords a chance to talk about the need to consume less.

one goal, certainly, is to recycle more. but a larger goal SHOULD be to consume LESS. it's the hands-on hippie approach to life: make everything an opportunity to learn something good.

Buckshot77 said...

Good point on consuming less. I was going to mention something about the fact that it might be that we consume quite a bit as part of why we need 3 bins. We did manage to switch to using mostly our own nylon bags at the grocery store in lieu of the plastic bags even if they do get recycled. Our biggest single recycled item that I wish there was an easy way to decrease is plastic/cardboard beverage cartons. It seems a number of our beverage choices aren't available in larger than 20 fluid ounces.

Anonymous said...

last week Dorothy and I where on our way out of town and wanted to get some coffee for the road. We stopped at 4bucks cause it was on the way. One thing I've been trying to do is use less to go cups this year. So when I do have to use one I save it in the car so I can reuse it later. So I'm ordering at 4bucks and the manager comes up to me and says "you can't use that cup" the cup had no other companys name on it. Just a fome white cup. I said "why" she said "store policy". So she gives me my coffee in a 4bucks cup and I pour it out into my cup and leave hers on the counter. I told her that i was just trying to reduce waist and she tell me that they are one of the only coffee shops in town that recycle. Thats total bull shit. They all do. So if you needed another reason to not go to 4bucks now you have it.
Chad

bryan said...

chad -- but what if someone gave me a gift card? Can I still use it? I think there's, like, 2.78 left on it, and I'd really like some caffeine later. Please advise.

Oh, and they let me use my tumbler there and give the 10-cent discount.

On recycling ... Omaha is set up like Des Moines -- throw it all in there and let us sort it. I'm cool with it, because then recycling requires no more thought than "garbage goes here, recyling goes there." Considering the state of society in general -- and especially in Nebraska -- that's probably for the best.

bryan said...

chad -- but what if someone gave me a gift card? Can I still use it? I think there's, like, 2.78 left on it, and I'd really like some caffeine later. Please advise.

Oh, and they let me use my tumbler there and give the 10-cent discount.

On recycling ... Omaha is set up like Des Moines -- throw it all in there and let us sort it. I'm cool with it, because then recycling requires no more thought than "garbage goes here, recyling goes there." Considering the state of society in general -- and especially in Nebraska -- that's probably for the best.

the mostly reverend said...

bryan--are you recycling these comments,
or are you throwing them away?
;-))

Steve Fuller said...

My biggest problem with recycling is that they don't take enough stuff. I have plastics with the little triangles and numbers on them and they won't take them. They won't take certain colors of glass, etc etc etc. Of course at this point, the damn recycle guys won't stop here unless we call them, since we're the only house on the street. *sigh*

the mostly reverend said...

the high price of living in the burbs, dude.
of course, you could build a trailer and haul your recyclables to a drop-off point.

maybe we'll have a class on building trailers at the kollective...