City
Private Garbage Services: Saviours or Opportunists?
We're nearing the end of Day 12 of the unionized city workers strike, and Toronto is neither in a state of total mayhem nor is it clearly on its way to becoming a diseased-filled cesspool. But things are definitely getting messy and stinky in some parts. Garbage is piling up at residents' homes and it's overflowing at some of the temporary dump sites in parks.
Not everyone has the ability to store their own waste. Not everyone has the time or the courage to cross picket lines, or the physical ability to take their garbage to one of the city's temporary garbage dump sites or the few larger, permanent transfer stations. This is where established private companies, and other, less established (some cash hungry opportunists, no doubt) come in.
Private garbage collection services are seemingly popping up in this city faster than poutine restaurants and construction pylons.
With today's announcement by the city that the Christie Pits temporary dump will be closing (news surely to bring about cheers from those opposed to the use of parks as dumps), those in the downtown core now have even further to go.
Private pickup services like 1-800-GOT-JUNK have no doubt been busier than usual, and do legitimate service (i.e. take your junk to proper dumps and recycling facilities) but it's the upsurge of everyday Joes that are hawking trash collection services via Kijiji and Craigslist that have me wondering and a little worried.
Are "Stanky Boys" issuing receipts or is this an attempt to make income tax-free? How can we be certain that the "Trash Guys" aren't simply taking our garbage to the temporary stations like private residents are doing themselves?
The going rate for these services varies greatly. While some are offering pickups of large black garbage bags for as little as $4 a pop, others are claiming that if you act now you can save $10 and get a full standard garbage/recycling/green bin pickup for the low price of $39.99 (prepaid via Paypal) - a fee that makes our annual fees to the city seem like a steal of a deal.
Sending money and putting trust in people using Hotmail addresses seems like a risky prospect to me. But I'm willing to bet that enough people are quite ready to pay the price and not really care where their stinky garbage goes, so long as it's no longer leaking in the garage.
Lead photo of Christie Pits garbage heap photo by jordan.marklund. Residential heap and mattress photos by seastarerrin. Truck (cellphone snap) photo by the authour.
Discussion
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The temporary sites will only allow a drop off of 3 bags max, pulling up to a transfer station with a truck full of garbage and hot picketers is a bad combination. There are other options though.
So long as it's still legal to pick up trash off the streets and haul it away to a legal dump, there's absolutely no reason why people shouldn't be allowed to benefit from it.
It's not like people are running around pretending to be paramedics or something. Hey look, people are pitching in to keep trash off the streets. I'd pay for that service in a situation like this too.
"Operations that require a Certificate of Approval for a Waste Management System include, [...] waste haulers."
Just because you don't see it anymore doesn't mean your garbage has disappeared.
Privatize it now, and get rid of these damn headaches.
Job security is a myth, there is no such thing and they shouldn't be demanding it. We do not deserve to have our good money wasted by these greedy unions. They are taking advantage of us all and I'm sick of it.
Privatize garbage collection now!
I'm a little surprised the Medical Health Officer hasn't stepped in yet. Maybe everyone is waiting til the 2 week mark. Dodging the Norwegian rats in Kensington is becoming great sport on a bike.
Where is this garbage supposed to go?
This NIMBY attitude (not in my backyard) is starting to really bother me. It's temporary people. it's a means to an end. RELAX. the garbage has to go somewhere...for now.
And i couldn't agree more, privatize and lets get on with it.
It's insulting to hear these union demands in the face of mass unemployment, Wage freezes where they are across the board etc.
PRIVATIZE IT AND LETS MOVE ON
As if we're all supposed to keep our garbage under our pillow until this moronic strike is over.
Can't wait for the rat population to explode in 4 weeks.
If some of these services aren't deemed essential after this fu*king thing is over, I'm going to go ballistic.
They should have made the temporary dumps in the parking lots of the services closed by the strike.
From the sounds of it we already have privatized garbage pickup. Tell the city you don't want a bin and get one of these companies to haul it for you. I'll continue to pay people a living wage, sort of like fair trade coffee, and not participate in the race to minimum wage.
The only workers I have any sympathy for are ambulance and 1st responders. The rest should just be fired and replaced.
Play your little violin of sadness somewhere else.
In the current reality, the reasons for the strike are unacceptable.
Please tell us why these 24000 people shouldn't be tightening their belts like everybody else.
So many of these fu*kin' jobs are ESSENTIAL SERVICES and should not be allowed to strike.
Don't like it? Find another job. There are plenty of people willing to do it in your place who have no intention of fu*king over the people who pay their salaries.
I have a question - where are the "Friends of Christie Pits" bringing their garbage?
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Ha ha - good question. The Christie Pits crybabies are just driving over to some other park. Hypocritical NIMBYism at its finest.
Do you have proof to back up such a claim?
Yeah, everybody within 2 blocks of the park is stockpiling their trash at their homes. None of them are taking their trash anywhere. Righttttttttt.
Duh.
However, if we can take care of ourselves while the union fights and our unpaid sanitary friends can manage to pay the bills... we may have a shot. We need to work as a team! I came across garbagehelp.com earlier. I think they have the right idea.
"Opportunistic"? Sounds like blogto writers have been sipping too many soy milk lattes and reading one too many books at the one of (if you only went to blogto for advice) millions of gourmet little coffeeshops that seem to pop up every week. Put down the books and please stop gushing of basil paninis. Wonder why these places keep popping up? Because they keep going under. Food/beverage business strategies may as well be written in mandarin chinese for some of these people.
What seriously needs to happen is the city and unions need to figure out what is the best for THE CITY. Workers want proper health care and wages indexed to inflation. If everyone can say YES to this, all contracts can be written for 5 years.
Let's stop sounding like cocknoses with issues and ask all our representatives to lock shit in, in a reasonable way.
Not to mention their racist origins and continued practices. FIRE THEM ALL.
There's not that many poutine restaurants, maybe you meant faster than gourmet burger restaurants OR faster than burrito restaurants
I'm sure we will find other groups to scapegoat. Any suggestions?
I have taken steps to reduce waste (don't buy things with excessive packaging, use a travel mug, etc.). I am storing my recyclables and dry waste in bins on my front porch (recycling bin is overflowing at this point, while the small garbage bin is still practically empty.
Green bin waste is more of an issue, especially since I have pets. I've started separating out all vegetable matter and taking it, along with newspapers and such, down to the community garden to add to their compost heap. For the wet stuff that's not appropriate for compost, I've picked up some sawdust for absorption of moisture and odour, lined a large sealable bin with it, and am keeping this waste at home until service resumes.
Please don't make the assumption that the residents who oppose these dump sites do not live by their principles.
You are missing the point completely here my friend.
yes, a resolution will no doubt happen, contracts will be signed, and we will all move on with life.
But why are we even in the middle of this strike in the first place??
Moreover, why are we in the middle of a second garbage strike in less than 5 years?
Why should the unions be allowed to pull the 'strike' trigger whenever they see fit?
Oh right. it's a union.
a dated system that does NOT act in the best interest of TORONTO CITIZENS! So yes, even once the ink has dried on the new contracts, i will be pointing my finger directly at the union as the root of the problem
open your eyes man the UNION IS THE PROBLEM HERE.
Your argument that they will help resolve the very problem they've created holds NO water my friend.
The unreasonable demands of this union are affecting Toronto citizens across the board, in more ways than garbage pickup and that's not right.
forget about garbage for a minute.
How about parents who rely on daycare?
How about single poor mothers who rely on Toronto Public Health Workers to visit them, to help with feeding, and the well being of their children.
YES. I blame the union.
And I will continue to blame them long after this shit is over.
Douche.
I don't think their workers are low paid, but apparently 600,000+ people choose to live in union- and strike-free Mississauga quite happily.
Also, you seem to forget that the city has many non-union workers who aren't paid minimum wage, who are working 12 hour days to keep the city running during the strike-not seeing their family, and who were handed a wage and bonus freeze. These workers are still working, making more than minimum wage, not on social assistance and, more importantly, not loudly BITCHING about it. Are you listening unions?
That would be something. What are these benefits again?
They're keeping the city running 24/7 like you stated, when a bunch of selfish picketers decide they'll use the citizens as hostages, and being compensated.
In case you can't recognize sarcasm or sense my sardonic tone, I completely disagree with your point.
By the way, could you post some source for your claim they are getting $15,000 bi-weekly on top of their regular salary?