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Citizen complaint of the day: South End trash pickers make a mess, don't vote

A fed-up South End resident complains:

Trash everywhere! Worcester Sq and rest of the South End are victims of trash pickers who tear open bags. The Mayor must do something to stop this. My building has been fined twice in the last month for trash violations that are a result of trash pickers. So I pay twice, taxes and fines. Start addressing the real problem. My guess is the trash pickers neither pay taxes, or more importantly, vote.

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Comments

missionhill is fighting a similar issue. this not only leads to cronic litter it also encourages rodents . the bold strain of pickers we have are famous for going into people yards and riffling their barrel and leaving them open for wind and vermin alike. where is the mayor and the outrage.
i support you and the effort to control pickers.

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Same problem exists all over Boston. Separate your recyclables, and the problem goes away!! My returnable cans & bottles are in a separate container. Makes it easier for “pickers” to collect and they don’t tear apart my trash. You can also try putting out the recyclables & returnables the night before and your trash the morning of pickup. Worked for me – No stress & No mess!!

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When I lived in the North End, I'd put my recycling out on Thursday night in an open bin, alongside my trash in tied bags. Friday mornings, if I beat the garbage truck, my bin would be empty and my bags slashed open - I assume *just in case* I'd left anything that could be turned in for cash. On Mondays and Wednesdays, when trash but not recycling was picked up, every stinking bag would be slit open.

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If I recycle everything metal/plastic/paper/etc. and compost all my food waste, I end up with like one CVS bag per week that's barely big enough to have a bottle in it. Even if I don't compost anything, I end up with like one small kitchen bag per week if that. No one goes through my trash, but they go through the hugeass bags that neighbors put out that contain all sorts of recyclables.

If you don't want your trash ripped open, don't put out huge bags containing recyclables.

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We completely fill two of the large trash barrels every week. People then rummage through for bottles and the rest of the plastic etc. blows around the streets/parking areas.

Our regular trash goes in a bag and they rip that open to see if there are any cans/bottles in there, even though there usually aren't. I'd say about 50% of our trash is recycled. Multiply that one small bag by 10 or 20 (and you're not going to get full compliance) and you end up with a lot of trash. We can do better and we are trying - but it's a function of living in a congested neighborhood, lots of renters, turnover etc. - lots of trash in a small area and those who want to exploit hitting 10 households in one stop for anything of value in the trash.

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I even tried offering my bottles and cans to local pickers directly. They wouldn't touch 'em. Maybe they thought it was a trap. Then, I would put out my recycling bin filled with returnables ready for taking, but they were still there when the crews came around to pick it up.

Now we have a dumpster and large recycling bins and I haven't had to think about it for a while.

P.S. I also have very little actual garbage these days. I am thinking about downsizing my kitchen bin, so I can take out smaller bags more often.

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we do sort our stuff, we do everything we can, but these bottle and can pickers dont care. we dont need need your insults as well.

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I agree that garbage in general is a problem in the South End. I tend not to put out my trash/ recycling until the morning of pick up. I noticed that the overnight bags tend to be ripped open and scattered. I also make the redeemable’s easily to get to (bin/ box/ Open bag). It is an issue but your rant about taxes and voting are a bit elitist. You should be happy that you don’t need to pick trash to live. Be happy you can actually afford to pay the taxes you have. I would think you might have bigger complaints in life... like the "double wide strollers" or the dog walker with a pack of dogs or what high end salon/ barber to go in the neighborhood. ... Its a rough life.

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Most of the people I see going through the trash are older people, usually Vietnamese in Dorchester, Chinese in the South End. They might not vote if they're not citizens, but people in their households usually are citizens and vote, and most of them are paying taxes. These are people who've come here with nothing and are seeing their neighbors leaving things outside that are worth money and shouldn't be going into a landfill and ruining the planet, and they're older folks who need something to do, so why not make some money doing it?

I have seen some people picking through trash, but not as many, who seem to be under the influence or needing to be.

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and cause the people who own the buildings to pay fines. That's not okay.

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This is a big problem everywhere, for instance in Allston and Brighton this occurs as well. IT is unfortunate because the people who are picking through the trash are typically quite destitute and are just trying to make money the only way they are able to. But in most cases what they are looking for are not there. The trash pickers are looking for bottles with deposits.

But since the advent of recycling programs in Boston those are not typically in the trash bags being gone through. Many buildings now have separate paper and bottles recycling cans, the big plastic ones on wheels that are blue or green.

In my building/complex those cans - unlike the dumpsters - are in locked courtyards or air shafts. I don't really have a problem if those people had access to those so they could get the benefit of the bottle deposits... but how to do so in a manner where they don't make a mess, make noise, or end up feuding over them? This is why our building has opted to just keep them in those courtyards.

Maybe now that those items can be so easily recycled - the city picks them up now so you don't have to go out of your way - they should change the way the deposit works. Currently they charge the deposit on purchase, then pay out for bottle return. They should eliminate the bottle return money. Instead the city should just charge on purchase but use the money for programs to get those people trash picking some financial or mental health assistance.

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I've seen these centralized trash depositories in Germany and Spain where people walk to the corner and put their trash and recyclables in bins. The bins appear to be serviced on a regular schedule.

It might not work in less dense areas, but it certainly works in areas where there are multistory townhouses and narrow streets.

Solves the problem of in-house storage, bags on the street, etc. Got a full bag? Walk it to the bin. Simple.

IMAGE(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_x7rqeM9-gmU/S9GaOiKo-9I/AAAAAAAAAbg/ODKQ65XkRI0/s1600/BarcelonaRecycling.JPG)

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There is one for a large apartment building near my place. It fills fast, and is picked up almost every morning. Sometimes people don't have room in the bin, so they start lining up trash bags along it.

I like the idea. For my area though, that will have to be one mighty large bin.

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.

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I agree I have seen these in Europe and it really makes sense!

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Those work well in dense Italian cities. The really good ones have giant bar pedals to flip open the lid, so one doesn't even have to touch anything. The problem is that people in this city would complain about the loss of parking spaces for the bins and they'd have to be emptied almost every day.

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In the US people through everything in recycle bins. Trash, food, whatever. I don't know why, but anything that requires the least amount of mental effort usually doesn't work here.

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i would love to see us use these...

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There's no reason why it couldn't/wouldn't work in densely-populated urban areas here in the United States, especially in Boston and other large Northeastern cities. It's more attractive, less messy, and these large bins look like they'd be much, much tougher for potential trash-pickers to pry open.

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I live in the South End and see this problem all the time. A partial solution is to not tie your trash bags. Just cinch them closed. Otherwise, they'll be torn open.

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I live in Allston, directly on Comm Ave and have no problem with this. Our management company installed a dumpster behind the building for trash, as well as an in-building room for recyclables. It's the best trash/recycling situation I've dealt with in my 6 years in Boston. No people sifting/tearing/tossing around the trash looking for returnables!

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Repeal the bottle bill and the problem will go away. Contact your State Representative, Senator and the Governor. This is a stupid law that no longer is needed and is causing health (rats) problems for the City of Boston.

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This is a stupid law that no longer is needed and is causing health (rats) problems for the City of Boston.

Why? Are the rats sorting through the trash for refundable bottles?

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No, but the garbage strewn all over the street attracts rats.
I actually just bought clear bags for all of our cans/bottles. we leave the bag next to the recycling bin and it's usually gone within an hour

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That will only result in everyone littering. The bottle bill did more to stop the dumping of bottles and cans EVERYWHERE than anything else.

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The bottle bill was great for littering back 20 years ago when there was no recycle program. Now that everyone recycles, there's no need for a bottle bill any more. But the dirty little secret is that the state makes millions off of bottles that are never returned, so now, like all taxes, the state is addicted to the extra income. (One legislator even said he wanted the bottle bill expanded because the state needed the extra money).

Let's face it - We have a little of bottles with no deposit on them currently, and I don't see them as litter anywhere.

What I DO see as litter are cigarette butts and snack bag wrappers. If you are really concerned about trash, those are the items that need a redemption bill....

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If recycling was prevalent enough to render the bottle bill moot, the trash pickers wouldn't dig through bags. The fact that they open those bags week after week tells me they find recyclables often enough for it to be a worthwhile effort. If they didn't find stuff on a regular basis, they'd just wait for recycling day and empty all the bins. Much easier.

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I put my big wheeled recycle bin next to my trash bags. The recycling bin is full of recyclables. The bags are full of rotten food and other worthless trash. It's obvious to the pickers that I recycle everything that I can and they have never torn my bags open. I guess in a dense area where it's all a jumble they can't tell?

If you have recyclable material in your trash bags, you deserve to have your bags ripped open.

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I agree with Whit

"If you have recyclable material in your trash bags, you deserve to have your bags ripped open"

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it doesnt matter how we (single and triple decker residents) store or sort our trash, the pickers are thorough and relentless. they dont stop at the obvious, they only want what they want and we dont have a choice or chance. stop telling us how u dont have problems, we do and its insulting to hear you tell us what we're doing wrong , when we arent.

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I don't think the people who are having their bags ripped open are putting out small compact bags that might possibly have a bottle in there with the fruit peels. Every trash day I see tons of bags that are huge and clearly are full of paper, cardboard boxes, food containers, all sorts of stuff that should be in the recycling. People looking for recyclables see these huge bags that obviously contain recyclables, so they rip them open.

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when i need you to tell me i am not doing it right i will ask. when you come and clean my street every day and sort my trash to the very enth degree, then you can have an oinion about how we do things. our problem is the people ripping our trash open regardless of the content or consequence.

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I replied to the person who said the bottle bill was there to prevent litter on the streets - it had nothing to do with household trash.

And if you got rid of the bottle bill, nobody would pick through your trash looking for returnables, would they?

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is that ISD needs to fine people, consistently, in all neighborhoods, for putting recyclables in the trash. Then people wouldn't do it.

And no, this wouldn't require them going through people's trash with a fine-toothed comb. Just slap fines on all the bags and trashcans that are obviously full of cardboard and paper and food containers, and people will get the idea.

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I don't think throwing away recyclables should be a fineable offense. Granted, recycling is the responsible thing to do, but it should not be mandatory. That would be absurd. I'm being the devil's advocate here, but that is like saying one should be fined for leaving the water running while shaving. Obviously one shouldn't, but to start fining for it approaches science fiction territory.

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While I'm all for recycling and keeping things clean, I really don't want the city to make a point of writing more trash tickets.

A NY Times article from a few years ago (which I can't find right now) described how sanitation officers made up the rules as they went along. People were getting fined for not recycling things that in fact were not recyclable, and vice versa.

Locally, there's these stories:

Repeated fines totaling more than $1000, with no notification, for storing stuff that wasn't trash inside trash bags in a back yard: http://davis-square.livejournal.com/2284521.html

Uncovered trash can on side of house, at 3 AM during a windy storm:
http://davis-square.livejournal.com/2126821.html

Ticket for 8 bags of trash not in barrels during a moveout, which were put out an hour before collection, and the resident stayed outside to make sure it didn't make a mess and was picked up:
http://davis-square.livejournal.com/2284521.html?t...

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Smokers are punished enough with high taxes. Jump on someone else's bandwagon!

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In my East Boston neighborhood we have no shortage of trash pickers, but we have been fortunate in that they seem to be neat about it and place the bags back in the barrels and don't leave trash strewn about. So far, anyway. On a related note, I have always been curious about these seemingly organized people who come around in trucks looking for large items, old water heaters, broken bathtubs etc. What do they do with this stuff? A lot of the metal objects they take are tin, aluminum and the like, which can't really be sold as scrap metal. They interesting thing is they seem to immediately appear out of nowhere and swoop in the second these items are placed at the curb.

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