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- Thread starter junctionist
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Full Metal Junkie
Senior Member
Good. Fecal matter belongs in the organic compost. Not only does it speed up the decomposition of the other organic waste, it is itself a perfect fertilizer. If you've ever been unfortunate enough to drive through farmlands while they're fertilizing with pig manure, you know what I'm referring to.
bedoozled
Active Member
I couldn't see a category on 311 to report this. Been over a month without collection (according to my previous photo) and now there's a taped up sign, I'm not sure if officially by a city worker or just someone went rogue and slapped duct tape over the collection bin at Bloor & Runnymede:
Northern Light
Superstar
jje1000
Senior Member
I increasingly think half of the issue is maintenance or thereby lack of, or the lackidaisical attitude towards design standards and overriding of all design concerns by maintenance priorities (maintenance is kingmaker at the TTC as well).
It's one thing for design to be bland but neat and well-kept (most of Japan falls into this category), and another for things to be broken and never repaired, or repaired so shoddily that it looks far worse.
It's one thing for design to be bland but neat and well-kept (most of Japan falls into this category), and another for things to be broken and never repaired, or repaired so shoddily that it looks far worse.
Natika33
Active Member
Good article. I will disagree with the one commenter who said they felt the bins should be green rather than black to draw attention to them. I don't think the lack of eye-catching colour is the problem here - it's durability, maintenance and emptying by workers (who presumably should know where all the bins are) that seem to be the main issues. And just the general abuse our citizens heap on these things compared to other places. I actually think the latest unobtrusive black iteration is the best design Astra has come up with so far. Definitely an aesthetic improvement at least and I'll also add a few points for larger openings.
Natika33
Active Member
Controversial take, but I'd like to see any newly designed trash receptical feature a more obvious ash tray, too. I feel if smokers were made more aware of where they should be disposing of their butts (i.e., let's encourage NOT on the ground!) the rise in general feeling of cleanliness would provide subtle pressure on other types of litterers to stop also.
Edit to add - Our design strategy of "if we don't cater to smokers, maybe they'll quit" clearly hasn't worked.
Edit to add - Our design strategy of "if we don't cater to smokers, maybe they'll quit" clearly hasn't worked.
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I have recently been in Japan where trash containers are few and far between and there is no litter because people take personal responsibility. The cleanliness is something that we should aspire to but unfortunately won’t.
taal
Senior Member
That'll never happen, it's a cultural difference - so in no way should we attempt to emulate that ... if we removed most of our garbage bins we'd have garbage everywhere
DSCToronto
Superstar
It looks to me as though the problem here is that the bin cannot be emptied because the snow has not been cleared. From the sign and bag-cover I would say that some local got fed up with people trying to use the (filled) bin and just throwing trash on the sidewalk that they put this up. The basic problem here is poor snow removal not poor bin emptying - though I know BOTH are wide-spread problems.
Monarch Butterfly
Superstar
In other jurisdictions, all beverage containers (soft drinks, juice containers, milk cartons, etc.) can be returned for a refund on the deposit. Homeless people would collect discarded deposit containers, which in turn cleans up the streets. Not available in Ontario, however.
Also, the refundable deposit is currently too low. I remember in the 1950's getting 5¢ on an empty glass bottle of soft drink. With two empty bottles, I was able to buy a comic book, in the 1950's. Today, using this Bank of Canada inflation calculator, the refundable deposit should be 55¢.
Also, the refundable deposit is currently too low. I remember in the 1950's getting 5¢ on an empty glass bottle of soft drink. With two empty bottles, I was able to buy a comic book, in the 1950's. Today, using this Bank of Canada inflation calculator, the refundable deposit should be 55¢.
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Natika33
Active Member
I lived in a small town in Japan for 8+ years and was just back for a bit. Judging by societal expectations there, we are uncouth, undisciplined, chaotic, entitled, spoiled, inconsiderate, and entirely callous to those in need. It would take a massive restructuring of our culture & school system (i.e., the kids clean, not janitors) over many years to replicate their collective sense of responsibility.
It might be faster and easier to see if good design and incentives (as Monarch Butterfly alluded too) can elicit good behaviour. Can't hurt anyway.
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Northern Light
Superstar
I lived in a small town in Japan for 8+ years and was just back for a bit. Judging by societal expectations there, we are uncouth, undisciplined, chaotic, entitled, spoiled, inconsiderate, and entirely callous to those in need. It would take a massive restructuring of our culture & school system (i.e., the kids clean, not janitors) over many years to replicate their collective sense of responsibility.
I was mostly a public school kid, but for a brief period, my parents, who couldn't afford it, put me in a private school when they weren't happy w/the way things were going where I was....
I offer that....to say....this was not an elite place, though it did have entrance exams, in Elementary school, but it was aimed at middle-income earners..........
But......every Friday.......students were responsible to remove everything from their desks, to sweep the room, wipe the chalk board, and then sponge down every desk top.
That was Friday at 3:15pm, every week.
Then you left the chairs on top of the desks, so staff could polish the floors.
It was no where near as rigorous as the Japanese model, but it did instill a certain respect for the work involved in keeping the place tidy.
Generally, discipline was conventional detentions. But if it was related to vandalism or making a mess, you typically got gloves and told you were scrubbing the bathroom of your sex, top to bottom, for an hour.
Also useful.
****
For those unfamiliar with the Japanese model, its similar, but more rigorous, and notably, for school lunches, includes a requirement that students serve other students and take turns on dish duty, table wipe down and sweeping the cafeteria space.
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Full Metal Junkie
Senior Member
The snow plows were not kind to this stretch of the Martin Goodman trail along Lake Shore (between Roncy and Jameson). Not sure why these stainless mesh screens were tacked onto the metal barriers to begin with, but they were obviously installed without taking the snow clearing into consideration.
vic
Senior Member
That one is not just shabby, but dangerous as heck.