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Old 12-01-2017, 11:49 AM   #1
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I am curious as to how everyone is finding their use of the green compost bins progressing after a few months of use? Initially, our household was filling the green bin at a rate of about 50% full until the snow started to fly. Now we are filling the bin to no more than 20% capacity at best. I attribute this drop entirely to the lack of grass clippings, pruning and other yard related waste but do find weekly pickup to be completely unnecessary. I now find that our actual garbage waste is only slightly less than what it was prior to the green bins coming into play and yet the black bin is only picked up on a bi-weekly rate now.

The city conveniently announced a few weeks ago that Calgarians have cut landfill waste in half without mentioning this 50% drop in actual garbage collection! Am I alone here or does it not seem like the program needs some tweaking to adjust for useless pickups of nearly empty green bins around the city and constantly overflowing black bins up and down city streets?
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Old 12-01-2017, 11:51 AM   #2
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My bin only ever has 3 small bags at the most. But then again, I live alone so I'm sure a family of 5 would be much more.

I like the program though. Before I lived in a townhouse and we only had garbage bins. No recycle or compost. Now I actually feel the satisfaction of recycling/helping the environment and it feels pretty good.
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Old 12-01-2017, 11:54 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Huntingwhale View Post
My bin only ever has 3 small bags at the most. But then again, I live alone so I'm sure a family of 5 would be much more.

I like the program though. Before I lived in a townhouse and we only had garbage bins. No recycle or compost. Now I actually feel the satisfaction of recycling/helping the environment and it feels pretty good.
We're a family of 3-5 and even we arent anywhere close to filling that bin on a weekly basis.

No yard work is a good point, I mean, I dont have a huge yard but I'd have a couple big bags every week. I really think we should be picking up garbage every week and the compost every 2 weeks during the winter and then reverse it during the spring/summer.
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Old 12-01-2017, 11:55 AM   #4
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Old 12-01-2017, 11:58 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Huntingwhale View Post
My bin only ever has 3 small bags at the most. But then again, I live alone so I'm sure a family of 5 would be much more.

I like the program though. Before I lived in a townhouse and we only had garbage bins. No recycle or compost. Now I actually feel the satisfaction of recycling/helping the environment and it feels pretty good.
I am not against the program at all either. I think it was long overdue. The thing I'm finding annoying is that our family of three only places 3-4 small bags in the large bin per week as well and we are quite diligent about sorting our compostable waste. In fact, we eat a ton of fresh food so I would find it surprising if we were in the minority as far as that goes.
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Old 12-01-2017, 12:01 PM   #6
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We're a family of 3-5 and even we arent anywhere close to filling that bin on a weekly basis.

No yard work is a good point, I mean, I dont have a huge yard but I'd have a couple big bags every week. I really think we should be picking up garbage every week and the compost every 2 weeks during the winter and then reverse it during the spring/summer.
That's what I'm wondering. If 75-80% of the population is in the same boat the City should be adjusting for seasonal pickup schedules.
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Old 12-01-2017, 12:02 PM   #7
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I figured that thread was more about the pilot program in the past. I am hoping this thread can focus on the current model now that everyone is using it.
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Old 12-01-2017, 12:04 PM   #8
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Generally, there’s not much in our bin. However, a couple times when I mowed the lawn, grass clippings filled at least half the bin.

When we pulled out our garden, the bin was packed full.
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Old 12-01-2017, 12:04 PM   #9
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That's what I'm wondering. If 75-80% of the population is in the same boat the City should be adjusting for seasonal pickup schedules.
The huge green bin is enormous, who is filling that behemoth weekly?
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Old 12-01-2017, 12:05 PM   #10
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I figured that thread was more about the pilot program in the past. I am hoping this thread can focus on the current model now that everyone is using it.

That's fair, it's a good discussion to have.

The last couple of pages of that thread revolved around this very idea.

It's been brought from these pages to council meetings already to explore the idea of a decrease pick up in the winter months.
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Old 12-01-2017, 12:06 PM   #11
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That's what I'm wondering. If 75-80% of the population is in the same boat the City should be adjusting for seasonal pickup schedules.
it actually came up in council this week.....they didn't want to confuse people off the bat by having a seasonal schedule to start...ie weekly pickup all of a sudden for 3 weeks then change to bi-weekly in winter....they wanted consistency to start and would look at less frequent pickup next winter season
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Old 12-01-2017, 12:07 PM   #12
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Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed View Post
Generally, there’s not much in our bin. However, a couple times when I mowed the lawn, grass clippings filled at least half the bin.

When we pulled out our garden, the bin was packed full.
Right and us too, but who is doing that in November/December?

I do think there should be a seasonal change in pickups.

During the winter compost can sit outside and not smell for a couple of weeks whereas in the summer it will. And the bin is huge. Its not going to fill up during the winter when nobody is doing yard work.
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Old 12-01-2017, 12:10 PM   #13
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Seasonal pickup makes sense and will likely be the way they start doing things. More pickups in the summer where there is likely more yard waste and concerns with smell. Lesser in the winter where it will likely be frozen and no yard waste.

I'm sure they went with the size of the bin that they did for good reason. One size fits all. Don't fill the whole thing up? Don't worry, it's not a contest.
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Old 12-01-2017, 12:13 PM   #14
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it actually came up in council this week.....they didn't want to confuse people off the bat by having a seasonal schedule to start...ie weekly pickup all of a sudden for 3 weeks then change to bi-weekly in winter....they wanted consistency to start and would look at less frequent pickup next winter season

That's good but they have an app that tells you what is picked up and when so I think confusion could easily be avoided by keeping that well updated and running a few ads etc. Right now it looks terrible having garbage spewing out of bins onto the street every two weeks. It's the same in every community I drive through as well.

To me it feels like cutting the garbage pickup in half while pushing weekly compost pickup was only done to hit a KPI or some sort of milestone for a stats publication. No matter what, a family of 3-4 is still going to fill a black bin every 7-10 days even if they are meticulous with both the blue and green bin sorting.
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Old 12-01-2017, 12:16 PM   #15
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They have an app that tells you what is picked up and when so I think confusion could easily be avoided by keeping that well updated and running a few ads etc. Right now it looks terrible having garbage spewing out of bins onto the street every two weeks. It's the same in every community I drive through as well.

To me it feels like cutting the garbage pickup in half while pushing weekly compost pickup was only done to hit a KPI or some sort of milestone for a stats publication. No matter what, a family of 3-4 is still going to fill a black bin every 7-10 days even if they are meticulous with both the blue and green bin sorting.
Family of three here, garbage is rarely full at two week period and we got a boy in diapers still. Recycle is usually full and green in will have maybe 2 bags/week.
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Old 12-01-2017, 12:16 PM   #16
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The bins are the size they are because the city garbage trucks all use the same claw tool to empty. And the recycling/trash ones are the same size on top of everything else.

What actually goes in the garbage anymore? All the plastic and cardboard can be recycled in the blue bins, and tell green one does food waste. What isn't made of plastic or food in this day and age?
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Old 12-01-2017, 12:19 PM   #17
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Recycling is 1000% off the table. My recycling bin is full almost constantly. They have to pick that up every week.

Compost/Garbage, okay, thats negotiable, but they have to pick up recycling every week.
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Old 12-01-2017, 12:31 PM   #18
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I'm in a similar situation as most. Yard waste fills the bin halfway or so, but without it, I have half a small pail bag each week at most. Kind of excessive to take for weekly collection, but I live alone.
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Old 12-01-2017, 12:36 PM   #19
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Family of three here, garbage is rarely full at two week period and we got a boy in diapers still. Recycle is usually full and green in will have maybe 2 bags/week.
Same situation for our household but it is rare that we could go another day by the time the garbage is actually picked up before it would be overflowing. It's not hard to imagine a family of 4 or 5 having a much tougher time with it and many are based on the visual test every two weeks.
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Old 12-01-2017, 12:37 PM   #20
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We get every 2 weeks pick up in winter, in Airdrie, for our green bins and aside from holidays when it gets slightly more full and 2 week p/u might be better for that week, I think we could stretch to every 3 weeks here, with no complaints from anyone. We fill it regularly in the summer but winter drops right off.
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