Posted on 01/28/2015 10:12:24 AM PST by Reverend Saltine
Seattle to Fine Residents for Throwing Food in the Garbage
In an attempt to shame residents of their city, a new Seattle law will levy a fine on homes that do not properly sort food out of their garbage.
Emblazoned with a red citation tag, violators will start to be fined anywhere from $1-$50 in July. For now, Seattle residents will be publicly shamed by the ‘Scarlet Letter’-like tags.
US Food Waste Food waste is a big, and still growing, problem. (Charles Krupa/AP Photo) "I'm sure neighbors are going to see these on their other neighbors' cans," says Rodney Watkins, a lead driver for Recology CleanScapes, a waste contractor for the city. He's on the front lines of enforcing these rules.
The tags are part of, what the city calls, a “public education campaign.”
In an interview with NPR, Watkins details how he goes about enforcing the draconian statute:
"You can see all the oranges and coffee grounds," he says, raising one lid.” All that makes great compost. You can put that in your compost bin and buy it back next year in a bag and put it in your garden."
The ultimate goal of the law is to boost composting while reducing greenhouse gasses:
Food waste is both an economic and environmental burden. Transporting the waste, especially for distances as far as Seattle does, is costly. So too is allowing it to sit out in the open, where it produces methane, one of the most harmful greenhouses gases, as it rots. The second largest component of landfills in the United States is organic waste, and landfills are the single largest source of methane gas.
The EPA has already begun a campaign to achieve laws similar to Seattle’s.
The outstanding question remains: what purview is it of government to act as people’s trash nanny?
Survey says YES.
http://www.mhealthtalk.com/smart-toilets-a-royal-flush-for-home-healthcare/
“In Japan, Panasonic sells a very popular smart toilet that learns who you are by estimating your weight and percent body fat and then chemically analyzes your output and reports it to a health monitoring service..."
There was a family in NYC that was raising chickens in their trendy, Chelsea apartment.
wow, not only is feudalsim back, but can we now resume just tossing everything out a window? that’s be cooL....
I guess the legislators feel they have less in common with humans than they do with rats, cockroaches and flies...
i believe that’s been a matter of record for awhile
s Seattle run by feel good.liberals??? Is that a subtext to all of this???
I don’t know that but it is across the river from Portland Oregon - does that explain a little?
And just how can apartment dwellers and those who live in condos with no yard “compost” their waste? Do the nannies ever think these things through? If I remember correctly orange peels and coffee grounds aren’t supposed to be put in a garbage disposal, are they?
Why doesn’t the city ask the residents to put all compostable garbage together, pick it up and take it to a facility that will use it to create compost the city can then sell for a profit?
What about food rejected by school children in their lunches? Even before Michelle got involved mandating what can and can not be provided for school lunches, schools threw out massive amounts of food each day.
i’ve heard of lions and alligators but never chickens; thatIS trendy. Nobody raises gorillas though; they cn help with house work but then you have a 500 lb gorilla in the room, and...wiat...does that make sense?
1) You may not throw away food products in the garbage. You must compost.
2) You may not compost, those create greenhouse gasses. You must incinerate.
3) You may not incinerate, that adds to atmospheric particle pollution. You must sequester and store.
4) You may not sequester and store, that poses disease risks.
5) You may not eat.
who is going to open and inspect all the black plastic bags?
HEY!!! You got a bathtub, RIGHT? KWITCHERBITCHIN
Red wiggler worms. If done right it produces almost no odor (usually much less than a average kitchen waste basket) and you can do it in a small container that fits under your kitchen sink. Of course then you have worm castings or what gardeners call blackgold. And if you don't garden then you got to get rid of the worm castings somehow.
Having lived in the greater Seattle area I can say confidently the place is a sea of boiling putrid stupid. The place is just unlivable....
That someone had to vote for...
“Food scraps and food-soiled paper can be placed only in your city-provided food and yard waste cart. Do not put food scraps and food-soiled paper in any other yard waste container”
http://www.seattle.gov/util/MyServices/FoodYard/HouseResidents/WhatsAccepted/index.htm
It isn’t a big deal. It just costs much more money to dispose of the “garbage” than “food and compostables” which can be treated and sold as compost.
So they’re enforcing the rules for separation.
If residents don’t like it they can tell the city to charge more and not enforce the seperating.
I must be the only person who tried composting, used it in my garden, and promptly had all my vegetable plants die on me. Worst gardener in the world.
Also, there are only some things that can go into the compost pile. Left over meat? No way!
School cafeterias get a pass since what they will put in isn’t rea food
LOL! Sounds like a plan. Guess I’ll be going out to various establishments to take care of my business.
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