There is no stronger click-bait than the words, "FREE SHIPPING."
San Franciscans (and Americans in general) don't have time to go to the General Store anymore and chit-chat with the old guy at the counter about last year's blueberry harvest. We shop online; from our clothes to our bulk toilet paper to our multi-package, prepare-at-home, pescatarian delivery meal plans. As a result, San Francisco's recycling company Recology plans to raise our rates this coming July.
The Chronicle's Rachel Swan reports in detail on Recology's shipping box woes. "People here work long hours, so instead of cooking, they're ordering online meal kits," Recology spokesman Robert Reed told the Chron. Recology calls this phenomenon, "The Amazon Effect" starring Jennifer Lawrence, coming Fall 2018.
Swan explains, "The increase in cardboard and other forms of packaging cellophane, polystyrene, clamshell containers, puffy plastic shipping pillows is part of what's driving Recology to seek a 14 percent hike in the city's garbage rates in July, which already has approval from Public Works. Residents have until Tuesday to appeal the increase to the three-person Refuse Rate Board before it is made final."
(We've lamented our shady recycling skills before.)
Basically, Recology was set up for what we used to recycle bottles, cans, and newspapers. Now they're picking up bulky cardboard delivery boxes, in greater volume and size than they've ever dealt with before. Materials we recycle are also more complicated, like plastic bottles with one kind of plastic cap and another kind of plastic label. Recology needs to revamp how they gather and sort recycling, and they need to pay people to do the job. Hence, rate hike. KPIX 5 thrilling calls this a "less-than-lovely side effect of convenience."
According to the Chronicle, Recology would use part of the money from the increase to reconfigure its trucks, which now use one single chamber for compost and split chambers for trash and recycling. Moving forward, compost and trash would be placed in split chambers, and our massive amount of recycling with get its own chamber.
"Recology actually had to flip the system on its head, because having half a truck to carry recyclables wasn't good enough any more," Heidi Sanborn of the California Product Stewardship Council told the Chron.
As for what we can do about this, options remain limited. Those opposed to the hike (although its our own fault) can protest of course. And also, we can start shopping at stores and using our arms to carry purchases home or at the very least, try to combine your orders from Amazon so that items don't all arrive in separate boxes, whenever possible.
(Fun fact: A postal carrier came to my door with a delivery from Amazon as I was typing this.)
Related: More Of San Francisco's Trash Went To Landfills Last Year, Not Less
Photo: SFEnvironment.org
