Local government in action

[layla]

Last Thursday night we went to the Borough Assembly meeting on the proposed trash-picking ban. (For non-Fairbanks people on my friend list, a bit of explanation: outside the city limits, there's no garbage collection. Instead there are public dumpsters where people haul their own trash -- and also take anything that looks useful that someone else threw out. The Borough Assembly wants to ban this practice for various reasons -- too dangerous, contributes to pathological trash-collecting behavior and the creation of "private junkyards", etc.)

It's rather obvious where Fairbanksans' priorities lie. If you want to upset a bunch of people in Fairbanks ... threaten to take away their trash. The assembly meeting room was literally standing room only. There were about a hundred people signed up to talk -- public testimony went until after midnight. Needless to say, the proposed ordinance crashed and burned; after being told for five hours by the people who elected you that you're doing the wrong thing, even the most hardheaded assembly member can't do much except bow to public pressure.

It was kind of fun.

Honestly, the "recycle and reuse" mentality that prevails up here is one of my favorite things about living in Alaska. We've rescued hundreds of useful things from the dumpsters, including our 300-gallon heating oil tank, a perfectly useful couch, Orion's work jacket, a treadmill, brand-new power tools, end tables ... all sorts of stuff. Fairbanks doesn't really have much in the way of formal recycling programs; we're so isolated and so far from anywhere that it isn't even remotely cost-effective. The voluntary, grassroots sort of recycling that we practice doesn't cost the government a thing, and it keeps many tons of stuff out of the landfill, saves resources, and saves money for individuals too. It's a real no-brainer of a win-win situation.

Comments

[pamola.livejournal.com]

Man, I want to live where you live. We have just corrupt politicians (want to buy a used pier?). We can't pick our neighbor's trash (unless you count yardsales).

[laylalawlor.livejournal.com]

It was that way in Illinois, too. Never made sense to me. If we saw something useful that was being thrown out, we'd sometimes nab it anyway, usually under the cover of darkness.

[ttallan.livejournal.com]

Every garbage collection day we have guys who roam the neighbourhood in flatbed trucks, picking stuff out (mostly for the metal, I think) and taking it away. I love that this happens, but occasionally you'll get the callous type who'll do something like smash an old sink to get the faucets, and leave the broken porcelain mess on your curb. If we ever get some kind of proposed idiotic ban around here it'll be due to people like that.

In fact, the neighbours all regularly leave used-but-still-good-for-somebody items (large kid toys are most common) conspicuously out by the curb in the hopes that someone other than the garbage truck will cart it away. And usually someone does.

So, three cheers for Fairbanks for telling your politicians how the world works. Or ought to work.

[laylalawlor.livejournal.com]

Those sorts of people are one of the reasons why this ordinance came up in the first place; there have been problems with trash getting dragged out of dumpsters and creating a mess and a hazard. It's always frustrating when you have a situation that's good for everyone, and then a handful of inconsiderate jerks start messing it up.

Congratulations!

[allanh.livejournal.com]

You've just won Allan's "LJ Quote Of The Day" Contest with ...

If you want to upset a bunch of people in Fairbanks ... threaten to take away their trash.

Re: Congratulations!

[laylalawlor.livejournal.com]

heehee. But it's so TRUE!

[sentient-ant.livejournal.com]

Theoretically great for poor Fairbanksians like me and my girlfriend, but we have no car and so the dump isn't an option for recycled goodies. It's for this reason that I disagree that it "saves money for individuals too," and instead volunteer that it may "help a potentially uncomfortable financial margin become a more comfortable one," again, not that I would know first-hand. Yeesh, listen to me bitching! Anyway, I hope they don't ban community "recycling," 'cause I'd like in on some of that sweet trash action someday...

[laylalawlor.livejournal.com]

If you go to the university, you could probably just walk down the hill to the transfer site on Farmer's Loop. We used to do that occasionally when we lived on campus. (It's across the road from the Taku parking lot.)

But, yeah, a car is an absolute necessity for getting to the outlying ones -- or hauling away anything large.

[ndgmtlcd.livejournal.com]

Reminds me of gomi night in Japan.

[laylalawlor.livejournal.com]

I had to google for that; I hadn't heard of it. Interesting!

[neosquirrel.livejournal.com]

....who throws away new power tools?!

Basically though, dumpster diving is more like a collective flea market spot for all things garbage-- a variation on the "if it hits the curb, it's public domain" for neighborhoods. I had a high-backed chair like that I swiped from my landlord years ago-- until I figured out in the summer that the cushion was less than 0dor-free. It was back out on the curb...and taken in less than a day.

[laylalawlor.livejournal.com]

It's amazing what people throw out! We've had some nice scores, the power tools or our heating oil tank, but it was amazing listening to some of the testimony at the public hearing. Local contractors throwing away flatbeds of unused building supplies. People finding brand-new office equipment still in boxes, bags of new clothing with the tags still on them ... it's astonishing. And I'm sure this happens everywhere; it's just that here, these things get rescued rather than going to the landfill.