Normandy Wants Trash Containers Out of Sight

Trash containers in Normandy serving buildings with at least four residential units or commercial buildings must now be concealed from public streets as well as neighboring residences.

The ordinance, approved by the City Council on Tuesday night, is designed to address health and aesthetic concerns. In recent years, the city has sought to review and often beef up its building and property use provisions, to maintain property values.

It gives the city's code enforcement officers the right to determine if the containers need concealment in individual cases.

Would You Pay $500 for a Trash Can?

Trash has littered bus stops here  as long as most city leaders can remember.

Broken bottles. Dirty napkins. Styrofoam soda cups. And gum wads, stuck to concrete like pepperoni on pizza.
Now, after years of angst, there's a hopeful solution in the works.

St. Louis City officials have cut a deal with Metro, the taxpayer-funded regional bus and light rail agency, to add 500 new trash cans citywide as well as a dedicated team to empty the cans and clean up the stops. Metro would pay $250,000 for the $500 cans this year, and another $100,000 every year for the two-man crew and their truck.

(Read more about this at: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_962fe37d-49cc-5432-9c97-3703d0313fe2.html )

Now I Have to Clean My Trash Can Thanks to My New Hauler

Anonymous says . . .

Ok. Here’s the deal. We kept the “big ass recycle can” that we were given by the County so that we can be good citizens and try to get into the habit of recycling. We also bought a new trash can since our old ones were all beat up (David didn’t believe in using the wheels – he dragged them back and forth on the driveway and put holes in the bottoms of our trash cans).

So, we bought our own “big ass trash can” for the trash. It was in wonderful condition – we’ve only had it for about 6 months, and Allied Waste took very good care of it when THEY were our trash haulers.

Today, Veolia took over. When I got home from having lunch, I went to put our trash can in the garage. First of all, Veolia had MY trash cans sitting on my neighbor’s driveway – very close to MY driveway, but next to it – on MY NEIGHBOR’S driveway. Easy mistake. The driveways ARE close together. No problem.

The problem was that my BEAUTIFUL, CLEAN, ALMOST NEW trash can (that Allied Waste took VERY GOOD care of) was full of mud!!!!!! WHAT’S UP WITH THAT???!!! It seems that THEIR policy is to take my trash, but leave me mud! I have enough things to clean!! NOW, I have to clean my TRASH CAN!!!!! -----------

Just thought I’d add to the chaos in the “Wonderful World of Trash”!

Portland streets get solar-powered trash cans

Parking mogul Greg Goodman was walking in Boston last year when he saw something that looked like a mailbox with a solar panel.

It wasn't a mailbox. It was a solar-powered trash can that smashes garbage, making room for more garbage, limiting how often it's emptied and theoretically saving fuel and cutting costs.

He donated both to the city of Portland, and they now sit on downtown streets. Each features logos for Goodman's City Center Parking, which operates 200 parking facilities, and the Oregon Environmental Council, a nonprofit he supports.

The cans have been on the street for three weeks now, so it's a little early to judge whether they're saving fuel or anything else, city officials said.

But the Oregon Zoo has five similar cans, which have saved fuel and labor, said Michael Weatherman, the zoo's custodial manager. "I am very happy with them," Weatherman said.When garbage reaches a certain level, a sensor triggers the compactor, which compresses the trash.

Lights on the front of the can -- green, yellow and red -- tell garbage haulers when it should be emptied. The solar panel works even in the rain.

And What Type of Recycle Container Will You Get?

What To Do With Unused Trash Can

If you're wondering what to do with your new county trash cans - or your old ones - consider making a Halloween costume out of one. Here's what one guy did.

When I was a kid there was a guy in our neighborhood that used to jump out of the bushes in a gorilla suit and scare the bejeezus out of us. It was one of my fondest memories of halloween. Last year I decided to be that guy.

Unfortunately, I don't have any bushes. An alternative would be to build a trash barrel disguise. I built the disguise below and then sat in it right on the front lawn. Not one single kid realized that It wasn't a trash can and I scared so many of them that I lost count.

Here are some lessons I learned:

1. Kids don't want to be half-scared. After scaring the pants off of about 20 kids from 10-12 years old a group of 8 year olds came up. They were right in front of me but I didn't have the heart to scare them too much. I stood up and gave them a half-hearted "boo.". I will never forget the look on the kids face. I will describe it as bored/annoyed. He just looked at me and said "you're not scary. YOU ARE A TRASHCAN".

2. Parents like you to scare their kids. In fact, they think it is the funniest thing they have ever seen.

3. The more heartily you scare one group of kids the more likely they will be to wait on the next door neighbors lawn to see you scare the next group.

4. You should wait until after the kids get the candy to scare them. If you try to scare them when they are running for the porch they won't even see you. They have a lazer focus on the free candy.

5. Kids that are all wired up on candy have no memory. You can scare them then cross the street and scare them when they come to your neighbors yard.

6. I scared about 90 kids, only one cried (a small child in her mother's laughing arms) and one fell over backward. Here is the story of how I made a trashcan costume and how you can too. All it takes is a trash can with lid, a few screws and a saw. I picked up the parts and brought them to art class.

For the rest of the story along with photos, visit: http://www.extremepumpkins.com/trascancos.html

Click on photo to enlarge.