Posted on 12/13/2011 9:03:48 PM PST by bamahead
WASHINGTON - It's the law in D.C. - recycle or face a fine from the Department of Public Works. But is enforcement of the law going too far?
Dupont Circle resident Patricia White says she has been fined eight times for throwing homemade cat litter in her trash. The fines total $2,000. White says she shreds old newspaper and junk mail to use as cat litter. She believes she is helping the environment by reusing the paper and avoiding cat litter you will find in stores.
After being fined several times, White says she called the Department of Public Works inspector who issued the tickets. According to White, the inspector admitted to digging through trash looking for violations. White even appealed the violations in D.C. court. Judge Audrey Jenkins agreed with the inspector after White explained the situation. FOX 5 tried to reach Judge Jenkins, but her office has declined to comment.
D.C. Council Member Jack Evans says DPW is going too far with its recycling enforcement. He demanded a meeting with DPW Director Bill Howland to discuss White's case.
White says she will continue to fight the citations and continue to dispose of her cat's litter in the trash and not in the recycling bin.
(Excerpt) Read more at myfoxdc.com ...
That would be “entrapment”. :)
bfl
I was thinking the same thing!!!
I am told that in DC you are not supposed to recycle pizza boxes because of the food particles stuck to the cardboard. Why would they want cat litter in the recycle bins. Oh, I get it, rats eat pizza, but run away from cat waste.
That’s ridiculous. I can guarantee that no one working at a recycling center wants to deal with paper soaked in cat urine or mixed with cat feces. Nor is this type of paper recyclable, since materials contaminated with biological waste are NOT recyclable (even if sterilized).
So what if the woman wants to save a few bucks by shredding paper to use as cat litter? If her cats will use it, fantastic. It’s expensive enough to live in DC as it is.
So the inspector digs through the trash; just think of the inventive minds working on what can be put in the trash waiting for inquiring hands.
In general, recycling is more about indoctrination than anything else. A daily ritual that reinforces the religion of deep ecology. In this particular case, though, I think we have a bureaucrat who WILL be obeyed.
Since this inspector has nothing to do but dig through trash, perhaps his job description should include sorting the trash. After all, the homeowner is paying the inspector's wages and should get something of value for his "work."
You get what you vote for, sister.
A set bear trap can get you in a lot of trouble. Try loose broken glass mixed in with your refuse instead.
Insanity.
The 5 boroughs of NYC do the same thing. My mother used to live in the Bronx and her niece was fined for putting a plastic hanger in the “plastic recycle” bin....reason, that PLASTIC hanger was garbage!!!
The 5 boroughs of NYC do the same thing. My mother used to live in the Bronx and her niece was fined for putting a plastic hanger in the “plastic recycle” bin....reason, that PLASTIC hanger was garbage!!!
“DPW recycling investigators are looking for evidence of co-mingling of trash with recyclables.”
It would seem to me that the biological wastes are NOT recyclable, yet the DC environazi wants her to comingle trash with recyclables. So no matter what she does, she can be fined.
Wonder what she did in the past to earn this regulator’s ire!
It seems to me, once they find you have "broken the rule" once, they figure you'll do it again, so they will continually search through your garbage.
That's how it works in NYC anyway.
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