The Davis Square Community

styrofoam recycling

Tue, 04 Apr 2017 11:39:00 GMT

Posted by: 42itous.livejournal.com

Does anyone know of a place in Greater Camberville that accepts small styrofoam for recycling? I live in Arlington, which accepts large packing foam (the kind that immobilizes electronics in shipping boxes), but doesn't accept small foam containers (clamshell boxes from takeout food, which have a #6 recycling symbol on the bottom). The town collection staff told me that no recycling business will pay for the latter and I should put it in the trash. But if it's recyclable, I should be able to recycle it, right?!?!

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New Somerville Alert Emails

Tue, 21 Feb 2017 17:48:00 GMT

Posted by: aislingk15.livejournal.com

It appears that Somerville finally has their new system up for sending street sweeping/trash alerts by email, phone, text etc. I set mine up by going to http://www.somervillema.gov/trash finding my address under "My Schedule" and then choosing "Sign up for reminders". So far I have been getting emails with trash pickup, and the system knows things like to send a delayed message on weeks when there is a holiday. You also have control over what time the messages are sent. Supposedly this will also be sending reminders about street sweeping, though I can't vouch for that in February.

From the main Somerville page under "Residents" I see that there is a pull-down menu option for "Sign Up for Alerts", but as that's not the way I signed up for mine, I can't say whether you end up at the same place.

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Curb alert: tall italian made mirror (Davis)

Mon, 15 Aug 2016 10:49:00 GMT

Posted by: chanteusemp.livejournal.com

I noticed this beautiful mirror on the curb this morning. It has a tag that says made in Italy. About four feet tall. Would be a shame for it to be trashed!

Near the top of Clarendon Ave (20-30 Clarendon Ave) Somerville, on the left. See pic below. ( Read more... )

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Getting rid of a drier

Sat, 16 Jul 2016 17:38:00 GMT

Posted by: bobobb.livejournal.com

Hi Folks,

Hoping for advice on this one. I have a place in Davis Square that I'm renting out and we have an old drier (not hooked up, but does work ok) rotting the basement. I'd love to get rid of it, but no one on craigslist wants it for scrap or use and every junk place I've called think that a single drier isn't worth their time to haul away. Dragging out to the curb and getting a ticket for garbage to pick up a large item isn't possible for a variety of reasons that I won't go into.

What other options do I have? Advice would be welcome - and if you've had to deal with this before living in the Davis Square area and have a recommendation of someone local who could help out, I'd appreciate it.

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Plastic Bags with recycle numbers

Tue, 28 Jun 2016 19:30:00 GMT

Posted by: vonelftinhaus.livejournal.com

I know soon plastic bags themselves will be phased out from all stores, larger first then small, before the end of the year and these bags wear a recycle triangle. But also increasingly companies are shipping goods with the plastic air filled bags to protect the shipped products (like amazon) which also sport the cool recycling triangle. My question is what is the city policy on the shipping bags and other plastic like bags (paper towel,toilet paper) that are sporting the recycling triangles - can we just throw them in the recycling bin with everything else? I did use The Waste Wizard but it seemed to generalize the plastic bags and not include the number icons; I feel like if it has a recycle icon I want to be able to put it somewhere other than the trash.

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hazardous waste disposal days?

Sun, 19 Jun 2016 07:58:00 GMT

Posted by: ceelove.livejournal.com

In previous years, there have been days for hazardous waste disposal in June and September at the DPW. This year, I can't find any mention of them, on the city website or the ResiStat mailings. What are we to do with our hazardous waste?

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Trash fines on Monday...

Fri, 16 Oct 2015 18:53:00 GMT

Posted by: jbsegal.livejournal.com

It seems that, while the trash collectors got Monday off, the enforcement staff didn't.

How many people got ticketed for having their trash out a day early? {sigh}

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Sharps disposal sites?

Tue, 21 Oct 2014 18:44:00 GMT

Posted by: theodosia.livejournal.com

I am now the temporary owner of a diabetic cat, while his real owner is on an extended hospital stay.

I've gotten the insulin injections sorted out, but along with that comes the task of disposing of the sharps -- the needles used for the injections and the sharps used to testing blood sugar -- properly.

Are there any handy collection points local in Somerville?

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Anyone have experience throwing out a garbage disposal in Somerville?

Fri, 01 Aug 2014 15:39:00 GMT

Posted by: queenof-sarcasm.livejournal.com

My kitchen sink's garbage disposal was recently replaced, and now my house has a broken garbage disposal to get rid of. It's riiiight in that in-between area where I can't figure out if I need to purchase a White Goods sticker for it (like dishwashers and refrigerators), or if it's small enough that it can just go out with the rest of our garbage on trash day (like toasters). Somerville's trash disposal guidelines are no help in this area, unfortunately.

Has anyone here dealt with this specific issue before? I'd rather not risk getting fined for putting it out without a sticker.

Thanks!

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Excess City Trash Carts

Sun, 27 Jul 2014 17:26:00 GMT

Posted by: jad atoui

I am not sure how many received the new rodent-proof trash barrels from the city. My association is 3 units so they decided to drop us 3 barrels when we really just needed one for our waste needs. Moreover there is little room in the garbage storage area of our apartment considering the recycling and yard waste barrels. So I have been struggling to have the city to collect the excess barrels from outside my home. The instructions they gave me is to fill out a form and include the serial # of the bins to be reclaimed by the city and the garbage collectors on garbage day will know when they see it to pick it up with them while they are taking the garbage. Its been 4 weeks and the forms didn't make any difference. What recourse do I have? I need to get rid of these barrels and I'm losing hope of this process of them picking it up on garbage day actually working.

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Garbage

Fri, 11 Jul 2014 18:39:00 GMT

Posted by: justphoenix.livejournal.com

I have some extra garbage to put out on Monday, namely a mattress and bed parts. Unfortunately, I forgot to call it in to City Hall until just now and they told me it was too late for Monday. How anal retentive is Somerville garbage pickup about that sort if thing?

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Throwing out garbage pails

Wed, 25 Jun 2014 17:09:00 GMT

Posted by: hahathor.livejournal.com

I really do like the new lidded garbage cans that Somerville has been giving out & asking us to use in lieu of our old ones. Thing is, I now have 2 of the new ones (because I'm in a two-family, both my tenants & I got one) and 5 old ones. This, in addition to the 2 no-sort recycling pails take up more than 1/2 my garage. How do I get rid of the old ones? Leaving them on the curb on garbage day had no effect.

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Trash containers

Sat, 07 Jun 2014 12:56:00 GMT

Posted by: prunesnprisms.livejournal.com

Anyone already have an answer to what to do if you already had 64 gallon rolling containers that you bought and paid for before the City decided to give them out? They were expensive, there's nothing wrong with them, and I can't store 1-2 more containers on the property if the City drops off a couple more this week. Is there any way to actually decline the new ones?

I have not called 311 because I've been out of town, but I suppose possibly I should.

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Hazardous Waste Today!

Sat, 12 Apr 2014 10:43:00 GMT

Posted by: theodosia.livejournal.com

I just remembered myself -- the monthly Hazardous Waste collection at the Franey Road facility is this morning until 12 Noon.

From the city's PDF:

Hazardous Waste Disposal

When and Where: Second Saturday of the month

from April to November, 9 a.m. - 12 Noon at the DPW

yard, One Franey Road.

• Open to City residents only: Please provide a

utility bill or driver’s license showing a Somerville

address. No businesses or rental property owners

are eligible.

• Accepted material at HHW days: Paints, thinners,

cleaners, motor oil, antifreeze, mercury thermometers,

car batteries, compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs,

and rechargeable batteries.

• MATERIALS MAY NOT BE DROPPED OFF IN

PLASTIC TRASH BAGS DUE TO POSSIBLE

SPILLS / LEAKS.

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Branches from the storm

Fri, 28 Mar 2014 12:52:00 GMT

Posted by: hahathor.livejournal.com

So several large branches blew off a tree near my house & into my backyard during yesterday's storm. What is the proper procedure for getting rid of them? They're huge, and I suspect that even if I am able to cut them into smaller pieces, they won't fit in the Garden Refuse container I have. Thoughts? [not sure I tagged this correctly; mods feel free to change]

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The Mayor's War on Rats!

Sun, 17 Nov 2013 21:11:00 GMT

Posted by: bobobb.livejournal.com

Apparently my house wasn't the only one to be hit by rats last year....and now the mayor has responded with a rather cool initiative.

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/somerville/2013/11/somerville_mayor_declares_war_on_rats.html

"The city is preparing a new program to offer free rodent control for homeowners and aims to launch a uniform residential trash barrel program to help keep rats from eating out of trash cans."

Also apparently looking into rat birth control...

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Dishwasher Disposal?

Sat, 02 Nov 2013 19:59:00 GMT

Posted by: blinkidybah.livejournal.com

So our countertop portable dishwasher is no longer operating properly, and I definitely lack the knowledge on how to fix it (plus with parts it's probably more efficient to just get a new one).

What are the odds that trash will take it without a White Goods sticker? It's a smaller model, about 2 feet cubed, and probably smaller than some TVs people have put out for pickup.

If the city definitely won't take it without a sticker, what are my non-DPW options? Taking time off of work to deal with city bureaucracy isn't an option. :)

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Compost pickup pilot project in Cambridge

Tue, 08 Oct 2013 13:48:00 GMT

Posted by: mzrowan.livejournal.com

Cambridge is doing a pilot of curbside compost pickup next year in a limited geographical area that runs from Alewife to Porter south of Mass Ave. They're looking for up to 800 households to sign up by December 20. See the link above for more details, including the exact map of eligible streets, and to sign up.

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Globe Direct - Red Bagged Advertisement Papers

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 16:15:00 GMT

Posted by: shana-lyons.livejournal.com

Has anyone had any luck unsubscribing from Globe Direct? They started to drop red-bagged advertising papers on our porch a few months ago. I've long since gotten sick of picking them up and immediately tossing them. I unsubscribed via the email address on the bag (direct@globe.com) over a month ago and got email confirmation of that unsubscribe. They're still coming. Has anyone else found a way of opting out that works?

If you have magic tricks for getting people to stop leaving menus, cable flyers, and political ads, that would be awesome, too. :) I feel like our porch has become a big dumpster of direct marketing recently.

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Garbage removal, specifically food-ish garbage removal

Sat, 25 May 2013 19:36:00 GMT

Posted by: hahathor.livejournal.com

When I first moved into my house there was an industrial size drum of liquid malt extract in the basement. Over the past decade or so, it's sat there, starting to rust, and I really want to get rid of it. I think that because it's food stuff, it may have different rules applying to it. Thoughts?

I also have over a decade's worth of various crap, including odd scraps of wood from projects, screens & storms from windows that have been replaced, etc. I know I can get a dumpster, but are there people who will come and clear all this crap out for me? If the price differential isn't that great, it may be worthwhile for me to hire someone to take care of it for me.

Mods - I tried the garbage tag & it didn't lead me to anything relevant, if there's another tag I should check, let me know.

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Free Document Shredding event at ECSB, Saturday 5/18, 2-4 pm

Mon, 13 May 2013 02:49:00 GMT

Posted by: ron_newman

East Cambridge Savings Bank, 285 Highland Ave at Cedar St, will hold a free Community Shred Event from 2 to 4 pm this Saturday, May 18. The event will include music, refreshments, and giveaways. You can bring these things to shred:

Invoices, bank statements, contracts, canceled checks, medical records, personal records, insurance claims, pay stubs, expired IDs, receipts, mail, computer printouts, CDs, cassette and audio tapes, back-up disks, and prescriptions

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Somerville yard waste calendar and environmental services guide

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 15:23:00 GMT

Posted by: ron_newman

The city of Somerville's official 2013 Yard Waste Pickup Calendar and Environmental Services Guide. Yard waste pickup is weekly through April, every other week from May through October, then weekly again in November. This document also has information about monthly hazardous waste dropoff days, rain barrels, composting Earth Machines, disposal of TVs and large appliances, and other useful things.

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Monday trash pickups?

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 10:31:00 GMT

Posted by: secretlyironic.livejournal.com

Anyone know if Cambridge and Somerville are still doing the usual Monday trash pickups tomorrow?

I haven't found anything on the city websites about it...

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hazardous waste dispsal

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 22:14:00 GMT

Posted by: artguychris.livejournal.com

The city doesn't do collections December through March. Does anyone know where I can safely dispose of some motor oil, wood stain, and a few other things? Already tried giving them away several times, but no takers.

Thanks!

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Appealing a trash ticket

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 19:20:00 GMT

Posted by: chenoameg.livejournal.com

I'm appealing a trash ticket this week (long story). Any tips from others who have done so?

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