The Community Compost Saga Continues...
I received this reply from the city regarding my woes about this new program and this was the response I receved.
I have received your inquiry regarding the Organics Collection Program and have provided an answer below.
You are correct in noticing that the same collection truck that collected your garbage also collected your organics material; however the collection truck that you saw does not mix these materials together. This truck is a "split-truck" and has two separated units for two different types of materials. It is an 80/20 split inside the truck. So the majority of the truck space holds garbage, while 20% of the truck division will hold the organic materials. The collector places the garbage material into the larger section of the truck, and the organics into the smaller separated side. I can assure you that these materials that residents take time to separate are kept separate the whole time and are not intermixed. Once the truck is full the materials are taken to different areas, the organics are taken to our processors in Arthur, Ontario, to be turned into compost and the Garbage is taken to the Landfill.
A similar "split-truck" also collects your recyclables. Your container items are placed into one separated area, while the paper recyclables are placed into the other separated area. So although it may appear that these items are being mixed together after you spent time separating them, they are not. These trucks are split this way to make the collection more efficient instead of having one designated truck for each collected material. These materials stay separated the whole time as to not contaminate the materials that residents spent time separating properly.
Many residents have the same question, and we provided an explanation for this in the Organics DVD, and the Organics R' Waste Fact Sheet that was provided with your Organics kit, anticipating that residents would be questioning why the same truck collects these materials.
I hope this answers your question. And if you did not receive the above mentioned materials that explain the "split-truck" concept, than please let me know and I will have them sent to you. I can also suggest that the next time you see this collection truck in your area, ask the collector if you can see the split in their truck, and it will give you a better visual of how it works.
As for the concern you have of the cost of the paper bags to line your bin with, these paper bags are not required to participate in this program, however many residents want to use some sort of liner for their bin to keep it as clean as possible. There are other more cost-efficient alternatives available besides the bag to earth bags, one suggestion is to wrap your organics into newspaper before placing it in your bins; when grocery shopping ask your grocer to pack your items into paper bags instead of plastic and then use those paper bags as a liner for your bins, as well any kind of paper bag that you come across throughout your day such as any paper fast food bag (from MacDonald’s for example) can be used as a liner, or even boxboard (such as cereal boxes) can be used. I, myself, save these types of items and use them as liners in my organics containers.
I hope I have answered your inquiries. If you should have any further questions please feel free to contact me.
Thank you,
I could swear that the garbage all mashed together, I was looking right into the container from my bedroom window. (I have a long standing love for our garbage collectors here...NOT!, thats a very long story tho).. Secondly, yes I attempted that "Just use any paper bag" thing and when I threw out the bad strawberries and they turned to liquid mush my paper bag ripped and dropped my garbage all about my kitchen floor sending my dogs into a frenzy to see what tasty treats lay awaiting for them. I did receive the materials that explained the split truck idea and watched them. Ugh! those governement workers!!Both C and I are Government workers LOL
I have received your inquiry regarding the Organics Collection Program and have provided an answer below.
You are correct in noticing that the same collection truck that collected your garbage also collected your organics material; however the collection truck that you saw does not mix these materials together. This truck is a "split-truck" and has two separated units for two different types of materials. It is an 80/20 split inside the truck. So the majority of the truck space holds garbage, while 20% of the truck division will hold the organic materials. The collector places the garbage material into the larger section of the truck, and the organics into the smaller separated side. I can assure you that these materials that residents take time to separate are kept separate the whole time and are not intermixed. Once the truck is full the materials are taken to different areas, the organics are taken to our processors in Arthur, Ontario, to be turned into compost and the Garbage is taken to the Landfill.
A similar "split-truck" also collects your recyclables. Your container items are placed into one separated area, while the paper recyclables are placed into the other separated area. So although it may appear that these items are being mixed together after you spent time separating them, they are not. These trucks are split this way to make the collection more efficient instead of having one designated truck for each collected material. These materials stay separated the whole time as to not contaminate the materials that residents spent time separating properly.
Many residents have the same question, and we provided an explanation for this in the Organics DVD, and the Organics R' Waste Fact Sheet that was provided with your Organics kit, anticipating that residents would be questioning why the same truck collects these materials.
I hope this answers your question. And if you did not receive the above mentioned materials that explain the "split-truck" concept, than please let me know and I will have them sent to you. I can also suggest that the next time you see this collection truck in your area, ask the collector if you can see the split in their truck, and it will give you a better visual of how it works.
As for the concern you have of the cost of the paper bags to line your bin with, these paper bags are not required to participate in this program, however many residents want to use some sort of liner for their bin to keep it as clean as possible. There are other more cost-efficient alternatives available besides the bag to earth bags, one suggestion is to wrap your organics into newspaper before placing it in your bins; when grocery shopping ask your grocer to pack your items into paper bags instead of plastic and then use those paper bags as a liner for your bins, as well any kind of paper bag that you come across throughout your day such as any paper fast food bag (from MacDonald’s for example) can be used as a liner, or even boxboard (such as cereal boxes) can be used. I, myself, save these types of items and use them as liners in my organics containers.
I hope I have answered your inquiries. If you should have any further questions please feel free to contact me.
Thank you,
I could swear that the garbage all mashed together, I was looking right into the container from my bedroom window. (I have a long standing love for our garbage collectors here...NOT!, thats a very long story tho).. Secondly, yes I attempted that "Just use any paper bag" thing and when I threw out the bad strawberries and they turned to liquid mush my paper bag ripped and dropped my garbage all about my kitchen floor sending my dogs into a frenzy to see what tasty treats lay awaiting for them. I did receive the materials that explained the split truck idea and watched them. Ugh! those governement workers!!Both C and I are Government workers LOL
posted by TraceyF at 7:39 a.m.
1 Comments:
I have a similar situation in my city. The chipper truck comes and chips the branches and is suppose to drop the mulch off so that it can be used by the residents. No mulch has been dropped off for 2 years though. I asked the chipper guys where the mulch was going and they told me they take to to the dump. I was appaled. I wrote to the city complaining about how I would like mulch and how irresponsible it was just to throw it away. And they insisted that they don't do that. But still no mulch.
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