Today's the one-year anniversary since Portland City Council, in their infinite wisdom, cut weekly garbage pickup from weekly to every other week while increasing recycling pickups from every other week to weekly. How's that genius move been working out?
Many Portlanders are losing patience with the city’s garbage and recycling services, according to a new survey by the city.
Nearly 3,500 Portland residents took part in the 2012 Community Survey, which was conducted by the city auditor’s office. The results show significantly lower satisfaction with the quality and cost of trash and recycling pickup.
My, what a surprise: Portland homeowners were issued "free" made-in-China kitchen food slop buckets and ordered to dump the contents into the yard-debris recycling bin. Oh, and for those hot days in the summer - the kiddies at City Hall are chock-full of helpful suggestions: put your kitchen slop in the freezer to cut down on odors, then trot it out and dump it into the bin just before your pick-up day. If you have a lot, you may want to buy a second freezer just for the slop. "We know that change can be difficult," they smugly remind us. They also recommend buying a subscription to a newspaper and using pages to line your kitchen slop bucket. And whatever you do, don't use a garbage disposal. No doubt if mayor Sammy and his sidekick Randy were going to be around much longer, they'd ban 'em.
Got a family with small kids? Use cloth diapers rather than disposables, and in the process crank up your water/sewer bills (already third-highest in the nation) and buy more "green" detergent. Oh - and your recycling/garbage pickup "services" cost more, too.
Don't like the options? Tough - Portland City Council "knows what's best" for you, so if you don't like it, you're free to pack up your family and move out of town. Naturally, being a mainstream media outlet, KATU is obliged to end with a comment from a hipster who thinks it's all great.
Yet another reason why the hipsters are wearing out their welcome here.
