City people- finally got the blue bins-- anyone got the inside scoop?

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Permalink Reply by Tom Dworzanski on October 11, 2013 at 10:41am

I saw some being put out on the southern tip of Norwood Park yesterday. I think they're just getting started.

Apie (10.6) said:

NW side doesnt have them yet.

Also, here's a document an image thing that seems to credit the mayor with the push:

Source: http://www.ward41.com/?p=1985

And finally some FAQ's:

Source: http://www.ward41.com/?p=1976

This same alderman had a blog post a few weeks ago with an awesome image of blue containers stacked in a warehouse. I can't seem to find that any more.

One final comment, when I lived in Queens (NYC) a few years ago they had a recycling program that was mandatory. They sent out sanitation enforcement people who wrote stiff (I think like $120) tickets for having anything recyclable in the regular trash.

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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on October 11, 2013 at 12:15pm

It is not urban legend. In some areas (e.g. mine) when the blue bags were being used, they were in fact just going in with the regular trash- as my Alderman's office explained, it was something between a trial and a training process, with the results being used to assess which neighborhoods would get blue bins and which wouldn't.

I have also personally seen the recycling being processed, so I know that in the past at least some of it was genuinely processed and recycled.

Knowing that there's a separate pickup helps.

Any idea how they handle it when they see a bin is not being used properly?

igz said:

when i moved to chicago 6 years ago, i quickly asked what the blue bins were as i have never seen or heard of that before.  my housemates explained to me they were recycling but in same breath they said "but we heard it just goes to trash anyway". that someone somewhere some time ago (as all urban legends start) saw blue bags being tossed in with regular trash. over the years, referring to that, i have often heard "yeah i heard that story too".

i think it was just an urban legend, and even if true, it seems the blue bins were part of correcting that.

a separate truck (a blue one like the bins) on a different biweekly schedule than the weekly garbage truck does pick up the recycling. but where it goes from there, i have no clue.

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Permalink Reply by Apie (11) on October 11, 2013 at 1:28pm

That was the flyer we rec'd in the mail a few weeks ago.  Im N. of Montrose and W of Austin...I know I've seen some bins a few blocks to the E. 

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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on October 13, 2013 at 10:24pm

So, I was really really happy about this the night I got home and brought the bins around to the back and such..... but...

anyone know how blue bins that end up filled with regular trash get handled?

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Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on October 14, 2013 at 7:32am

I think they said that the recyclers will not pick them up.  Of course, neither will the regular garbage truck folks. Which means that if you want it picked up, guess who has to do the transfer?

We keep our blue bins inside our fence.  Some of our neighbors keep them in the garage.  Then they go out early on the morning that they are to be picked up.  

h' $550 said:

So, I was really really happy about this the night I got home and brought the bins around to the back and such..... but...

anyone know how blue bins that end up filled with regular trash get handled?

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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on October 14, 2013 at 8:38am

We were given information to the effect that they will be emptied every other week, but any time during that week, thus we're expected to keep them out that entire week. They gave us a little calendar with the pickup weeks highlighted. How do you know your day?

Lisa Curcio 6.5 mi said:

I think they said that the recyclers will not pick them up.  Of course, neither will the regular garbage truck folks. Which means that if you want it picked up, guess who has to do the transfer?

We keep our blue bins inside our fence.  Some of our neighbors keep them in the garage.  Then they go out early on the morning that they are to be picked up.  

h' $550 said:

So, I was really really happy about this the night I got home and brought the bins around to the back and such..... but...

anyone know how blue bins that end up filled with regular trash get handled?

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Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on October 14, 2013 at 10:02am

We have pickup from Waste Management and they gave us a specific day of the week every two weeks. If you are in a city pickup zone they are not so specific. I would still keep them inside as much as possible.

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Permalink Reply by Reboot Oxnard on October 14, 2013 at 10:25am

It really does appear that the City has made huge strides and is effectively recycling quite a bit of material through the blue bin program, unlike the old blue bag nonsense. It's regrettable that the blue bag scam continues to resonate today and taint the reputation of the blue bins.

More recycling would be better but the blue bins are a significant step in the right direction.

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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on October 14, 2013 at 11:48am

Well, the good news is that the neighbor who's responsible for crap being thrown in the blue bin is likely available to help empty that bin into one of the black ones....  Not really space for two on my patio, unfortunately.

Lisa Curcio 6.5 mi said:

We have pickup from Waste Management and they gave us a specific day of the week every two weeks. If you are in a city pickup zone they are not so specific. I would still keep them inside as much as possible.

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