On the Waste Management Situation

The lockout at Waste Management of Alameda County has entered its second week. It has affected Chez Boulevardier enough to elicit a few comments from Yours Truly.

Last Tuesday, our regular pickup day, a truck driven by a replacement worker worked our street collecting trash and recyclables. No security vehicle was noted, though Your Boulevardier did not think to look for one. Most cans were collected, but ours were not; neither were those of our next-door neighbor. We live at the end of a cul-de-sac, and perhaps the driver got confused. (He had a difficult enough time turning the truck around.) Or perhaps he simply forgot. Regardless of the reason, after the truck had left, it was realized we had been passed over. (No lamb's blood had been smeared on the cans, to our knowledge.)

With trash piling up, and responding to an automated call from Waste Management, Your Boulvardier loaded four bags (two of trash, two of recycling) from his home and his neighbors' into the back of his small pickup and made the drive to the Davis Street Transfer Station on Saturday Morning. Many Teamsters were picketing at the Station, but their intent was unclear; through a newscast that evening it was learned that they wanted customers to drive to Berkeley to dump their trash, because non-Teamster drivers would be hauling loads from Davis Street to Altamont. Although Your Boulevardier supports the Union in this action, he chose to take advantage of the company's offer; frankly, it didn't make sense to drive farther and pay for the privilege of unloading the refuse.

Once past the well-guarded gates of the Transfer Station, no identification was checked -- although Your Boulevardier did make it available. ("You have an honest face," said the fellow we spoke with, and we thank him for the compliment.) The greeting was cordial, but it's noted that a different Waste Management employee surreptitiously took a digital photo of the back of our vehicle -- presumably, to capture the license plate. One would have preferred that this data would have been collected in a less-sneaky manner. The operation at the Transfer Station was otherwise smooth and well-managed; no queue was encountered, and in fact our vehicle was whisked past those of paying customers.

One other thought concerning the current situation comes to mind. Waste Management is using replacement workers to pick up trash and recycling, but is leaving the yard waste (AKA "Green Cans") for the time being. The rationale, it's assumed, is to lesson any potential health threat from decomposing garbage in residential neighborhoods. But recall that the Castro Valley Sanitary District is encouraging we residents to put food scraps into the Green Cans. This includes chicken bones, meat scraps, and other potential bacteria media and vermin food. For this reason, the collection of the Green Cans is at least as important as collection of trash and recycling, in the opinion of Your Boulevardier.