Portland is going nuts in the green requirements! (rant)

[quinnox]

I'm so mad at Portland, Oregon, my hometown. I went to the store the other day, and no plastic bags!?

Yes, plastic bags are BANNED from grocery stores now! Can you believe this nonsense? I like to ride a bike around and its a huge hassle to not have those small plastic bags with handles that fit perfectly on my bike, try putting a big old fashioned no handles paper bag on your bike handlebars and see what happens.

Now, in the latest nonsense from the Portland powers that be, they are cutting garbage to only twice a month!! Yes, no longer weekly garbage pick up, instead your stinking garbage is going to have to wait for two weeks until its picked up!

I'm a friend of the environment but this is getting way out of hand and becoming just plain ridiculous.

[WCGreen]

1. A canvas tote back with handles works for me on my bike...

[TygrBright]

2. I have some extra take-along bags with handles. PM me your address and I'll send you a couple. n/t

[DebJ]

3. Will recycling pickup only be twice a month as well?

[quinnox]

4. no, that is weekly

and they also expect you to put all your little food waste crumbs separated from your normal garbage!

Jesus, my lanlady was CRYING about this stuff.

[DebJ]

8. I asked because the bulk of my garbage, spacewise, is

recycling. I often toss food scraps like potato peels, etc., into my gardens (since I live in a house at the moment). So most of the other stuff that is waste is paper that can't be recycled in my community, or small non-food items, none of which would stink or create bacteria. The other food waste is very minimal, but I buy very, very little pre-prepared foods.

Two weeks is a long time to have poultry remains sitting around. I think maybe I'd set up a separate can for that stuff and put something in the can with it. What to put in it, I don't know.....doesn't lime or something like that promote decay? Or toss some bleach on it. Ew. I think I might resort to making a lot of chicken soup or stews and using every scrap of meat instead. Spaghetti seems to be a good place to toss in extra meat leftovers, or pot pies (hubby hates dark chicken meat but never finds it in these dishes, LOL).

Another suggestion, if it is possible, which you could time with your garbage pick up maybe? Almost all of my raw meat packages go into the trash just one or two days per month. I shop for my meats one or two days per month, stocking up on meats that are on sale that day. I usually shop on Saturday, cook most of my just-purchased meats on Sunday, and the rotten garbage stuff goes out on Monday morning. Then over the next few weeks or month, I'm just left with little baggies that had (mostly) cooked meat, so less bacteria or goop, as well as taking up less space in the can. Because I cook a lot of them all at once, I save energy costs and clean-up time (ah, the best part). For example, my hubby is like Wimpy, always wanting to have burgers several times a week (too much for me, ew!). I can fit 6 burgers in my frying pan; he eats two a night. But I cook 6 and then freeze the other 4. I do use ground beef and turkey often for spaghetti/pasta/rice based meals, chili, and other things, so I cook about 3 lbs at a time and then use zip baggies to package amounts for one meal (3/4 lb for both of us). The bulky store packaging has been long gone and taken away; the zip bags take up very little room in the can.

I guess one of the big differences in my garbage production is that I buy mostly fresh ingredients, not pre-cooked stuff which tends to be more package than food. My frozen purchases are economy-sized bags of corn, peas, etc....more food, less package/garbage, less shopping trips, lower cost.

Yep it's particularly hard for us Amerikuns to change our lifestyles, but it can be done and you save time, money, and produce less waste. The hard part is getting started. Habit controls much more of our lives then we realize.

[Arugula Latte]

30. Even stuff like poultry waste can go in the weekly compost pickup in Portland

So food waste shouldn't be a problem.

[Salviati]

16. Well, that will keep your garbage from stinking then.

We've got city wide composting here in Seattle, and I have to take my garbage out like once a month now. It's mostly just non-recyclable plastic and mixed packaging... that and the food I've left too long in the fridge to not entomb in plastic like so much toxic waste. I've got to be good about taking out the compost, but the garbage can sit for weeks because almost everything that would be stinky winds up in the compost bin.

[HuckleB]

26. +1

[Lydia Leftcoast]

17. It's been normal procedure in Japan since...well, since I lived there in the 1970s

So what is all the fuss about?

[kctim]

5. It's only going to get worse.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. If you're recycling as much as you can...

Then you won't have as much garbage as you used to.

Having it picked up twice a month won't be a huge problem then, either...

Plastic bags are an abomination, BTW. They clog the waterways, and get into the ocean, where they rip into little pieces, and the fish eat them.

They need to be gone.

Canvas bags work great. Try them and see...

We need to change how we live, and this is how it's done.

[cleanhippie]

7. It would seem that you are missing the point of all of this...

You can re-use your old plastic bags...they are not illegal to possess.

You can use other bags with handles.

Reducing garbage pick-up just might get you to see how much garbage you produce, and you should try to reduce that amount. Most of the stuff that "stinks" is organic and can be composted...



It's only ridiculous when one refuses to change their destructive behavior.

[IndyPragmatist]

10. I reuse my plastic bags regularly, but I have to replace them as well

3 out of 5 days, I bring my lunch to work and use a plastic grocery bag for that. I usually use them 3 to 4 days before they rip and I have to use another one.

I also use them as a convenient way to clean my cat's litter box.

So I go through 3-4 of these bags each week. I would be extremely annoyed if I could not get these bags at the store. I recycle the lunch bags, but the cat waste bags go into the trash.

My local grocery store, Marsh, offers a 5 cent discount for each bag you reuse (paper, plastic, or canvas) and it has been extremely effective. The checkout girl told me that her manager said that nearly 30% of transactions include the discount for bringing your own bag. I usually prefer positive action to encourage people to do the right thing instead of banning it altogether.

[cleanhippie]

12. So because you no longer get them for free at the store...

you are upset about that. I get that. Your annoyed, you said so.


You can still buy them, really really cheaply http://www.universalplastic.com/prod/Grocery-Bags.php you know.

I really do not see what the problem here is.

[sinkingfeeling]

9. I'll be very pleased when all plastic bags are outlawed. Make a donation to the Sierra Club or

WWF and you'll get some nifty reusable bags with handles.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

11. I'm in PDX and lovin all the changes..

no longer will my garbage stink, because the food scraps I'm unable to compost in my back yard will now be recycled, instead of going in the trash. I will have to make room in the kitchen for the new bucket, but now I can use a smaller trashcan. I may even give up my makeshift compost can (coffee) and go out a buy a more elegant type one in celebration of the new system.

A backpack or a messenger bag (they ride lower if you're on a bike) are what I use when I'm walking or busing. there are also smaller re-usable bags that will fit in you pocket till you need them.

I love the extra-large re-usable bags for big trips in the car. they hold 2x as much as a paper bag and at least 4x as much as plastic ones.

[aquamarina]

13. Something else you might want to try.

It might seem wierd at first(I've done this during hot weather spells) but if you have food and other organic waste that you don't want rotting in and stinking up your garbage can, you might want to collect it in a bag and keep the bag in your freezer until trash pickup day.

Stops the rot and stops the stink.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

14. Good lord, stop yer bellyaching.

Separating your "garbage" -- including your compostable food scraps -- is as easy as pie. SF has been doing this for years and it hasn't killed anyone yet. I use three big papers bags in a large bin - one bag gets recycleables, one bag gets all compostable materials including food scraps, the other gets what's left: "garbage". If you take out your compost bag regularly to your sidewalk can there is no "stink" in your house. As for plastic bags -- you should be using canvas totes with handles -- plastic bags are evil.

[Arugula Latte]

15. I'm in Portland but I have to say I'm happy about the changes.

I'm a little worried about the garbage collection cutback, but my family will just have to step up the recycling a bit more. Plus, we'll be able to put a lot of stuff into the yard debris/food waste/compost bins -- even leftovers and bones and paper towels, etc. I save up "rigid" plastic anyway and take it to a recycling center because I can't bear to throw out big hunks of plastic in the form of take-out containers and the like.

I carry a couple of these bags in my purse so I almost always have a bag or two on hand. (They would fit on handlebars.)

[KurtNYC]

18. I just got 5 bags worth of groceries in 2 canvas totes

easier to carry and deal with. One with cold and frozen stuff, the other room temp. The plastic bags here are small and they rip too easily to re-use. Just the low quality of the "free" plastic bags has been enough to make many locals go to re-usables.

[KamaAina]

19. San Jose is doing away with plastic bags next year

not only that, they're making stores charge for paper ones!

Sure, canvas totes are great -- IF you drive, so you just have some in the trunk. But for me? The only way I can food shop is to get off the light rail on the way home from work, shop, and get back on the train. So I have to make sure I have canvas totes at work any time I want to shop?! I thought I was being green by, you know, not driving.

[Arugula Latte]

29. How about the bags I posted a photo of above (post #15)

They squish down to the size of a small apple. Very handy! You can keep some in your desk drawer maybe.

[jberryhill]

20. I pick up groceries by bicycle all of the time...

I use a folding pannier basket which perfectly accommodates a canvas shopping bag.

Putting a plastic grocery bag on your handlebars is kind of a dumb thing to do.

[in_cog_ni_to]

21. Use a cloth shopping tote. They have handles on them. Go to:

reuseit.com and buy some. They're cheap and reusable and MUCH BETTER for our environment. Your grocery store probably sells them. They're like $1.00. CHEAP.

Now, that garbage issue would piss me off. There's no way we would have the room to store 2 weeks worth of stinky garbage.

Our village switched to a new garbage company that uses UGLY HUGE BLUE bins. One for garbage and one for recycle. They thought it was cleaner than people leaving out garbage bags and looks better. Never mind the HUGE UGLY BLUE BINS that line our streets now are even worse than garbage bags ever were sitting out for just half a day.. People have nowhere to store the damn things, so they're everywhere around the village, outside everyone's house. Whereas before, everyone just kept their garbage in cans in their garage until garbage day and then put it out. Of course there's never a day you don't see the streets littered with those blue monstrosities because they rotate garbage days for all the different neighborhoods/streets. STUPID move on their part! Plus the garbage company SUCKS!

If you put out boxes, they must be cut up in 3'x 3' pieces, stacked and tied in a nice little bundle for them or they won't take them. I ripped carpet out of our bedroom and hauled it all out to the street and they refused to take it because it wasn't cut in 3'x 4' sections, rolled and tied in nice little bundles. I called the company and and the woman told me I had to cut it up and bundle it for them or they won't take it. I had just spent 2 days pulling up carpet and tack-strip and was in no freakin' mood to deal with their shit. It was SNOWING at the time. The carpet was wet and covered in snow and she expected ME to haul it all back into my garage and bundle it for her stupid garbage company. I called the village and reported it and told them the carpet was staying where it was until they picked it up because I wasn't about to bundle it up for them. They have these trucks that have an arm on them that picks up the stuff and dumps it in the truck, so they can have just ONE PERSON ON THE TRUCK who has to do nothing but drive it and push a lever to operate the arm. All trucks use to have 2-3 people on them...one driving 2 more to dump the garbage. Now they need only one person per truck. More jobs lost and REALLY shitty service.

They sent a truck out and the garbage man had to throw the carpet in the truck himself. :) Poor baby.

[PeaceNikki]

22. I agree with others that what's ridiculous is your reluctance to change your destructive behavior.

[lame54]

23. take your own bags

[LeftyMom]

24. Plastic bags suck to use on a bike. They break at the drop of a hat.

Just use cloth bags, or get yourself a rack and a basket or some panniers.

If you were making good decisions you wouldn't have had to change anything.

[HuckleB]

25. The stinky garbage (food scraps of all types) will be picked up weekly.

That goes in your yard debris/compost bin, and it is picked up weekly, along with recycling.

So much for that supposed stinky garbage.

http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-27693-curbside_composting_.html

Sheesh.

As for plastic bags, you can buy them, if you really want them. That's still your choice.

[Tesha]

27. One word: Panniers. (NT)

[HuckleB]

28. Tim Minchin - Canvas Bags

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFgtIziShmc&feature=related

Come on, let's get some enthusiasm going!