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Citizen complaint of the day: People are disgusting
By adamg on Mon, 04/28/2014 - 12:28pm
A concerned citizen complains about one of the many multi-colored displays of dog poop now popping up all over the South End, but in this case specifically on Clarendon Street:
The big belly trashcan appears to be broken. Also, people are disgusting.
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Choice
I don't own a dog or even any pets so I don't know the rules on this. I'm guessing that most people bring it with them back to their residence but given the choice, I guess I'd rather have the stuff in bags than just raw stuff out on the sidewalk.
Dried up white dog poop
When I was a kid in the 60s, it was the era of dried up white dog poop all over the city sidewalks. There were no rules about picking it up back then. I don't think there is much white dog poop anymore, as I believe the ingredients of dog food have changed.
I am younger and I remember
I am younger and I remember that. You may be right that the ingredients have changed but I also don't see as much dog poop around anymore either. I see more goose poop than anything else these days.
You're Right, Something About Dog Food Has Definitely Changed
Someone else reminded me of this recently, but it's true; it actually used to turn white! There must be something different about dog food nowadays that keeps that from happening. Perhaps it's something different about the preservatives or other chemicals used in processing dog food.
I used to think the white stuff was *cat* poop...
....no idea why I thought that, however.
And, it took me a few minutes to realize that I was not reading a discussion about poop that came out of white dogs....visions of crapping Bichons and West Highlands Terriers abounded.
Calcium from ground up bones?
Could that be what was in older dog food and now, instead goes to calcium tablets for humans? Back in the day, such tablets were not nearly so popular.
It Appears You're Correct, Mark - It's A Popular Google Search
Apparently, many people are curious about this phenomenon:
A supposed "Best Answer" from Yahoo Answers U.K.:
See, I'm an expert in something!
:-)
Correction
Dog-owners are disgusting entitle _________!
Dysfunctional Electronic Trash Can
Seems more like a case of a dysfunctional trash can than "disgusting people." The dog poop is bagged, multi-colored or not.
So it's OK to leave it on top
So it's OK to leave it on top of the trash can, rather than finding another trash can or, gasp, taking it home for disposal?
If someone won't carry a coffee cup around for 2 minutes
Do you really expect them to carry dog poop?
Many people have the mentality that they can't carry trash around at all, and it has to be hurled as far from their body as possible (or out the window of their car) the second they no longer need it ... like that coffee cup or sandwich wrapper somehow becomes exponentially more toxic the second it is empty.
See, I guess my problem is
See, I guess my problem is that I expect people to carry around that coffee cup, too. I know, stupid...
?
The trashcan appears to be locked so it can be compacted. The dog owners have done the right thing by picking up their dog's waste and putting it in a bag. Not their fault that they trash can won't open. And perhaps not feasible to walk around with a bag of poop.
That's when you.... Find
That's when you.... Find another barrel! So bc that barrel isn't functioning, it's ok to pile up litter?
Not feasible?
How is it not feasible to carry a small bag of dog poop around? The city offers garbage bins yes, but the failure of a garbage bin doesn't absolve the owner of the dog from responsibility. It might be inconvenient, but certainly feasible.
If I had changed my kid in my car and the garbage can wasn't working, would it be fine to leave a dirty diaper on top? Of course not.
Nope. It automatically
Nope. It automatically compacts whenever it needs to, but that just takes a few seconds.
If it won't open, chances are it's full. If that's not it, it's broken. Either way, the city needs to do something about it.
Dog owners should plan to carry the poop with them until they get home. Plenty of people don't live within a dog-walk distance of a public trash can, and they somehow manage.
Time to ban dogs. FOR THE
Time to ban dogs. FOR THE CHILDREN!!!!1111
The city has apparently given
The city has apparently given up Sunday trash collection. In addition, the BB have a useful life of, what, say three to five years? They're starting to fail with regularity. The city's response to eat has been to ignore them or remove them. They were a gross eyesore to start with and now they're getting worse.
(Yes, I realize there was labor savings promised with the compactor. Except the compactors cost $$$, so the city bludgeoned private business into buying them. Not sure how many business owners are gonna open their pockets again now that the little Daleks are busting left and right.)
Yes, expensive solar trash cans are a stupid idea
Traditional trash cans have a much longer MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures), a vital concern in any infrastructure item. Furthermore, if the failure was power related, blocking sunlight from the solar panel with poop bags on top doesn't help. For Big Belly, giving some product away free and taking the write-off is a win given the greater service revenue expected over future years.
People in government are big suckers for anything solar. Solar powered trash cans, solar powered pedestrian crossings, solar powered radar speed signs etc. Doesn't seem to matter if they cost more and are impractical, and batteries need replacing, in they go.
Solar powered traffic
Solar powered traffic controls are generally an order of magnitude cheaper than their hardwired counterparts if there isn't electric service already present. The cost of trenching, conduit, wiring, etc far exceeds the cost of the solar panels and controls.
Obviously in the case of a trash can this doesn't apply, since the alternative involves no power at all.
Solar-only controls are the exception
Some of these traffic controls use dual power. The one on the Minuteman bike path in Arlington at Mill Street has the lights powered from the grid while reportedly the radar sensor is solar powered and, hence stops working during cloudy days when the path is busy.
Solar powered highway assistance boxes made sense, until everyone got cell phones.
Not true
There were 3 (out of 4) broken/non-functioning BBs on my route walking my dog yesterday am (6:00 or so). I took pictures with my phone and when I got back to my house did the Citizen's Connect routine. Actually 4 reports in total because someone had improperly left out a TV and masonry blocks for trash the previous day.
Within 7 hours I'd gotten the response that they were taken care of and the one with a broken door required a call to a different department. My walk this morning verified this (el hubbo does the evening walk), with the exception of one where the drawer still didn't want to open.
Also, compacting or not, I've spoken with a couple of the guys who drive around to pick up the full bags and replace with new and they don't like them for the simple fact that when 'full' it's difficult to lift the bags as they're too heavy. One said he tried to come around more often to get them at half full because of it.
Dog poop bags aren't the only thing stopping the solar panel/compaction from working: graffiti is a problem as is the plastic panel degrading/fogging protecting the solar panel.
At least the dog owners are picking up after their dogs. It's (relatively) safe to touch the bags you know, the poop is (typically) on the inside.
Interesting. If I recall
Interesting. If I recall (several years ago I was involved with some very prelim. discussions with the manufacturer when they were trying to get Boston to install these things) the workers picking up the cans were going to have a special lift to do it. Given that my input on the practicality of these things would have been meaningless, and given that I had no practical experience in how the city went around collecting trash from the traditional barrels, I didn't even bother to ask how much the little truck thing would cost or how many of the lifts the city would need.
These break, AND people are gross
I pleaded repeatedly to get the broken one near JFK/UMASS replaced. For SIX months people were content to leave their used drink containers, half eaten fruit, food wrappers, and all number of disgusting refuse just on top or near the barrel. During windy days, the disgusting debris would blow into our neighborhood and into the street, and into the pedestrian walkways, which was nothing short of repulsive.
FINALLY once Walsh took office it was almost immediately replaced with a regular plain old trash can and there have been NO problems since then. I literally jumped for joy. To walk by heaps of food waste every single day for months was demoralizing.
I have to say I was always more disgusted with the kind of person who thinks they simply MUST leave their half eaten slim jim NEAR a trash can to be free of it instead of hold onto it for two more minutes than I was disgusted that it wasn't getting resolved.
Yes, they are.
Disgusting, that is. I like dogs, though.
Time to report
One phone number to call is 617-635-4500 which is the Mayor's hotline.
Citizens Connect IS the Mayor's Hotline
In the role it was born to play!
Um, in any case, if you file something with Citizens Connect, it goes to the same people who would otherwise be answering that phone number (when, oh, when is Boston going to get simple, easy to remember 311?).
Blue bags of dog crap
Not specifically at this location but I regularly see blue bags of dog crap dropped all over the place. Someone who has picked up a dog turd with their hands then is somehow too squeamish to carry it to a trash barrel? Explain this to me.
Entire neighborhood covered in poo
My favorite pet peeve (lol, pun). The situation was unbelievable this morning - every Big Belly was full and teeming with trash and bags of dog poop. You'd think we had had a circus or carnival in the South End over the weekend and this was a one-time occurrence but, no, it is happening frequently now.
I'd say the change in pick-up schedules started around the time we had the mayoral election last year but I can't think of any reason why the South End trash barrels would remain full more often (unless you believe Marty Walsh is pissed we all voted for John Connolly and it's payback time ...).
My own complaint about this (#101001075026) was apparently resolved this morning. "My piggy neighbors can't seem to understand what to do when the city's trash barrels are full."
I sent that last week.
No, you don't just leave your trash when a barrel is full - you take it with you. Don't make my neighborhood a dump. When your trash barrels at home are full do you just put more trash on top or beside the barrel? (Don't answer that.)
The Big Belly trashcans I see
The Big Belly trashcans I see around the South End seem to have this issue fairly regularly. I'm not a fan. The neighborhood could use more trashcans and recycling bins in general. There really aren't any along Shawmut.
And poop bag dispensers!
I'm also impressed by all the bagged poop! At least they tried, haha.
One major shortcoming, IMO,
One major shortcoming, IMO, of these trash cans is that the hatchway for the trash becomes disgusting. Not looking to smelling these things in the summer.
Also, I don't really like using these Big Bellies. Of course, I will, if there's no alternative around, but I don't like having to touch a trash receptacle. The whole motion of pulling down the handle to open the hatch to toss the trash in seems cumbersome.
The drawer should be operated
The drawer should be operated by a push pedal instead of a pull handle. If some industrial designer could figure that out for regular trash bins a century ago it makes no sense why they couldn't do that for new fancy compactors.
Not in favor
It's one more thing that could break.
No, I don't want to be much
No, I don't want to be much more than arm's length from a public trash receptacle. Even needing to get my foot near it means that I need to be too close.
Amazing....
Amazing.... Not one of the neighbors or local businesses thought to put another barrel out until the BB issue is resolved. Lets just sit around and watch it pile up, until the city gets to it.
Glad I have more thoughtful and sensible neighbors than those in the SE.
I love city life...
However, one major drawback is that too many people have a "someone else will take care of it" mentality. It fosters dependence on the city government and discourages people acting as a community and doing for themselves.
That alone isn't the problem
The problem is that people also love to hate paying taxes while demanding their entitlements and a clean up crew.
I never said...
...that alone was the problem. It's just one major drawback.
But I agree with your point, and I think it speak to mine: people want the city government to do everything for them, but freak at any mention of paying more for those services.
Animals
and I'm not referring to the pooches.
Oh, come on...
They're dog owners...in the city. They can do whatever they want. From using parks in the North End that are clearly marked "No Dogs Allowed", to literally shitting on our national heritage when they use the grounds around the Bunker Hill Monument as a dog park, to leaving their bags of dog turds stacked around a public trash can: it's their city. The rest of us are just guests.
Dear fellow dog owners: BE CREATIVE!!!
A) As several people have pointed out, this seems to be more of a fault of Boston, rather than irresponsible dog owners
B) HAVING SAID THAT... fellow dog owners... DEMONSTRATE SOME INGENUITY!! Odds are, you're not taking your dog to brand new neighborhoods each and every walk... you're frequenting certain areas, and should eventually know the lay of the land! Take note of convenient dumpsters that you can go to if the trash cans are overflowing (or full, as is the case here). Seriously!