Assumptions Garbage

How appalled was I,simply appalled, to read yesterday that a certain Sydney Council has replaced ALL its collection bins with tracking devices to help them trace inappropriate trash, or items which can be recycled, back to the original household.

The very basic flaw, may I say FLAW, with this system could be illustrated by the contents of our garbage bin right this very moment.

A few nights ago we were going to go away the next day, and it was garbage night. That is, we have to put out our bins that night even though the bins may not be emptied until next day, because the collectors may come early. And, as we were going away, we put the bins, trash and recycling, out, hoping that they would be cleared the next morning before we left.

Picture my joy when time to leave came and I found the trash Otto bin empty. The recycling bin was not, but who cares about a few plastic bottles having to be returned to the back yard for next time, seeing that the putrescable items have commenced their journey to who really cares where, as long as it is NIMBY?

Then picture my dismay in turning to the recycle bin to find a child's (maybe children's), potty had been placed in our recycle bin by someone who probably does not even know, let alone remember, what a night carter was?

What was I to do? I did not even know whether it was actually recyclable, but risked my health to seek the circled arrows symbol. No symbol. And anyway, who would recycle a pottie with a plastic water bottle? It had to go into the Otto bin, and live there till the next clearance, or remain as a throne on top of my recycling bin until the next clearance. So I had to drop it into the Otto bin and return the whole thing to my backyard.

Now I find some council may source this objectionable catch 22 object to ME, when all I had done in this instance is be disturbed by the stealthy antithief who placed it in my property in the dead of night. Indeed, I recollect having been disturbed by a strange sound which I can now assume was this object being quickly deposited in our bin under cover of darkness.

Councils shouldknow that just because something is in our bin, does not mean we put it there .

I am thinking of dropping a note in surrounding streets letter boxes saying that I have found $500 in a child's pottie foundinmy recycling bin. But anyone low enough toput a pottie in someone elses recycling bin would probably say that their pottie had been stolen, but they did not report it,because the police do not do anything anyway.

And another problem is that it involves telling a lie, and, even worse, I might be caught out and it might be a big bikie who will demand that I hand over the $500