Recycling Nazis

[TimSully]

So i got a friendly notice in the mail a few weeks ago:

http://www.cranstonri.com/generalpage.php?page=4202

To sum it up - "You MUST recycle, we will NOT pick up your trash if it is put out without a recycling bin that has at least something (approved) in it."

"You must not put your trash out after 6:15 AM on the day of trash collection" (I can't think of any logical reason for this whatsoever)

"Failure to comply will result in the issuance of fines under provision blah blah blah of the City of Cranston Codified Ordinance"

Upon reading this i saw red for about 10 minutes. Many items that get put out on the curb from my house are recycled, but i I do make it a point to throw away a good amount of plastic bottles and paper because i lean toward indifferent/non-believer when it comes to recycling.

Supposedly recycling is bad for the environment and horribly inefficient/wasteful, to the point that it's actually a losing proposition to try to recycle old materials. I've heard some compelling things in this vein, but my gripe has always been much simpler.

A 20-oz bottle of coke is now $1.59, when about 2 years ago it was $0.99. Companies like Coca-Cola get discounts (vs. buying fresh materials) on buying bulk recycled materials and simply don't pass those savings along to the consumer. Things with "recycled materials" are marketed heavily and sold at a HIGHER THAN AVERAGE PRICE. It incenses me that there are dipshits who will pay $5 for a shopping bag made from recycled materials vs. $3 for one made from fresh materials. MAYBE you're helping the environment, but you're DEFINITELY enriching people who purchased materials at a CHEAPER COST. Grr.

Anyhow...i'm not the owner of the house in which i live, but really want to do some kind of civil disobedience/protest/put a bureaucrat on the spot over this. What are some ideas ?

Has anyone had a similar ordinance put on the books in their community or heard of similar things?

[BonerJoe]

Start burning your trash.

[TimSully]

Well sure, i could burn my trash but...

That's added effort. I pay for the service of trash pickup, now they're telling me that they need me to "pitch in" and spend my time separating MY TRASH so that they can save money and in fact earn money (by selling bulk recycled materials) from my labor.

[BonerJoe]

Then don't pay.

[Harry Tuttle]

Besides that, forced recycling hurts the private marketplace for recycling collection services. There are plenty of poor and homeless who gladly collect recycled goods with their own labor and transport it themselves to recycling facilities. These bastards are forcing already hard-working middle class people to take extra time out of their lives and be COMPLICIT in stealing jobs from the underprivileged. That's messed up. 

[TimeLady Victorious]

Besides that, forced recycling hurts the private marketplace for recycling collection services. There are plenty of poor and homeless who gladly collect recycled goods with their own labor and transport it themselves to recycling facilities. These bastards are forcing already hard-working middle class people to take extra time out of their lives and be COMPLICIT in stealing jobs from the underprivileged. That's messed up. 

Exactly, let me scrounge.

The police get in the way of that, too. Once at 4 AM I was carrying a space heater home for scrap and I got followed by a cop car.

[Alex Libman 15]

Terrorism is the only sensible answer.

[BonerJoe]

Terrorism is the only sensible answer.

YEAH LET'S MISLABEL SOME PETE AS HDPE.

[Alex Libman 15]

I was just conducting some experiments to make sure the acid would burn all the way through the recycling plant workers' gloves, but, sure, your ideas are valuable as well. 

[sillyperson]

There are multiple competing private trash disposal businesses in my town. This simply could not happen here.
Yay NH!

[The Green Bastard]

My mother puts all of her recycleables in the dishwasher and washes them before putting them in the bin.

Great Job!

[Diogenes The Cynic]

Back in San Diego, the city would charge us for trash removal, and the state would charge us for the bottle deposit so that even if you did recycle, they didn't credit to you in any way shape or form. So me being absoutely infuriated about the double tax, I would not recycle. I also wouldnt let my roommates recycle, by throwing anything thrown in he recycling bin into the regular garbage. Take that, the man!


Post Script: The five cent bottle deposit really does infuriate me. No joke.

[Bill Brasky]

Fill the recycling bin with all sorts of paper/plastic garbage that is actually trash.  Single-ply pizza boxes, cereal boxes, junk mail, cigarette packs, fluorescent lightbulbs, paint cans, plastic toys, phone books.  You won't have to buy as many garbage bags. 

[Alex Libman 15]

My mother puts all of her recycleables in the dishwasher and washes them before putting them in the bin. Great Job!

... the seven stages of my reaction to this were ...


                                          

[rookie]

Post Script: The five cent bottle deposit really does infuriate me. No joke.

ditto.