Extra garbage bags in Calgary will require a tag starting Oct. 1

[chemgear]

Time to start using the bins of your neighbors.


https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/extra-gar...ct-1-1.5089560

Calgarians who want to put more bags of garbage out than will fit in their black cart will have to buy tags beginning Oct. 1.

Tags will cost $3 each and will be available starting this month at Calgary Coop and Circle K locations, or they can be bought online in bundles of five. Tags are also available at city hall, however only cash or debit is accepted as payment.

"If there is no sticker, your collection driver will not pick up the bag," the city said in a posting.

[Calgary14]

I've never come close to filling the black bin aside from the odd Christmas holiday but I do see the same houses regularly have their bin overflowing with bags on the side

[btimbit]

I'm actually surprised it took this long to implement

[Ahuch]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

I've never come close to filling the black bin aside from the odd Christmas holiday but I do see the same houses regularly have their bin overflowing with bags on the side

The only time it happens to me is when something I buy comes with a ton of styrofoam, since the city doesn't recycle that.

Next time I'll just put the Styrofoam in the blue bin and pretend like I didn't know

[TorqueDog]

I don't think I've ever needed to put a bag beside my black bin, but then again we're also a household of two people, a 12 lb cat, and a 100 lb dog. [shrug]

[GGG]

I’m pro this change provided they evaluated the cost of picking up and disposing one extra bag of waste, considered the negative externalities of more contamination of compost and recycling and are charging per bag based on that analysis.

If the goal is just to put in a fee far greater than the cost to try to change behaviour I am opposed.

[btimbit]

Hell, even if it's as simple as a usage tax I'm alright with it.

[you&me]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

I've never come close to filling the black bin aside from the odd Christmas holiday but I do see the same houses regularly have their bin overflowing with bags on the side

It's almost as if other households might have a different dynamic than your own, maybe even with more people...

That said, we're a large household (and two dogs) and we usually fill the black bin bi-weekly... Birthdays and Christmas usually require some special attention to jamming stuff in there. The blue bin is jammed full weekly.

I can't say that I'm against the tags, but it's obviously hard to come up with a one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to something like this.

[btimbit]

I'm a fan of simply having different sized bins. We do this in Okotoks, I beleive there's 3 sizes for the black bin and you obviously pay more for the larger ones. I think that's the best way of implementing a user fee, if that is their intent

[Engine09]

My black bin was always full when it was picked up weekly, now it's been full with the lid open and 2 or 3 bags next to the bin. Slow, constant renos.

Ah, more money out of my pocket and more douchbags dumping garbage in alleys.

[Nyah]

Isn't the 'tag system' pretty common for places that still have garbage bag collection from the curb? It's interesting because while we never even come close to filling our bin, I'll drive down the alley and see other bins where the lid won't close because there's so much garbage in them. I guess people with larger families would go through a lot more garbage than our house would. Some of the time though you can see Kraft Dinner boxes and other obvious recyclables in the bags. I mean, do people realize that they're paying for the blue bin whether they use it or not?

[puckedoff]

I garburate my garbage, so this won't affect me.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by puckedoff

I garburate my garbage, so this won't affect me.

The batteries help keep the pipes clean!

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by chemgear

Time to start using the bins of your neighbors.

This is exactly what's going to happen. And businesses are suddenly going to find their bins (more) full of other people's garbage too if they happen to be near residential areas.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

The batteries help keep the pipes clean!

The magic is in the acid that eats away all the debris.

[Shin Pad]

Out here in the boonies, I have to take my garbage to a transfer station. The good thing is I can burn a lot of my garbage in a burn barrel, so it really cuts down the amount we have to take to the transfer station. Usually we have 2 bags every 3 weeks or so.

[you&me]

Originally Posted by Nyah

Isn't the 'tag system' pretty common for places that still have garbage bag collection from the curb? It's interesting because while we never even come close to filling our bin, I'll drive down the alley and see other bins where the lid won't close because there's so much garbage in them. I guess people with larger families would go through a lot more garbage than our house would. Some of the time though you can see Kraft Dinner boxes and other obvious recyclables in the bags. I mean, do people realize that they're paying for the blue bin whether they use it or not?

Well, the majority of blue bin material ends up in the landfill anyways, and since people are paying for the blue bins regardless, maybe more people will just start using both the blue and black bins as garbage bins...

[Locke]

Those Fascist Bastards!!

[You Need a Thneed]

Also, the new pickup arms don’t pick up bins full of bricks anymore, as I learned last week. I still need to empty some from my bin.

[bizaro86]

I for one am looking forward to the extra trash strewn around the city.