auto cart trash collection in NW winnipeg

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/City-considers-auto-cart-trash-collection-in-northwestern-areas-53574592.html

I love this idea. In fact I submitted a similar idea to the city for recyling/garbage pick up based on a Washington State city ( cant remember which one) way back when Glen Murray was still mayor.

Hmm.. dont they actually use these carts on burrows in the first two blocks off of main already?

Anyway.. As long as home owners are good about this, it would be a fantastic idea

Why do they never want to run pilot projects like this in Linden Woods?

Because it was difficult enough not having the people in Linden Woods pissed off that it was no longer city workers collecting the trash?

These bins are a bit different than the "Auto Bins" that have been in use in the north end of the city now for many years. The ones they are talking about I beleive are similar to the blue BFI recycling bins that are used at apartment blocks and condo complexes. We have been using the "auto bins" now for many years and it wasn't until this spring/summer that pick up became an issue when it went private. The private company that picks up the garbage now decided that it would be ok to move pickup days around whenever they felt like after long weekend holidays. However, because we have the curb side units, we have a designated day (for restricted parking) and it is always that day, regardless of holidays. It was not until many complaints happened that the contract company realized their "error". And over the summer they have been hand bombing the garbage from the bins into the trucks which to me is a sign that the city either wouldn't sell the auto bin trucks to the contractor or the contractor didn't want to buy them and is looking to this new program to replace the city auto bins (which I would go for).

So, I assume that this type of thing saves money, so does that mean that my taxes go down, but they still pay the same rate in other areas where they have household curbside pick up? (Yes, I am a typical Winnipegger)

Its not that I'm against something that will save money, but just wondering why certain areas are targeted but others aren't. DeanK refers to the bins on Burrows, but you should check out what any eyesore they are. Or even better, the infamous autobins in the north end and central. I won't even drive down the back lane at work because those things are like driving a slalom course and its enough to make you puke if you see the mess in, on and around them. Like I say, give it a shot in Tuxedo and see how it works there.

The ones on burrows are always out front it seems. And always full. And always very stinky even in -40 weather. Not sure why this is allowed to be in this state.

Cause its the North End!

We have a collection problem in the city.

The guys that pick up the trash and recycle material are the biggest litterbugs in the city.

If they fcuken goofs picked up the garbage on regular days, there's be no overflowing bins.

Imho, this new thingy is to allow them to pick up recyclables every two or three weeks, and not weekly.

They are emphasizing the fact the new bins are three or four times as big as the old ones. What does that tell you?

where are they are the emplasizing this?

Part of the problem with the auto bins 2 fold. The collection contractors are extremely "lazy" in that they don't care if they make a mess when they pick up and if they do, they don't clean it up. The bigger problem with the smaller ones that are on the curbs (like the ones on Burrows, and are the same ones we have at our home) is that the residents who are renting homes/apartments don't care and are too lazy to wheel them back and forth to their yard so they leave them at the curb. The other problem is that if there is a car parked in front of or near the bin and the truck can't get to it, the truck moves on and does not make a second attempt. This can be a huge problem if the bin is blocked for more than on pick up week. As well, some of the drivers will not pick up unless the bin is in the exact position for the forks to grab the bin and lift. If the bin is not perfectly placed and the driver has to do a bit of manuevering, most times he will continue on without picking up.
The original concept of these bins was to help clean up the core and North End because the larger bins were equipped with lids and the smaller individual ones were meant to be kept in your yard until pick up day. Unfortunately the neighbourhoods they have placed these in is not the ideal because of the transient nature of the residents as well as the abuse of the bins by people who think it is ok to dump their exess garbage in them as well. As well the thought was not the best as far as the size of the backlane bins and placement. It can be a challenge to drive down a backlane especially in the winter when the lanes are not plowed.
But with that said these same problems with these bins will happen in any area of the city (it has been proven over time in Saskatoon where they have the same system) that no matter what socio-economic background the area is, problems of overflowing bins, etc will occur.

The city needs to write contracts with these collectors such that this horsesh1te does not happen. Easy enough to police. Fine them when they make a mess.

Problem with that GOM is that they will simply say that the mess was there before hand.. so unless someone tapes them the fine is not levied.

And I believe the contracts already deal with that by fineing them.

Dean, you are correct in that and unless they are caught on video, it's a case of he said/she said. We have tried to catch the contractors in the act of either not picking up or not cleaning up a mess they have made and it can be difficult and sometime dangerous as the drivers can be somewhat "prickly" (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). Before the contract drivers took over, if we happened to miss the truck on our side of the street hubby would watch for the truck to come down the other side and then take ours over to sit next to the neighbours, wait for the driver to pick it up and then wheel it back. Now all of the bins are to have the house address on them and if there is a bin sitting in front of the wrong address, it is not picked up. That is how problems begin with this process. But the residents have been instructed that the bins are to be out front by 6AM and pick up can be as late as 5PM, however the parking restrictions on our street is on Wednesday from 7AM - 2PM so again there is another problem if there are cars parked on the street before 7AM and after 2PM which does happen.
There are pros and cons to the old system as there will be with the new proposed system. It takes a bit of adjustment but for the most part of the almost 20 years it has been going on, I like it as it keeps the garbage contained in a large bin that animals can't get into and in one place as opposed to having smaller cans that can be stolen, blown away or crushed by snow plows.

Yeah not sure how it would work at my place then based on what you are saying as there is almost always 3-4 vehicles parked on our street. But... if it would be fine to wheel it to the other side.. or in fact required to wheel to the other side where no one can park.. That would work.

Just have to make sure the rules work right and that the workers are not morons.

On a non-autobin front, the collectors that pick up my garbage leave a trail up and down the back-lane of garbage, lids everywhere, and bins scattered. They literally throw the lids and bins down.

In my area they are fantastic right now. They pick up lttle bits that fall out of the bag, the recycle bins are put where back where they were and they dont need to wait for a call to pick up the little odds and ends like old chairs and such.

After garbage day at our house, we always have to search the back lane for our recycle bin and garbage can. Or if your trying to drive through the back lane right after garbage pick up you got to keep getting out of your car to move all the bins and cans out of the way. Frustrating!

Our particular block is really good in the fact that most of the residents are also the home owners so they take their bins in off of the curb after garbage day and for the most part there never is an issue with excess stuff all over the street. The biggest hurdle for our block is the winter when it can be cumbersome to haul these bins to the curb over the snow banks. The usual scenario is people will take the bin to the curb on the evening before pick up (Tuesday evening) and overnight our street will be plowed because of the mandate to have all streets/lanes cleaned before garbage day. The snow plow drivers don't care that there are bins on the boulevard and usually will pile snow on and around the bins which makes it virtually impossible for the residents to pull them off the banks and back into their yards. Then when the garbage truck comes down the street they will pick up the bin, and try to place it back into the hole it came out of, lodging it even further in. What most of the residents do is place the bins on the drive way but that can pose pick up problems if the forks of the truck do not go down that far. So in the winter we see more of the bins just sitting on the curb for the duration which can be unsightly but we understand the difficulties and most times overlook it. It can be a double edged sword and very challenging but life is what you make of it and you just have to adapt.

Deank wrote:In my area they are fantastic right now. They pick up lttle bits that fall out of the bag, the recycle bins are put where back where they were and they dont need to wait for a call to pick up the little odds and ends like old chairs and such.

Lol....I bet some here actually believe your story.

No no .. really.. There was a time two/three years ago that the guys were jerks, but the guys working our area now are awesome.

My guys, wreck garbage cans, throw lids into the middle of the lane, scatter debris and loose garbage and generally make a mess.

I'll bet your guys do my lane as well...

JTF wrote:

My guys, wreck garbage cans, throw lids into the middle of the lane, scatter debris and loose garbage and generally make a mess.

Thats because you never got them a Christmas present.

I left them a present and they threw it into the back of the truck....

Maybe thats because you wrapped it in an orange bag!!