Posted on 09/23/2014 1:02:29 PM PDT by mojito
The Seattle City Council passed a new ordinance Monday that could mean $1 fines for people who toss too many table scraps into the trash.
Under current Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) rules, people living in single-family homes are encouraged but not required to dispose of food waste and compostable paper products in compost bins.
Apartment buildings must have compost bins available, but residents of apartment buildings aren’t required to use them.
And businesses aren’t subject to any composting requirements.
Under the new rules, collectors can take a cursory look each time they dump trash into a garbage truck.
If they see compostable items make up 10 percent or more of the trash, they’ll enter the violation into a computer system their trucks already carry, and will leave a ticket on the garbage bin that says to expect a $1 fine on the next garbage bill.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.com ...
Compost, schmompost - feed it to some chickens and turn it into eggs!
They have GOT to be kidding. Come on! This is one of those John Semmens semi news/semi satire things, right?
It is true, it is ridiculous and it discriminates against the poor. Some folks do not want to pay extra for a compost bin, have a minuscule yard that they want to keep clean for their children, and cannot afford to put in a top of the line powerful septic systems so they can grind it down the disposal.
Grind and Flush
It'd be cool if a local radio station suggested that as a stunt...
...just sayin’....
Such items at my house would then be somehow tightly wrapped in something before getting into the trash. Others would solve the problem by putting them down the toilet, or just a garbage pile in the side yard.
But it’s only a dollar!!
(for now...)
Only a liberal would want bins full of rotting food near them.
I have a dog that disposes of most of my leftovers.
I do mulching and composting because I have stuff growing and here are the basics——
-— Just about all food waste is 90% water so you might as well get rid of it via your kitchen disposal unit. It will melt down to nothing in any composting effort
-—What is worth composting is fibrous and tough stuff like corn cobs and corn husks. Like artichoke leaves. Not too much food waste is like this
—— Just about all your kitchen waste would be a lot better “recycled” if you had pig and chickens eating it and putting on weight than “composting” it to put on a garden. You are wasting your time composting watery stuff
-—— The best bio mass for mulching and composting is chipped tree trimmings. If you make the effort you can get it for free
—— No I don’t believe in global warming. I am a greenie with some common sense
Don’t they have garbage disposals in their sink?
If one has a dog, one shouldn’t have leftovers.
But how are they going to feed the homeless?
very communist of them
“If they see compostable items make up 10 percent or more of the trash...”
If based on weight...I would demand to see a printout from the scale they used to determine the various weights involved in the measuring of my garbage (total weight, compostable weight, non-compostable weight, actual comparative percentages).
If based on volume...well, you get the drift.
Collectors aren’t science or math majors...but they’re allowed to determine percentages of garbage?
Oh, and my attorney would be asking for this info in court.
You seem knowledgeable, so I’ll ask you a question. Doesn’t some food waste have salt in it? Isn’t salt bad for the compost?
“I am a greenie with some common sense”
It sounds more like you fall in the category of having a “green thumb”. I envy your skills and talents.
Sounds plausible to me .... it is North California after all!
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