In San Francisco, I've Been Liberalled!
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The little bin that could?
When I opened my apartment door this morning I was greeted by a small plastic pail sitting on my doorstep. I looked down the hallway and saw one sitting in front of every doorway in my hall. In fact, every apartment had one there! I was perplexed. Then I learned there is a mandatory composting law in San Francisco. If I had some carrot peels and I didn’t put them in that little plastic pail I’d be a lawbreaker!
I still don’t know who paid for these little plastic pails but on Amazon they are going for about $20.00 each. With 650,000 residents in San Francisco that’s a lot of money!
I’m not against composting per se but forcing people to do it to save the planet seems a little absurd. Here’s what is said about this law (it passed back in June):
The measure, which will take effect this fall, is intended to help increase landfill diversion rates to 75% by 2010 as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
So these bins are supposed to help the planet (reduce global warming) and reduce what goes into landfills. Reducing landfill waste is an admirable goal, I just have to wonder about the mandatory nature of this and the link to global warming cited as a reason.
The bin I found was made in Canada. Takes a lot of energy to create this little thing… it’s very sturdy. Takes a lot of energy to ship and distribute it, too. Also, this thing is not going to recycle if it’s thrown out (I’d imagine many will be). It also has a plastic coated brochure in it and a plastic sticker taped on it. And even though it is small, in the old apartment building in which I live if you throw food in there and let it sit insects and mice will be attracted to it (the top has tiny holes in it). In the trash room I found a green plastic bin into which we are to dump our compost. That thing is definitely going to start smelling soon and will definitely start attracting pests.
Wouldn't empty cat litter buckets have done the same thing?
Pests will lead to infestation which will lead to an exterminator which will lead to environmentally unfriendly pesticide to be sprayed everywhere.
I produce very little composting materials so it would probably take me a month to fill this little pail up. I’m not going to let this thing sit around with rotting food for a month and I’m not going to carry it to the basement to empty three carrots worth of compost, either.
And the whole global warming thing… when organic matter decomposes it produces many different types of gasses… it’s still going to decompose somewhere so it’s still going to release those gases. What has been saved?
I’d like to think that those who made out on this scheme are the idiots on the Board of Supervisors who voted for it (they can claim they are helping to save the planet) and the Canadian company that makes this thing.
I’d also like to say that our trash room, which also doubles as an emergency exit, is so stuffed with trash cans, composting cans, and recycling cans that it’s tough to get out the door… I’m sure if there was an emergency that wouldn’t pose any problems getting people out in a hurry.
Now I just need to find out who paid for it… I’m thinking me, the taxpayer… and I’m wondering why San Francisco’s budget is such a mess.
Hmmm…
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9:23 AM
It’s the typical liberal mindset. If a conservative thinks composting is good, he will start doing it and will tell his friends why he thinks they should do it too. If a liberal thinks composting is good, he petitions the government to pass a law making it mandatory. One view is about personal decision making and responsibility while the other is about government control.
.-= Forgotten Liberty´s last blog ..Why Does Obama Want War Criminals Tried in a Civilian Court? =-.
9:35 AM
Yes… that’s why SF is the only city in America that requires composting!
11:53 AM
You can bet that this added recycling program costs the city a pretty penny; All of the profitable, socially productive, wealth enhancing opportunities for recycling were long ago co-opted by the private sector: Commercial and industrial recycling is a vibrant, profitable market. Collecting from consumers is far more costly and cities go a long way to disguise subsidies by using accounting tricks.
I would bet that if anyone at a local newspaper (like the Chron–OK, it’s not gonna happen) would research the true cost of composting in an expensive city like S.F., it would be eye-opening to city residents.
.-= vulcanhammer´s last blog ..I hope this does not come to pass =-.
1:03 PM
Harrison, as soon as I started reading this post, I was waiting for it and you nailed it: Decomposition happens! Whether its put in a cool little plastic container or dumped into a landfill, food waste is going to gas-off.
San Fran is by far the most beautiful big city I’ve ever visited. Shame it is run by such a bunch of whack jobs.
1:43 PM
Yes if you don’t bother to notice the homeless who are hear because of the Liberals, or the illegal aliens who are here because of the Liberals (one recently killed someone in a car accident because the police could not send him back to where he belonged), or if you turn the other cheek to the high taxes that force the police to live elsewhere so they don’t live where they work as they used to, or if we forget all the silly rules and taxes that create hardships for small businesses increasing the unemployment it’s a fantastic place!
8:19 PM
I wrote a post on compost a while back. You would probably appreciate it:
http://independentbloghorn.com/2008/07/roadkill/
.-= burro´s last blog ..Disinterested incompetence =-.
8:45 PM
How environmentally friendly is it to drive all across a state looking for roadkill to compost? I’d imagine on slower days when workers have to get their roadkill compost quotas up they would swerve to maybe hit a family dog or something.
Still, I find it novel to devote one’s entire career to the subject. God bless America!
9:14 PM
Good point about the composting bucket being made of plastic. It also seems a bit inefficient for every apartment dweller to have his own little composting bucket. I wonder if it would make more sense for the city to set up composting bins on every block, or one for each whole apartment building. As for the cost, you would have to do a more detailed analysis, but I guess there is a trade-off between making each person more conscious of reducing his own garbage, which should reduce the number of trucks and the amount of landfill the city needs, which saves the city money; versus the cost of buying all those plastic buckets for every citizen. It seems entirely possible that the city will eventually save money with this program. I also don’t necessarily see this as an ideological issue. The trash each one of us throws out is everyone’s problem, and to some extent we have to deal with it in a collective manner.
.-= Joe Markowitz´s last blog ..New York is not afraid of terrorists. =-.
10:47 PM
I agree reducing trash is a noble goal, I simply reject heavy-handed methods to reach this goal.