recycling problems

[gookalockgeek.livejournal.com]

I live in Somerville (though not in Davis Square) and I'm having an issue with my trash/recycling. Last night my landlord showed up at my door and yelled at me for having cardboard boxes and paper bags full of recycling next to my recycling bin, claiming that he has been repeatedly fined for this by the city of Somerville. He demanded that we throw all our recycling in the trash to avoid this. We complied because he is scary and was in our building unannounced and had caught us off guard.

This morning, I cleaned up the 6 bags of trash my neighbors had thrown on the curb (most likely what he is actually being fined for) and put them in trash cans. Then I stood at the window and watched the trash truck throw away the contents of not only the several trash cans, but my clearly marked blue "Somerville Recycles" recycling bin.

Has anyone dealt with this problem before? What do I do to stop this? I moved here from Brookline, where you're fined for NOT recycling, and now I am being punished for doing so.

EDIT: I called 311 and reported the issue, but I'm going to leave this up to let people know that their recycling might end up in the dump if they don't pay attention to who is picking it up!

Comments

[masswich.livejournal.com]

I've seen them throw out the recycling- I assume its if the trash truck comes first, they may assume the recycling truck isn't coming (since it usually comes first.) I don't think its a conspiracy, but I wish they'd just leave the recycling alone and I can put it back in the yard if they miss a pickup one week.

If I was sympathetic I'd chalk it up to poor training but I think its mostly that contractors don't give a rats ass as long as everything gets picked up. In Brookline the trash trucks are operated by the Town, so there is more incentive to do it right. In Somerville its contracted out and not all that monitored.

[gookalockgeek.livejournal.com]

i don't think it's a conspiracy either, just laziness.

my recycling truck doesn't ever come before the trash truck (which comes around 7AM), and i live on broadway, so a lot of people are on this same cycle. the city of somerville website says:

"If your recycling is not picked up on your regularly scheduled day, Please do not remove it from the curb, and call Constituent Services by dialing 311, to arrange for pick up on the same day or early the following day."

Perhaps they should share this information with the trash guys.