Worst Letter to the Editor Ever! Calgary Herald

[onetwo_threefour]

We never had a problem with our private service...

As for accessibility, it's not necessarily a matter of accessibility by hand, they are using a truck with a mecahnical arm that picks the bins up, so the clearances relate to the reequirements for the truck to get at it and the arm to be able to lift it up and put it back down without hitting anything.

[RougeUnderoos]

I never thought I'd hear anyone calling the garbage men arrogant and complaining about how pretentious they are.

I'll bet those boys are going to take a lot of abuse over something they had nothing to do with. I also feel that my quota for the Working Man's Hero Award has been met for the week.

Why couldn't we do it like the Edmonchukkers do? They just put the recycling into a blue garbage bag and leave it next to the trash. No bins, no robot arms, no snooty trash collectors, no need for three different brochures explaining how to use the plastic bag...

[Thunderball]

Originally Posted by DESS

The private companies are just as big of dicks imo. We paid for a service last year but I cancelled it because they had a complaint EVERY single week for the stupidest stuff.

At least with private companies, you can cancel them, and get your money back. We're stuck with these lazy pricks. If I was a garbage collector, I'd be pretty annoyed. They have to deal with all sorts of crap, and they rarely make a fuss.

I know they use a mechanical arm to empty the bins, but are they seriously unable to wheel a bin a little for better access. I can understand being annoyed if someone in a back alley always leaves theirs against a fence, or against a garage, but we're talking being upset because there's a bin a metre away from another bin, rather than 2+ metres in a fairly small (and poorly planned alley). Then there's cul-de-sacs, which are nightmares in and of themselves, can they really expect people to clear the entire thing? I thought the idea was to save the environment. Why not park the thing in the middle, turn off the engine, and manually move the bins to the mechanical arm. Probably too much to ask.

[llama64]

1) Buy house insurance.
2) Fall victim to blue box thieves (who are obviously too wiley for us)
3) Profit.

[Thunderball]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

I never thought I'd hear anyone calling the garbage men arrogant and complaining about how pretentious they are.

I'll bet those boys are going to take a lot of abuse over something they had nothing to do with. I also feel that my quota for the Working Man's Hero Award has been met for the week.

Why couldn't we do it like the Edmonchukkers do? They just put the recycling into a blue garbage bag and leave it next to the trash. No bins, no robot arms, no snooty trash collectors, no need for three different brochures explaining how to use the plastic bag...

These aren't the Garbage men. They do a good job. If I'm not mistaken, this is a different group altogether. These guys are too lazy to move a bin on wheels a foot or two, but yet find the time to put warning letters on cars and tie warnings to recycling bins... give me a break.

I hate to admit it, but Edmonton has the superior recycling system. No muss, no fuss, no BS.

[Rhettzky]

Originally Posted by Thunderball

These aren't the Garbage men. They do a good job. If I'm not mistaken, this is a different group altogether. These guys are too lazy to move a bin on wheels a foot or two, but yet find the time to put warning letters on cars and tie warnings to recycling bins... give me a break.

I hate to admit it, but Edmonton has the superior recycling system. No muss, no fuss, no BS.

So at every house in the city the guys should hop out and adjust the boxes? No, you put your bins too close to your garbage cans for the mechanical arm to easily pick up your bin. So instead of the guy having to hop out of his truck, move your bin, then get back in his truck and continue on his route every time he gets to your place... he just gets out the one single time and puts a note on your bin informing you of the process.

[Bobblehead]

http://www.calgary.ca/bluecart/

[FlamesKickAss]

maybe we should invent a robotic arm that puts the warning on then he never has to get out!

If I was them I wouldn't leave a warning just go right past my house. My nieghbor across the alley has theirs overflowing and then a couple doors down it is on their garage apron and not level at all.

[Thunderball]

Originally Posted by Rhettzky

So at every house in the city the guys should hop out and adjust the boxes? No, you put your bins too close to your garbage cans for the mechanical arm to easily pick up your bin. So instead of the guy having to hop out of his truck, move your bin, then get back in his truck and continue on his route every time he gets to your place... he just gets out the one single time and puts a note on your bin informing you of the process.

Well, for one, I can't control what my neighbor does, and on further thought, that was likely the complaint, that their bin wasn't 2-3 metres away from mine, it was more like a metre (which is fine on the website, but not on the warning notice on our bin). Second, the bin looks to have ample clearance from the garbage bins and the fence, in fact, one can easily drop a couple rulers in between, so there's no safety/property damage issue.

To me, the biggest thing is the cul-de-sac issue. How can you expect people to clear a cul-de-sac every pick up morning? I mean, we all know how dumb those things are anyway, but thats not the point. Where do Frankly, you'd think Planners in the City of Cul-de-Sacs would have thought a little about that, and simply implemented Edmonton's system. But no, we have to be different. Where do you put a dozen vehicles that won't piss off someone else?

Garbage collectors have to get out of their truck and handle poorly contained trash, what makes these guys so special that they can't move a bin if space is limited?

I actually can't believe I'm complaining about this, it really isn't that much of a big deal. It just caught me a little off guard that they are that picky for a mandatory pay service.

[BlackEleven]

Originally Posted by llama64

1) Buy house insurance.
2) Fall victim to blue box thieves (who are obviously too wiley for us)
3) Profit.

OMG! Someone figured out step 2!

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

Why couldn't we do it like the Edmonchukkers do? They just put the recycling into a blue garbage bag and leave it next to the trash. No bins, no robot arms, no snooty trash collectors, no need for three different brochures explaining how to use the plastic bag...

Dude, this is Calgary. What's the point of living here if you don't have robots picking up your plastic?

[FlamesKickAss]

Originally Posted by FlamesKickAss

maybe we should invent a robotic arm that puts the warning on then he never has to get out!

If I was them I wouldn't leave a warning just go right past my house. My nieghbor across the alley has theirs overflowing and then a couple doors down it is on their garage apron and not level at all.

haha its still there and full!!

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by Thunderball

These aren't the Garbage men. They do a good job. If I'm not mistaken, this is a different group altogether. These guys are too lazy to move a bin on wheels a foot or two, but yet find the time to put warning letters on cars and tie warnings to recycling bins... give me a break.

I hate to admit it, but Edmonton has the superior recycling system. No muss, no fuss, no BS.

It certainly is a silly system. I haven't actually seen it work (Friday morning can't come soon enough!!!) but considering the amount of instructions they distributed just to get the thing picked up, I know it is going to be a circus.

If I put my cart where they tell me (where I put my garbage), it'll be right next to a telephone pole.

It would be a lot less hassle, and way cheaper, if they just had the regular garbage men spraypaint an X on the ground and tell us to put it there.