Recycling Can Catastrophe

"I got a ticket this morning from the sanitation department due to a mess made by the people who dig through our recycling for cans and bottles," Erikka writes on the Brooklynian Park Slope message board, "Turns out they started digging in the garbage as well, and left garbage strewn all over the sidewalk." We've had exactly the same problem — and coupled with the senile nextdoor neighbor who takes out our recycling bin on the trash-only days — we've been hit with quite a few fines. Now we keep the recycling in the house until pick-up night, but does anyone have any tips on dealing with messy can collectors?
Can Collectors: Thanks for the Mess (and Fine) [Daily Slope]
Photo by Lauren Max

Comments

I've had a very similar problem. It usually begins with me hearing the clanging of bottles outside my apartment at like 5AM. I usually go to my window and start screaming like a psycho and they leave. I'm sure there is a better alternative.

On multiple occasions I have also walked outside after trash pickup to find my trash strewn all over the street - the collectors refusing to pick it up after someone tore thorugh the bags. Its really lovely, picking up my and my neighbors garbage at 6:30 AM as I'm leaving for work - watching my torn up bank statements floating down the street.

Posted by: KP at September 20, 2006 10:07 AM

man with a rifle on the roof helps

Posted by: Anonymous at September 20, 2006 10:24 AM

You people crack me up! Welcome to reality. Garbage picking and garbage strewing are just a fact of life in Brooklyn. Theres's not much you can do about short of arming yourself and keeping watch. The worst garbage related story I have is that someone once left two giant garbage bags in front of my house that were filled with expired boxes of Fruity Pebbles. It was downright surrealistic.

Posted by: bigmissfrenchie at September 20, 2006 10:51 AM

KP: I hope you were kidding, but you should always SHRED your bank statements and anything financial that has your personal info on it!

Posted by: Anonymous at September 20, 2006 11:13 AM

don't mix returnables with recycling. Put in a different bag.
Same with regular trash.. if throwing out old books, clothes, or something someone might find of use put in another bag. Once picker sees a bag might contain something of use- everything gets dumped.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 20, 2006 11:31 AM

I agree with KP - I recently chased a homeless guy away by threatening to call the cops on him. He left in a hurry. It's amazing how much of a mess one person can make in such a short period of time.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 20, 2006 12:32 PM

i've had the unfortunate experience of getting a ticket for having recyclables in a regular trash bag. i'm not going to go in and reorganize my trash and there's only so much i can do in terms of regulating my tenants. the worst part is that the officer who wrote up the ticket is the person who tore my trash bags open leaving a mess all over the sidewalk.

my only advice for folks who want to discourage garbage picking is to put returnables out separately as well as any garbage that might be useful. the main thing is to make it obvious that you are doing this otherwise the picking continues.

Posted by: benno at September 20, 2006 2:31 PM

identity theft is an epidemic problem in brooklyn.. shred everything, and avoid giving you ssn to anyone.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 20, 2006 4:27 PM

i used to take out the trash for my parents brownstone in manhattan and i used to leave all returnables lined up on the side of the garbage area to make it clear that there wasn't anything in there, and the clear bags help. and keeping the newspapers and magazines tied up instead of in bags.

Posted by: Dahlia at September 22, 2006 3:27 PM

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September 20, 2006

Recycling Can Catastrophe

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