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[fluffydelusions]

In Seattle, wasting food will now earn you a scarlet letter — well, a scarlet tag, to be more accurate.

The bright red tag, posted on a garbage bin, tells everyone who sees it that you've violated a new city law that makes it illegal to put food into trash cans.

"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.

Seattle is the first city in the nation to fine homeowners for not properly sorting their garbage. The law took effect on Jan. 1 as a bid to keep food out of landfills. Other cities like San Francisco and Vancouver mandate composting, but don't penalize homeowners directly.

As Watkins made the rounds in Maple Leaf, a residential neighborhood of Seattle, earlier this month, he appeared disheartened to find an entire red velvet cake in someone's trash bin. Any household with more than 10 percent food in its garbage earns a bright red tag notifying it of the infraction.

"Right now, I'm tagging probably every fifth can," Watkins says. "I don't know if that's just the holidays, or the fact that I'm actually paying a lot more attention."

Watkins doesn't have to comb through the trash — the forbidden items are plain to see.

"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."

Seattle Public Utilities estimates that every family in the city throws away some 400 pounds of food each year. The city gives households bins to fill with their food and yard waste. But residents don't have to compost it themselves: They can just leave the bins curbside and have the city pick it up for a fee.

The new law is meant to help Seattle increase its recycling and composting rate to 60 percent of all its waste — the city is currently 4 percentage points below that.

Sherri Erkel and her daughter, Asa, cook dinner in their kitchen in Iowa City, Iowa. The Erkel family is part of an EPA study measuring the amount of food wasted in U.S. homes.

The red tags are part of the public education campaign about the new law; the city won't actually start issuing fines until July. Single households will pay $1 per violation, but apartments, condos and commercial buildings could be fined $50. That has apartment and condominium dwellers a little nervous.

Jim Ward owns a condo in a large building in the Laurelhurst neighborhood. He says his neighbors include people from many different countries who may not be familiar with Seattle's recycling rules. Ward came down to the building's recycling bin recently and it was a mess.

"I found dirty rags with oil on them and just really messy pieces of plastic that were wet," he says. So Ward took the opportunity to do some outreach.

"I ended up actually taking those things and putting them on the main counter in the lobby of the condominium, and I just wrote a note to everyone and I said, 'Are these things recyclable?' "

Seattle's push for more recycling comes as the state's overall recycling rate has gone down slightly. The Washington Department of Ecology says the recycling rate slipped to 49 percent in 2013 from 50, although that's still among the highest in the nation.

There may not be a pot of gold at the end of these rainbows, but there is an anaerobic digestion facility turning food waste into energy at Jordan Dairy Farm in Rutland, Mass.

The city's consumer recycling capabilities are pretty high-tech, with machines to separate paper, glass and plastic. And come July, Seattle will also start issuing fines for too much recyclable materials mixed in the trash. That has been illegal for several years, but haulers had just been leaving garbage on the curb when that happened.

Now, leaving an empty tub of butter or mayonnaise jar in the rubbish bin could earn you a red tag, too.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/20...the-trash-in-seattle-you-ll-be-fined-for-that

 

[Tiktaalik]

Vancouver is just getting started with mandatory food scraps recycling, so I imagine there'll be no fines for the first few years. A very obvious-to-everyone note on the garbage can that you should be recycling your food scraps is a good way to guilt people into trying harder.

 

[cheststrongwell]

Sounds like a good way to fuck your neighbors.

 

[Icefire1424]

To be honest, this is the first I've ever actually heard of "food scrap recycling". Seems like an excellent idea in practice though.

Edit: The recycling part sounds like a good idea. The fining part? Might be a bit early for that, and as the guy above me pointed out, could probably be abused.

 

[Josh7289]

I like the idea.

Sounds like a good way to fuck your neighbors.

But this is a concern.

 

[Cow Mengde]

Good, this will teach people not to waste food. It really is a shame to throw stuff away like that. I've seen my coworkers throw away half a tray of rice cause they were full.

 

[studyguy]

A friend of mine had his identity stolen through what it he later found was a card thrown out in the trash by accident. If I saw someone rifling through my trash, I'd probably call the fucking cops.

 

[teruterubozu]

Sounds neat, but the sticker-shaming part promotes nosy neighbors.

 

[perfectchaos007]

There's a Bullshit! episode that Penn and Teller did about sorting garbage. Worth a watch if you're a showtime subscriber or can find it on the internet

 

[FyreWulff]

I love composting, problem is a lot of neighborhoods ban it because it attracts the stray animals and looks unsightly unless you shell out for a fancy enclosure

if cities would basically give everyone a cheap enclosure that kept animals out more people would do it

 

[CornBurrito]

Good, this will teach people not to waste food. It really is a shame to throw stuff away like that. I've seen my coworkers throw away half a tray of rice cause they were full.

It isn't like that rice would be going to the hungry.

 

[B-Dex]

Garbage sorting is such a pain. Especially since people in condos and apartments don't have to. They still dump everything in a dumpster.

I have 3 bins to sort and it gets collected differently each week.

 

[Stinkles]

There's a Bullshit! episode that Penn and Teller did about sorting garbage. Worth a watch if you're a showtime subscriber or can find it on the internet

Seattle really does compost all the compostables and pickup is weekly, free and they give you an enormous bin. It's actually pretty useful once you get used to it.

 

[Somnid]

If they give you bins and an easy means to compost it I'm okay with it.

I'm really irked at my current apartment complex because they have a trash service that overly complicates things. I get one bin, which can have trash or recyclables but not both and if it has recyclables it needs special colored bags that are only sold at the hardware store. So I need to buy and store a new bin, another set of bags, swap the full bags into the pickup bin, which requires staggering when I throw the trash out. So I basically stopped recycling.

 

[FyreWulff]

If they give you bins and an easy means to compost it I'm okay with it.

I'm really irked at my current apartment complex because they have a trash service that overly complicates things. I get one bin, which can have trash or recyclables but not both and if it has recyclables it needs special colored bags that are only sold at the hardware store. So I need to buy and store a new bin, another set of bags, swap the full bags into the pickup bin, which requires staggering when I throw the trash out. So I basically stopped recycling.

Damn.

My home city switched to single-stream recycling, which means you don't need to do any sorting at all when putting your stuff in the recycling bin. The tradeoff is the city no longer recycles glass because the single stream process can't handle it. you have to take it to the glass place yourself.

when I was in VancouverBC and Portland it was cool to see actual giant cans for recyclables and stuff

 

[PartlyCloudlike]

Good, this will teach people not to waste food. It really is a shame to throw stuff away like that. I've seen my coworkers throw away half a tray of rice cause they were full.

It isn't like that rice would be going to the hungry.

Overeating is a big problem in America. If someone decides he can't finish his burger and fries, then he's better off throwing it away and sparing his health than forcing it down. The cents you waste in food isn't worth the potential health-related costs associated with overeating. That doesn't mean I support wasting food. Portions could be smaller, and people also tend to overbuy. It'd be nice if I could repackage my uneaten food and donate it to the needy, but that isn't realistic. Rather, if this was an ongoing dilemma, I'd have to reassess my whole approach to food quantity.

 

[EvilMario]

Garbage sorting is such a pain. Especially since people in condos and apartments don't have to. They still dump everything in a dumpster.

I have 3 bins to sort and it gets collected differently each week.

Most tenants in our building are pretty good about using the green bins. They're all full, or nearly full once a week they come around to pick it up. Definitely no dumpster here, recycling, compost and trash all in their own place. *Canada

 

[tcrunch]

Where I live if you put too many food scraps in the bins rattlesnakes will come and sit under them. They're not directed by the city to do so, they just like the smell.

 

[Nikodemos]

Where I live if you put too many food scraps in the bins rattlesnakes will come and sit under them. They're not directed by the city to do so, they just like the smell.

No, they don't. Or, rather, they don't care about it. They do know, however, that their prey (rats) is attracted to the smell of rotting food.

 

[Damaniel]

There's a Bullshit! episode that Penn and Teller did about sorting garbage. Worth a watch if you're a showtime subscriber or can find it on the internet

I'm reluctant to believe anything that Penn and Teller talk about outside of their act; Penn is a hardcore libertarian with a heavily anti-government agenda. Most Bullshit! episodes more or less exist to take digs at things that he doesn't personally like, regardless of actual merit.

That said, I also live in a city that has food scrap recycling. My only complaint with it is that the provided container is extremely small, so not everything that a five member family doesn't use will fit. Of course, our garbage cans are excessively small too (and with pickup only every other week to boot).

 

[teruterubozu]

Where I live if you put too many food scraps in the bins rattlesnakes will come and sit under them. They're not directed by the city to do so, they just like the smell.

We get damn seagulls. They open the bin, peck the bags open and scatter the trash everywhere.

 

[U n i o n 0015]

LOL, my trash guys are so effin lazy there is no way they'd take the time to affix a sticker to my bins. I'm lucky they actually pick up my damn trash on some pickup days.

 

[Valkyr Junkie]

There's a Bullshit! episode that Penn and Teller did about sorting garbage. Worth a watch if you're a showtime subscriber or can find it on the internet

Yes, recycling paper, plastic, and glass is mostly bullshit.

What does that have to do with composting though?

 

[gutter_trash]

that is retarded, especially for small appartment. Your tiny kitchen will be taken over by 3 bins

When I forget to throw out my garbage on garbage day, i just toss my garbage into the sidewalk municipal waste can.
Hey, i pay my municipal taxes,

 

[joelseph]

Garbage shaming has been going on for a long time. It's a mark against your alley when the rat control signs go up.

 

[Somnid]

Damn.

My home city switched to single-stream recycling, which means you don't need to do any sorting at all when putting your stuff in the recycling bin. The tradeoff is the city no longer recycles glass because the single stream process can't handle it. you have to take it to the glass place yourself.

when I was in Vancouver and Portland it was cool to see actual giant cans for recyclables and stuff

We have single stream too, it's just this particular complex's trash service is really anal about everything. Can't throw out more than fits in a closed bin or they pick up none of it, the bin must be out a certain time window or they don't pick it up (if you put it out after the window but before the actual pickup they don't pick it up, like they were pre-counting them or some bullshit). I still have to manually go to the recycle dumpster once a month because cardboard boxes are too big to be picked up.

All they need to do is like every other place and give me a separate bin for recyclables that's picked up at the same time.

 

[Blackstarhat]

They have a law for every thing in this country.

 

[Timeaisis]

Well, this is dumb. Sometimes you have food you got to throw away. It's bad, it's stale, it's spoiled, no one's eating it, whatever. It's a fact of life. So let's punish people for it. It's either that or sort it and put it in your compost bin to taken by the city and charged "a fee" (whatever the hell that means). Still more work for me. If I'm paying the city to take my garbage, it better damn take my garbage.

 

[FyreWulff]

We have single stream too, it's just this particular complex's trash service is really anal about everything. Can't throw out more than fits in a closed bin or they pick up none of it, the bin must be out a certain time window or they don't pick it up (if you put it out after the window but before the actual pickup they don't pick it up, like they were pre-counting them or some bullshit). I still have to manually go to the recycle dumpster once a month because cardboard boxes are too big to be picked up.

All they need to do is like every other place and give me a separate bin for recyclables that's picked up at the same time.

holy shit at the bolded

that's .. wow

 

[tcrunch]

No, they don't. Or, rather, they don't care about it. They do know, however, that their prey (rats) is attracted to the smell of rotting food.

That was too long a sentence for the joke.

 

[DizzyCaffeine]

What if you have to get rid of food and you don't compost because you live in an apartment? Am I supposed to cram it down the garbage disposal?

 

[Arthr2ShdsJcksn]

There's a Bullshit! episode that Penn and Teller did about sorting garbage. Worth a watch if you're a showtime subscriber or can find it on the internet

I can't find the episode, but I found lots of talk about that episode being, itself, bullshit, which I tend to believe unless there is some decent proof out there.

edit... found the show on youtube... watching it now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rExEVZlQia4

 

[Timeaisis]

What if you have to get rid of food and you don't compost because you live in an apartment? Am I supposed to cram it down the garbage disposal?

Yes, you need to clog your garbage disposal with old food because Seattle wants to be very progressive.

 

[slit]

What if you have to get rid of food and you don't compost because you live in an apartment? Am I supposed to cram it down the garbage disposal?

Nothing as I think this only applies to homeowners.

If you live in an apartment you're not a homeowner.

 

[gutter_trash]

Nothing as I think this only applies to homeowners.

If you live in an apartment you're not a homeowner.

you are an owner if you are a condo unit onwer

if they ever enforce composting on me, I will avenge them by dumping my cat litter in there, fuck off

 

[speculawyer]

Putting your waste food in composting seems like the wiser thing to do anyway. Don't people hate it when their garbage can stinks up due to rotting food in it?

Get a little sealable compost bin for your kitchen.

 

[CornBurrito]

Yes, you need to clog your garbage disposal with old food because Seattle wants to be very progressive.

Wait I'm confused. Don't people normally put food down garbage disposals?

 

[CrocMother]

This has been true in SF for a few years, they've never handed out a fine though as far as I know.

 

[slit]

Wait I'm confused. Don't people normally put food down garbage disposals?

You can't put everything down there.

It has it's limits.

 

[WanderingWind]

you are an owner if you are a condo unit onwer

if they ever enforce composting on me, I will avenge them by dumping my cat litter in there, fuck off

This is the most American post on NeoGAF today. Makes me homesick.

 

[Somnid]

Wait I'm confused. Don't people normally put food down garbage disposals?

No that's bad. It's generally for small food scraps that come off when you wash dishes that would clog the drain.

 

[DizzyCaffeine]

Nothing as I think this only applies to homeowners.

If you live in an apartment you're not a homeowner.

Mine is both. They were apartments that were converted to condos. So my address is an apartment number, but I own it.

 

[J-Rod]

I don't understand what's so bad about food waste going to a landfill. Does having it rot in our neighborhood backyards instead do something special?

 

[Shouta]

And of course NPR talks about it in NE Seattle, lol.

For reference, it's not a big fee currently like a dollar but it's pretty easy to note do this. They give us compost bins to toss food scraps in that they pick up, I believe.

 

[slit]

Mine is both. They were apartments that were converted to condos. So my address is an apartment number, but I own it.

Then you probably have to do it, unless you share a big garbage dumpster with others.

There is no way they force people in a multi-level integrated buildings as there is no way to know what garbage belongs to who

 

[LUFTRAUSER]

Yes, you need to clog your garbage disposal with old food because Seattle wants to be very progressive.

In all seriousness, I bet you're going to see a lot of heavy-duty garbage disposals being installed in Seattle homes over the coming years*. People don't do the right thing, but the easy one, and no amount of Progressive social engineering is going to change that. How are you supposed to compost if you live in an apartment? Are they going to deploy dedicated compost bins everywhere?

*Fun fact: Most domestic garbage disposals are really only intended to handle small amounts of food. If you are scraping your plate into the sink, you're doing it wrong.

 

[Timeaisis]

Wait I'm confused. Don't people normally put food down garbage disposals?

Sure, leftover scraps from dinner. Not a expired chicken breasts or a drawer's worth of old vegetables.

 

[gutter_trash]

This is the most American post on NeoGAF today. Makes me homesick.

I'm Canadian

 

[Necromanti]

Well, fuck. Guess I'll have to buy some compostable garbage bags or something as well, then. I threw out a pizza box in the garbage two weeks back without knowing that had to be composted. My neighbors don't seem to be giving a fuck, though, if the garbage bins are any indication.

 

[TemplaerDude]

Vancouver's doing this green city bullshit but mostly so people will ignore or forget about our rampant homeless problem.