Up To My Knees in Garbage Day

Well, not really up to my knees, but sometimes up to my ankles.

I should explain.

We have had terrific garbage service in our neighborhood since we moved here almost 20 years ago. The companies have changed a few times but overall the service has stayed very good.

A few years ago we had an amazing hauler with a flair for singing gospel at the top of this lungs. I used to look forward to Fridays when he would come by with the radio in the truck blasting out church and gospel music. He’d sing along and have the happiest expression on his face. I’d stand in the driveway when I heard the truck approach the end of our street just so I could hear him and give him a wave and a thank you before I pulled the empty can back up the driveway. Sometimes I thought I would sure like to be that happy at my job. How he handled the early mornings, the mess, the heavy lifting, and a job that some people think is degrading was beyond me.

If you have ever been in NYC when there’s a garbage hauler strike, you will appreciate the extreme importance of the trash haulers. You would realize the work is not degrading at all. Hard work, yes. Messy work, yes. But degrading? I would suggest our lifestyles would be totally downgraded without the noble trash collectors, not to mention the health issues that would overcome our cities.

But, back to my story.

I can tell it’s garbage pick up day.  There’s garbage blowing around all over the neighborhood.  That’s what it’s like when there’s very little wind.  When it’s ‘blow me down’ windy–watch out! This didn’t used to be an issue until they changed our service from private companies to ‘county run’ pick up and the tax payers bought new trucks. Of course we didn’t get to vote on this FYI. The new trucks, purchased to save money and be more efficient, have a top loading arm. The former trucks had the trash loaded into the back by the hauler and the truck had two employees–a driver and an outside guy. Now the trash is dumped into a container at the front of the truck, by the driver, a button is pushed and the container lifts high into the air. As it makes this fantastic, ballerina type lift, all the loose trash floats up and out on delicate puffs of air before the container is tilted and emptied into the main dumpster of the truck.

On light wind days we get about half a can of extra junk in the yard after the truck goes by. On high wind days, we will pick up trash for about a week from the front and back yard and fill about 3/4 of a trash can. Plus, things like plastic bags and fast food wrappers and tissues end up in the trees. The squirrels, of course, can use this for their nests and it becomes a ‘green’ issue if we would want to make any changes. How thoughtless to want to harm the squirrels or hamper them from nest building. I am thinking they used to use sticks and foliage and things like that. Now they use old grocery bags and napkins and other things I don’t even want to think about.

But, back to my story.

I’m not convinced we, the tax payers, have done a great thing going green and going cheap with only one employee per truck and bringing in top loaders. I’ve seen the same junk in my yard three different weeks in a row and still I keep picking it up and hoping I don’t have to look at the same trash yet again.

An extra impact of the top loader trucks is that they also hit the branches of the Oak and Maple trees lining our streets. The impact rains down branches and leafs on our yards and streets and since we have spent so much on the trucks, we no longer have street sweepers in our area.

Maybe they can find that out of work former employee and give him a job picking up the loose trash and sweeping the streets.

Just a thought.