66 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

I can not see anywhere that it says you can not but the very name "Kitchen Scraps" that implies the limit.

Has anyone noticed the price to buy the bags? They are not cheap. We use one every other day, which would be 180 a year. That is six boxes of 20 or about $130 a year extra cost.

The cards that were mailed out to residents do not specifically forbid garden waste, but they do not include it, either. The closest things are "houseplants" and "flowers."

[drt]

Here's what I find funny: in the City's own material on the new garbage collection program they claim that 30%-33% of current waste is kitchen scraps. Still, the standard green bin given out is 120L, the same size as the grey bin. By their own numbers it could have easily been 1/3rd the size!

[drt]

The cards that were mailed out to residents do not specifically forbid garden waste, but they do not include it, either. The closest things are "houseplants" and "flowers."

From the FAQ

Can any plant material go in the green bin?

What are the restrictions?
Houseplants and cut and dried flowers can go in your green bin. Yard waste is not permitted in the green bin and must be taken to the Public Works Yard.

[drt]

Oh, and one more thing: does anyone know how this affects those in basement apartments? I split utilities with the guy upstairs, but I've used my own garbage bin since I moved in. I have no idea if my suite is "legal" or not (nor do I even know what that means). Can I get my own bins? Will I have to share with the upstairs tenant? I asked my landlord and he was just as clueless.

[Mike K.]

Thanks, drt.

About sharing bins, akimbo (1st page, last post) says he/she will be paying for two separate bins because he has a legal suit and a tenant. Despite not having enough garbage to fill a 120L bin, let alone two, he/she will be paying for the extra bin.

So if you can reach an agreement with the guy upstairs to fill only one 120L bin, go for it. Otherwise ask that your landlord goes for the 180L bin (you can exchange them in March without cost through the end of that month). It won't cost the landlord any more than what he was paying in 2012 to have the 180L garbage bin and the 120L green bin.

[G-Man]

So Jan 30 and still no cans...

[Mike K.]

Do you know what garbage zone you're in?

If it's 6-10 you won't have garbage service until the 18th anyways

[G-Man]

My first is on the 15th but they promised to have it delivered by tomorrow.

[jessief]

Regarding the size of the bins...I've heard that it has to do with the machine that picks them up? That they have to be a minimum size to work with the truck mechanisms already in place?

[Mike K.]

There are three bin sizes, 80L, 120L and 180L. I have a feeling had the green bins been delivered at the 80L size lots of homeowners would have been very upset over paying an almost equal price for significantly less volume of waste with 50% reduction in pick ups. With two 120L bins, at least the perception is that homeowners are not giving up garbage capacity (but in truth, of course, how many families will fill 120L of food scraps bi-weekly without throwing in garden waste?).

[G-Man]

You could simply saute your lawn clippings a bit.

[akimbo]

Here's what I find funny: in the City's own material on the new garbage collection program they claim that 30%-33% of current waste is kitchen scraps. Still, the standard green bin given out is 120L, the same size as the grey bin. By their own numbers it could have easily been 1/3rd the size!

Yes, but pick up is every two weeks.

[VicHockeyFan]

Speaking of workers that could be replaced, I see City parking attendants have a petition-drive going to save their jobs from automation (a suggestion in budget cuts talks).

[drt]

Put my kitchen scraps in the green bin this morning. I think between myself and the guy upstairs we managed to fill it up to about 2% capacity. I managed to fill up about a 1/5th of a Thrifty's paper bag of kitchen scraps, and I was being extra careful not to throw any in the trash.

[Mike K.]

How is everyone faring with the new garbage collection rules and decreased pick-up frequency?

To be honest we've actually managed to do alright now that a lot of the garbage produced at the house is actual garbage and not recyclables or food waste. This morning crews will be picking up our new bins for the first time and other than an additional bag of garbage (zones 6-10 receive only one pick-up in Feb, but excess bags picked up by crews) we squeaked by

[Baro]

No problem here, but that green bin is a total waste. I'll never fill it more than 5% even if I saved up. I just don't understand how much food the city seems to think we're throwing away. Then again I throw pretty much anything compostable outside. So that poor bin is just going to sit there totally unused forever.

[Mike K.]

We managed to fill it a quarter or a third (at best) of the way.

This makes me think that the City may opt to allow garden waste but they want to first see just how much food waste is produced. I doubt they have the capacity to accommodate a full green bin with every garbage pickup at this point in time.

[Mike K.]

The City of Victoria has updated us on the green bin size, saying that the bins are 120L to make them more ergonomic for crews. There is the option of requesting the 80L garbage bin but few are likely to request such a small bin.

[G-Man]

We filled our garbage to capacity while our green bin was only about 10% full but they did not get our bins to us by the proper date so at least two bags of garbage were not sorted and I was not going to back through it. My biggest issue is with tissues and such from bathroom garbages which can go into the green bin but it is not convenient or pleasant to re-sort bathroom garbages. I am trying to find some some bathroom bins with dual compartments so that we can sort in each garbage location.

[Mike K.]

We throw bathroom tissues used to wipe the counter, or whatever, into the toilet. It gets flushed eventually. It's not ideal but it solves the problem of having to pick out tissues from the trash.

This morning we saw the garbage crews having a bit of a difficult time with some bins as they were picked up by the mechanism. At one point a garbage bin had overturned spilling the contents onto the street. I also noticed that we were the only house on our block that carted the bins to the street as required under the new rules. I'm guessing most folks simply forgot about the pick up day being today or do not even realize that bins need to be moved.