- “Look, we need to talk, I know you haven’t been taking out the plastics.”
Scene shouldered a little flak from readers earlier this month when we questioned Cleveland’s decision to hard-wire recycling bins across the city so The Man can tell if you’re taking out your cans and plastics on a regular basis. Our good government approach was swatted by the environmentally-minded amongst us who believe the program is a smart way to secure long-term savings.
But we weren’t the only ones saying what the f*uck. PD scribe Phillip Morris used his column inches earlier this week to beg the same question; Morris even goes as far as to throw around the label “garbage gestapo” — nicely said, sir.
Morris and Scene agree that, in his words, the program “just seems at odds with what should be the foremost priorities for a city that is physically unsafe, infrastructurally unsound and economically depressed.” Amen.
This article appears in Aug 25-31, 2010.
Sieg Heil! mein fuher Jackson!
Am glad you folks are on the side of reason here…. And yes; kudos to Mr. Morris… My take? It’s fine to be all eco-green and blah, blah, blah. But this is a poorly thought out plan that most cities – that could do it – have chosen not to. Quite frankly, in addition to the big brother aspects, the greedy profit motives, et al; there is a boodle of problems with enforcement. First off; how are landlords going to make sure their tenants comply – unless they inspect their tenants trash each week? Cuz guess what – the landlord gets fined, not the tenant. What about the frail elderly on fixed incomes who can barely get one trash can to the curb in the dead of winter? Are they gonna fine all those grannies? Should we just push them into nursing homes because they’re too decrepit to keep up with our trendy, environmentally friendly city? And think of the poor trash collectors who are normally greeted with a friendly wave and a sigh of relief. Well; not anymore. Instead, they’ll likely be viewed resentfully as the enforcers – the poe-leece. Wanna bet that some folks will lash out; that there will perhaps be some vandalism? And does anyone doubt that somewhere, at some level, someone is getting secretly rich from this high-tech garbage scheme?
I have decided to save all my toilet paper I wipe my ass with and send it to City Hall so they can use it to write more crappy ass laws, rules and regulations on.
If it sounds like shit, if it feels like shit, if it is a shitty law, then it ought to smell like shit too.
They treat us TAXPAYERS like shit, so may as well maintain the status quo.