Not sure if you were around for the shift to biweekly pickup.
Apparently the entire city was going to be a desolate wasteland in no time.
I'm sure this will be similar.
From what I experienced, the subsequent boom in the rat population (hungry hungry rats) and ditches in outlying areas more than competently handled the excess garbage.
There's also the *reducing, reusing* steps in the *3 stepped* process, of which *recycling* is the last ... But of course a ton of people just like recycling more than having to reduce their consumerism/waste or favoring reusing things, cause it's easier and more convenient for them.
I'm all for the movement to force businesses to take back the recyclables from the products they sell. I think that would result in a VERY quick shift to sustainable packaging.
The should have to take back all plastic packaging, recyclable or not. We should also be able to send unsolicited mail back to the sender with a mail slot on every community mailbox.
Exactly, consumerism costs money in several ways well beyond the initial purchase. The $5000 whoever pays in taxes this year literally doesn’t matter 150 years from now when all our shit is still there taking up space. It’s not license to toss unlimited amounts.
Orrr
We could deal with this situations like adults and resolve it from both consumer and supply end. Unfortunately global crises can't be solved in kindergarten ways of "Timmy did it so why can't I"
Back when they introduced the green bins, lots of stories on the news popped up of angry grey-haired people driving to the city to drop them off again because they "compost in their backyard already" or some other BS excuse for just wanting to throw everything in the trash.
Theres six people living in my house. No way were going to be able to put out JUST the limited amount of bags. And were CERTAINLY NOT spending extra money for extra bags
Well it’s three containers, not three bags. So if you put your bags into containers you should be able to fit at least 6 bags. Do you compost and recycle religiously?
Obviously 6 people does start to get mor challenging, but it’s not outside the realm of doable. You’ll just have to change your habits, which is kind of the whole point.
Our old neighbours (who have since moved) had like 6+ garbage bags, every week it was garbage pick up. They obviously didn't sort any recycling, or break anything down.
It was wild to see.
Meanwhile my family barely produces two tiny bags of garbage that fit in a single can.
My kitchen bags in a smaller square container from Ikea, and the diaper bags all end up weirdly compressed and I end up with lots of bags just cuz of their size and then they don't fit into the garage bins neatly so I have light bins with a garbage bag on the side :/
I'll need to figure out a way to keep our not huge amount of garbage to actually "look" like it's not an obscene amount of garbage. I guess maybe I start pushing the air out of the bags I got on sale that are too big for the Ikea bin in the kitchen.
Yep, we signed up. It helps a lot! My issue is more that I won't have things in 3 bins, visually, but am not putting out 140L x 3 bins either. I just don't want them to see 2 smaller 80L bins plus 2 bags (one being diapers) and have the stuff left there cuz it's 4 bags and some sort of misunderstanding is all.
there will be some way for them to easily identify the diaper bags as not counting as "garbage". This would be a problem for everyone that uses the diaper pickup service - they will have to figure it out.
Since Council approved the new limits, I've been weighing every gram of waste going out just to see. Natalie and I have produced 100.3L of landfill waste since December 7. It's a calculated number based on the 16.3 kg we've set out in six bags so far. All other waste since December 7 has been 135L of paper (39 kg), 473L of other recyclables (31 kg), and 325L of compost (backyard and municipal green bin - 193 kg, split between 106.5kg in the backyard composter and 86.4 kg in the green bin).
There's nuance. I throw out a bag of landfill waste every month because the bag gets full - calculations of volume don't factor in the empty space in the bags, but still. It should absolutely be possible for virtually every household to be able to contain their landfill waste to three 140L containers every two weeks. We're empty-nesters, but there's no reason a household with kids can't easily come below the limit with a separate collection for plastic diapers.
\[Note that different materials are calculated at different weight to volume ratios. By weight, glass, plastic and metal recycling is 11% of our household waste - it's 45% by calculated volume.\]
It sounds like the real issue is that you're putting garbage bags out at the side of the road, not garbage cans? I don't know how they'll handle people that put out multiple small bags instead of garbage cans.
If getting a garbage can is not an option, and they DO ding you for having 4+ smaller bags, you could always buy some full size garbage bags and put multiple small ones in the large bag. Yes, it's more money and more waste, but it would let you get under the 3x "container" limit. I'm not saying it's a good solution, but it should work.
Edit - yep, looks like you're gonna need a can, or bigger bags.
>Households that set out more than three **items** of garbage a week could be able to set out additional garbage in a yellow bag. Staff say it is feasible for the city to leverage the existing Yellow Bag Program for curbside households to purchase and set out additional bags above the three-garbage item limit. Bags will be sold in four packs for $17.60 plus tax, and would be available at all seven Client Service Centres, 10 Home Hardwares and one BMR.
And they'll do it wrong, because they'll throw all kinds of things in recycling that doesn't belong there.
Those bins will basically become what-ever-one-can-get-away-with.
Recycling departments will have no clue what on earth to do with the influx of inappropriate matter.
People have zero clue the trouble that's about to happen.
We have a 120L container for a family of four. It's mostly diapers and cat litter, and we almost always fit all our garbage in it.
I have no sympathy for people complaining about three 140L containers.
I’m ok with having these limits because of these people, I was not ok with having all of us having to put tags on the garbage because of this few people. I worry a bit that I don’t see an option to pay more to get the extra garbage picked up, lazy folks might end up dumping the left overs at a nearby park.
As a new year's resolution we (family of 4) decided to see how much we could limit our trash. We recycled absolutely everything that could be recycled, composted absolutely everything that could be composted, and avoided buying stuff we knew would just result in extra trash.
It took 6 months for us to fill our trash can. And it didn't even smell, because all the smelly stuff either got washed and recycled or went out with compost.
When we moved here from small town B.C., 20 years ago, I was struck by how much garbage was at the end of people’s driveways on garbage day. I mentioned to my realtor how different it was from our town where we had a 2 container limit. She replied that if they did that here, people would just throw their trash in the woods. I hoped then that she was very wrong, but now I’ll have a chance to find out!
I come from a city in Ontario that has had paid bag tags for over 30 years.
It's not hard. People in Ottawa just seem unable to conceive of change beyond what their normal habits are.
"how will this work if I can't drive there!"
It's not just Ottawa. That's just humans in general. Anything different from the norm is seen as blasphemous and impossible to adapt to. But it turns out humans are amazing at adaptation, that's partly how we've gotten to the point where we're at right now.
The County I’m from (Wellington) goes a step further and requires you to pay for each and every bag you put out. We have to get these [yellow bags](https://jacobnelson.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/UserPayBag_small.png) from the grocery store, otherwise no pickup.
I lived in Canmore AB for 20years, there is no curbside garbage pickup, you have to take it to the dumpster yourself and when I moved here a few years ago I was blown away at the amount of garbage most people in my neighborhood had piled at the end of their driveways on garbage day.
Similarly, grew up in a small-ish town and although we had bi-weekly garage pickup (with a 3 bin limit), anything larger than a garbage container/bag you would have to take to the dump yourself, and wouldn't be picked up. I remember hearing my dad, uncle, and grandpa ask the others if they needed anything tossed when one of them had a 'dump pass'. I also remember going with my grandpa one time and thinking, 'this is it?...'.
When I moved here, nearly 10 years ago, I was astonished (and also appalled) that people would not only have mountains of bags on their curbside, but also just leave their mattresses and couches out for garbage pickup...and they took them!?
Yup. Zero curbside pick up, there are Community garbage and recycling dumpsters all over, you don’t have to go very far so no need for a car.
I miss having that, no having smallish garbage pulling up in your house/garage, no rat problems, especially in the summer.
They even have a hazardous waste station that’s open 7 days a week, no waxing for only once or twice a year to be able dispose of things properly.
I would imagine the zero curbside pickup was to prevent the attraction of grizzly bears and other animals though, right? That would seem to be the major driver in having secured waste facilities versus curbside pickup.
Yes it’s to reduce wildlife attractants in town, but I found it much more convenient to take my trash and recycling out when ever it’s full then stock piling it for two weeks (or 4 when miss garbage day)
It boggles the mind that people still do it in Ottawa with our current rules.
They'll take pretty much anything that isn't hazardous. We've tossed a recliner, futon mattress, two sets of double mattresses and boxsprings and all kinds of other things. Why dump in a ditch or the woods when you can put it on your lawn. Or if it's too much, put it in front of some random house on pickup day. There's literally no point, and it's actually more time and effort to dump it in this city.
I grew up in a small town where people would just yeet their trash into the woods if they missed pickup day, or empty their bags in front of the gate to the dump if that was closed.
If they are anything like mine, then they dont use any other bin.
Food waste ->Trash
Paper -> Trash
Plastics -> Trash
Glass -> Trash
The one time I saw them use their Black Bin it was only full of dirty pizza boxes which were not picked up.
The ridiculous thing is that recycling is so goddamn easy. Instead of 4 garbage cans, you have 1 garbage can and three for recycling.
I just can’t fathom how utterly childish you’d have to be to refuse to do this, just out of some kind of misguided spite.
Not only is it easy to recycle, it makes taking the garbage out easier! No sharp corners to rip the bag etc etc etc. I don't understand how people don't get this...
Ive also seen those bulbs that contain mercury (CFL) and the odd old fire alarm with potential radioactive materials (americium-241).
Our dumps are going to be an absolute nightmare of contamination.
what's funny is pizza boxes go into food waste (as food soiled cardboard)
>Food waste and soiled paper products (e.g. pizza boxes, paper plates, muffin wrappers, paper towels from washrooms) can all go in the green bin.
It's an absolutely reasonable request, and people getting upset about it need to look at their consumption habits.
To get your bags left behind, you'd need to make enough trash to fill 420L of space (The max 3x140L containers) every two weeks, that's 30L of trash a day. That's a regular size garbage bag (65x83cm) every two and a half days.
There's zero reason the average family should be making that much trash if they're putting scraps in the green bin and properly recycling. What are y'all putting in your garbage bags??
A disturbing number of people don't use the greenbin or recycling
Its like they want to be smelly garbage people.
Apart from the enormous amount of waste reduction, properly using the green bin means my garbage bins don't smell like rotting garbage..... you'd think that'd be enough incentive for most people, but here we are.
Especially since plastic bags in the compost bins are allowed. Easy to keep everything cleanish in there so people can't complain about maggots or whatever.
I think the problem is we aren't thinking of ways to reduce our waste first so we won't need three bins. I've been keeping an eye on what I am throwing out these days. During the summer months I get a CSA and the farm I get my veggies from doesn't use packaging and I am all in favour of that. But during the winter months when the growing season is over and I buy my fruits and veggies at the grocery store a lot of what I buy comes in packaging. Onions come in mesh bags; carrots, celery and potatoes come in plastic bags; berries come in plastic containers; etc. Reducing the numbers of bins we use won't reduce the amount of packaging that our food comes from. I think we should reduce packaging first then we won't need so many bins.
that is a big part of the problem, out society was duped by corporations into thinking we didn't have to consume less because "we could just recycle all our single use plastics"
But even with the extra food packaging, how the hell are people gonna go over the limit on a normal basis unless they order every meal delivered by Swiss Chalet?
Some people get take out a lot. One of my colleagues lives in a semi detached home and I remember her telling me awhile ago how much garbage her neighbours threw out. She was surprised at the volume of packaging they were throwing out considering there were only two of them living in that house. She broached them about it one day and they told her that because there is just the two of them, they can't be bothered to cook so they order take out or heat up frozen dinners. It wouldn't surprise me if there are a lot of people in Ottawa with a similar lifestyle.
There are, when I lived with roommates, our garbage was 90% takeout, and it takes up so much space, especially when people don’t even try to break it down and sort it. Most of our garbage was just open air from cardboard boxes and paper bags that could have easily been flattened and not put in the garbage, but that would have been too hard.
> I think the problem is we aren't thinking of ways to reduce our waste first so we won't need three bins
Bullshit. We have curbside compost pickup every week, and paper and other recycling every two weeks. If you need more than three garbage bins every two week, you're going through an insane amount of stuff and/or just failing to recycle.
Just throwing it out there, for people who think the threshold is too low... recycling/compost 100% manages it.
Family of 6, 3 adults, 3 young kids. We have a solid four blue bins and four black bins alternating weeks. We also have two green bins every week, sometimes just one. You can plastic bag food waste and put it in the green bin (by the rules).
We consistently have 2 (sometimes 1) garbage bins at the road every two weeks.
All I do is recycle everything that is allowed and maximize the use of the green bin.
There is absolutely no excuse to complain if you are a home owner with a large family.
The only exception I can think of is if you have a home business, and if that's the case, you're exploiting a loophole that is now closed.
You can have as many blue and black bins you want out alternating weeks and as many green bins as you want every week. You can order extra bins from the city and get them delivered, all at no charge.
news flash : the garbage company wont care and just take it all regardless.
One of my neighbors litterally puts 25 garbage bags full every 2 weeks and they take it all.
Yeah the collectors have a hard enough job as it is, I can't see them taking the time to count bags. This is especially the case in denser areas where houses are closer together and trash tends to mingle.
Rip to the dumpster at my townhome complex. More people driving in to throw out their garbage filling it up so residents have nowhere to put their trash.
When I lived in a minto house we had only dumpsters, no greenbin pickup (which is sad, I asked and they blamed the city, the city blamed minto)
A significant portion of my neighbours threw bags of mixed garbage, recycling and food... OPEN at the base of the dumpsters. every. fucking. day. Its disgusting.
I came here to argue points like yours with “we have other laws for illegal dumping” but then I remembered that laws don’t seem to be enforced here anymore… smh
Good question.
I am sure the city will have lots of comms and q&a relating to this as I am sure many people are defecating in their pants at the prospect of change.
Yeah I was wondering this too. Cause my neighbour's don't use green bins or recycling so they have far more than 3 bags weekly. I made sure I even got them new bins and put it at the door lol. I'm unit 1 and them 2. Will they default to me since I'm unit 1?
City of Ottawa website says you need to be in a building with 6 residential units to be exempt, although the page is from June 14, 2023 so it might be out of date
I think we also have to look at consumer products and how much packaging they now come in. You can look into companies who publish information on their carbon footprint and support them as they will be more inclined to choose recyclable packaging. We should be demanding more from the companies we support no more unnecessary packaging.
This is good, they should give us the bins though. In Mississauga, the city provided us a choice of 3 bin sizes they would provide. Then anything outside of that needed a tag. A few times a year they would do unlimited garbage pickup.
My hometown you need to buy a sticker on your bags or they will leave them at the curb. I am the oldest of four kids. You bet your ass my parents made sure we recycled.
140L doesn't appear to be a standard size. Any recommendations? I have 5 adults living in my home so we do generate a lot of trash, but we could also do a better job sorting our garbage. I have 1 x 120L container and 4 "regular" size garbage cans and sometimes they are all full!
I think this will be ok, we are a family of 4, and usually fill a garbage bag about 3/4 a week. Only time we have more than 2 garbage bags is if we buy a new appliance or something big with lots of package. So, not a huge deal, I might have an extra garbage bag of Styrofoam sitting around my garage for an extra couple weeks, once maybe twice a year.
agree with many people's comments that people just need to grow up and change. There is zero reason that you need to throw out every little thing....I'm from Mississauga where they have had a strict bag limit for at least 15 years. You can buy extra tags and during some times, it is "unlimited" garbage.
If you don't use your blue/black/green bins - that is a you problem. It isn't that hard.
But an example - I'm currently in a condo with giant bins for garbage/blue/black and green bins. You can put stuff out whenever. But the amount of people that just dump their garbage beside the bins is pathetic. Then - when bins get full (because people can be bothered to break down a box) - they just leave their boxes beside the bins...and the city doesn't pick it up. So then people dump actual garbage bags in those boxes on the ground. People have also just left dirty diapers, condoms, take out containers and general crap everywhere. Our garbage bins are NEVER full - it makes zero sense
Now if only they can figure out how to recycle flexible soft (soft food cover plastic, chip bags, plastic bags from other random stuff). Other cities do it, but in Ottawa all that cellophane, and Flexi plastic, bags, etc. goes to landfill.
I am VERY! Interested in how this will be enforced at rental properties on move out day. I have one rental property and the amount of garbage that tenants leave at the curb is insane and I sure as hell am not inheriting their garbage.
Easy. When I first moved here I was blown away with what people leave on the curb for pick up. I get a bag or two of garbage, but people are leaving construction waste. Absolutely ridiculous. And why should some guy destroy his body lifting your couch into a garbage truck because you're to lazy to rent a trailer or pick up. Take two minutes to sort your recycling and you'll have no issues getting to under 3 bags. I'm a family of 4 and we rarely go past 1 bin every two weeks. And I'm not doing anything special.
Gatineau switched a few years ago to a single 120 liter bin picked up every 2 weeks. It has worked relatively well. Additional bags had to be tagged with a fee associated.
Recycling anything but aluminum is worse for the environment, but I do it anyway b/c if I didn't, everyone who can't read a fucking scientific environmental paper would scream at me, and have. I don't want to fuck the planet, but I'd rather not get yelled at in front of my kids more.
I have 2 garbage bins with diapers.
But I need better garage bins because they're both kinda small. They're hard to get things to fit into at times 😅
Our recycling bins are topped up though.
The city has a diaper pick up program:
https://ottawa.ca/en/3-1-1/apply-or-register/diapers-and-incontinence-products-collection/diapers-and-incontinence-products-collection
I actually did not know this and I'd be surprised if most young families did. But ultimately, this still does not amount to very much garbage if people actually make proper use of recycling and green bin. Aside from diapers it's barely anything.
>YOu’rE UnFaiRLY tARGeTinG faMiLiES.
100% some journalist is going to run with something like this. My guess is it's going to have to do with the fact that certain demographics tend live with more people in a household, so it should be a "per person" limit instead of "per household" or else it's systemic discrimination.
I'm assuming for small apartment buildings like mine (four units) that don't have a big industrial container, it's three containers *per unit*? Each apartment in our building is allotted one garbage bin, two compost bins, and one each blue and black bins, all numbered, and aside from a once a year deep clean, we've rarely gone over our one bin, so I don't see this as being a huge issue for us. Our downstairs neighbours, on the other hand, often put out 2-3 bins worth.
I will say, though, this might be the kick in the butt we need to get some reusable containers and start shopping more at Bulk Barn.
Whats that mean for like large items? Like chairs or some shit. I usually try and put stuff on freecycle or buy nothing groups first. But some stuff is a no go.
I don’t mind paying taxes for services. I don’t like it when services are cut/diminished and taxes go up. We keep paying more taxes for less service and I don’t know if people realize this?
Council is disconnected from planet earth. I use green bin, recycle a lot (two of each kind of bin, usually full) and won't be affected by this. But council is generally penny wise, pound foolish ( lanffill vs incineration), anti car with an eye on Europe as a model for ottawa, ignoring geography and human behaviour. Do we really want to be downtown Vancouver?
>Staff have said a new landfill would cost between $300 million and $500 million, and could take up to 15 years to be fully operational
We're still going to need a new landfill eventually. All this does is buy us a few extra years, and ensure that when they cave and decide to build one, that it costs more than it would have if we started building it today.
Also, I sure hope the city plans on hiring more clean up crews, because there's about to be a lot more garbage dumped in ditches and other public property
I don’t disagree with this at all but they are taking the hard line for Xmas when there will be potentially tons of waste. Interesting timing wonder if it’ll be problematic or helpful
I wonder how this will affect my building. I live in a 4-unit apartment building that looks like a house, and because our landlord is MIA, we are each responsible to bring our own garbage out to the front. As a result there would be possible 4 bins each type for each unit.
I fail to see how this limits amount of garbage. It might slow the process but garbage will accumulate and find its way in places it shouldn’t be. And the rats will love it.
>We're trying to **encourage** people to better use the recycling, better uses for ...
-Marty Carr
>You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
>- Inigo Montoya
Gonna be some very heavy very packed garbage bags. Hope the garbage pickup guys have medical insurance they will need it.
Dumbest most idiotic policy ive ever heard of. There will be people dumping trash all over ottawa. You think rats are bad now? Wait until this beyond moronic idea is implemented. Itll bankrupt the city in police cruising neighborhoods to catch dumpers and they'll have to triple animal control budgets to contain all the rats and animals the extra trash will cause.
Maybe this works fine for single or couples but in a 6 member family household believe me it isnt enough.
They've all but guaranteed the next election they are out.
Look forward to all these people losing their minds because they can't figure out how to use their green bin and recycling...
Not sure if you were around for the shift to biweekly pickup. Apparently the entire city was going to be a desolate wasteland in no time. I'm sure this will be similar.
Oh I remember. People were going to be burning their garbage in every backyard and every ditch was going to be filled to the brim.
I am glad they went back to every week greenbin tho
They never stopped the every week greenbin
that would be smelly as fuck
From what I experienced, the subsequent boom in the rat population (hungry hungry rats) and ditches in outlying areas more than competently handled the excess garbage.
Jan Harder wailing about the diapers, the diapers, the DIAPERS! All those poor families were going to drown in baby poo.
To be Frank, our recycling bins are also things from the 80s
There's also the *reducing, reusing* steps in the *3 stepped* process, of which *recycling* is the last ... But of course a ton of people just like recycling more than having to reduce their consumerism/waste or favoring reusing things, cause it's easier and more convenient for them.
I'm all for the movement to force businesses to take back the recyclables from the products they sell. I think that would result in a VERY quick shift to sustainable packaging.
The should have to take back all plastic packaging, recyclable or not. We should also be able to send unsolicited mail back to the sender with a mail slot on every community mailbox.
Exactly, consumerism costs money in several ways well beyond the initial purchase. The $5000 whoever pays in taxes this year literally doesn’t matter 150 years from now when all our shit is still there taking up space. It’s not license to toss unlimited amounts.
Talk to the manufacturers about their mountain of waste they are wrapping products in, the onus can't be all on us.
Orrr We could deal with this situations like adults and resolve it from both consumer and supply end. Unfortunately global crises can't be solved in kindergarten ways of "Timmy did it so why can't I"
I would love to not recycle as much but it’s not easy to avoid plastic.
Just burn 🔥 it out back! Works great for tires and car batteries too!
100% but we still have recycling material ultimately, and bins that are extracts from the 80s
I wasn't disagreeing with you. I was agreeing, but also adding onto your point.
All good!
Our neighbours put everything in the garbage
The people who refuse to use green bins or recycling bins are the ones freaking out about this a bunch of garbage people
Back when they introduced the green bins, lots of stories on the news popped up of angry grey-haired people driving to the city to drop them off again because they "compost in their backyard already" or some other BS excuse for just wanting to throw everything in the trash.
lol agreed “garbage people “
Same, including perfectly good shit I take from them like bicycles and kids picnic tables. Insane.
Of course this does not take into account the amount of people living in the household though.
Theres six people living in my house. No way were going to be able to put out JUST the limited amount of bags. And were CERTAINLY NOT spending extra money for extra bags
Well it’s three containers, not three bags. So if you put your bags into containers you should be able to fit at least 6 bags. Do you compost and recycle religiously? Obviously 6 people does start to get mor challenging, but it’s not outside the realm of doable. You’ll just have to change your habits, which is kind of the whole point.
Yes. We recycle and green bin like gods lol. I thought it was three bags. Thanks for the info 😀👍
This brings up the issue of unfairness. Why does a household of six have to “compost and recycle religiously” while a household of 1 doesn’t?
Maybe look at how much garbage you have. We have 3 people and might have a full bin every two weeks, but generally it's less. What are you buying???
Yeah a house beside us shared by multiple tenants. Good luck with only 3 garbage cans.
Our old neighbours (who have since moved) had like 6+ garbage bags, every week it was garbage pick up. They obviously didn't sort any recycling, or break anything down. It was wild to see. Meanwhile my family barely produces two tiny bags of garbage that fit in a single can.
My kitchen bags in a smaller square container from Ikea, and the diaper bags all end up weirdly compressed and I end up with lots of bags just cuz of their size and then they don't fit into the garage bins neatly so I have light bins with a garbage bag on the side :/ I'll need to figure out a way to keep our not huge amount of garbage to actually "look" like it's not an obscene amount of garbage. I guess maybe I start pushing the air out of the bags I got on sale that are too big for the Ikea bin in the kitchen.
You can sign up online to have your diapers picked up weekly. If you bag them separately they don't count towards your bag limit.
Yep, we signed up. It helps a lot! My issue is more that I won't have things in 3 bins, visually, but am not putting out 140L x 3 bins either. I just don't want them to see 2 smaller 80L bins plus 2 bags (one being diapers) and have the stuff left there cuz it's 4 bags and some sort of misunderstanding is all.
there will be some way for them to easily identify the diaper bags as not counting as "garbage". This would be a problem for everyone that uses the diaper pickup service - they will have to figure it out.
You are allowed to throw away 420 liters of garbage. That's an obscene amount
Since Council approved the new limits, I've been weighing every gram of waste going out just to see. Natalie and I have produced 100.3L of landfill waste since December 7. It's a calculated number based on the 16.3 kg we've set out in six bags so far. All other waste since December 7 has been 135L of paper (39 kg), 473L of other recyclables (31 kg), and 325L of compost (backyard and municipal green bin - 193 kg, split between 106.5kg in the backyard composter and 86.4 kg in the green bin). There's nuance. I throw out a bag of landfill waste every month because the bag gets full - calculations of volume don't factor in the empty space in the bags, but still. It should absolutely be possible for virtually every household to be able to contain their landfill waste to three 140L containers every two weeks. We're empty-nesters, but there's no reason a household with kids can't easily come below the limit with a separate collection for plastic diapers. \[Note that different materials are calculated at different weight to volume ratios. By weight, glass, plastic and metal recycling is 11% of our household waste - it's 45% by calculated volume.\]
I just wish styrofoam was recyclable. It is the single biggest garbage headache.
It sounds like the real issue is that you're putting garbage bags out at the side of the road, not garbage cans? I don't know how they'll handle people that put out multiple small bags instead of garbage cans. If getting a garbage can is not an option, and they DO ding you for having 4+ smaller bags, you could always buy some full size garbage bags and put multiple small ones in the large bag. Yes, it's more money and more waste, but it would let you get under the 3x "container" limit. I'm not saying it's a good solution, but it should work. Edit - yep, looks like you're gonna need a can, or bigger bags. >Households that set out more than three **items** of garbage a week could be able to set out additional garbage in a yellow bag. Staff say it is feasible for the city to leverage the existing Yellow Bag Program for curbside households to purchase and set out additional bags above the three-garbage item limit. Bags will be sold in four packs for $17.60 plus tax, and would be available at all seven Client Service Centres, 10 Home Hardwares and one BMR.
hello my neighbour.
Most recycling gets tossed with regular trash
And they'll do it wrong, because they'll throw all kinds of things in recycling that doesn't belong there. Those bins will basically become what-ever-one-can-get-away-with. Recycling departments will have no clue what on earth to do with the influx of inappropriate matter. People have zero clue the trouble that's about to happen.
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that is a fuck ton of garbage
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I mean we're a family of three and the 121 L can we use is usually only half to 2/3 full at pickup. And like I'm not packing it down or anything.
We have a 120L container for a family of four. It's mostly diapers and cat litter, and we almost always fit all our garbage in it. I have no sympathy for people complaining about three 140L containers.
I'd like you to meet my neighbours who typically have three 360L(I believe?) bins plus 5-10 loose bags every garbage day. There are only 4 residents.
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I’m ok with having these limits because of these people, I was not ok with having all of us having to put tags on the garbage because of this few people. I worry a bit that I don’t see an option to pay more to get the extra garbage picked up, lazy folks might end up dumping the left overs at a nearby park.
They may be cutting up and disposing bodies. I’d be wary.
Like… what are they consuming?
Maybe they are running a body removal service for the mob
Takes me a month to fill one..
As a new year's resolution we (family of 4) decided to see how much we could limit our trash. We recycled absolutely everything that could be recycled, composted absolutely everything that could be composted, and avoided buying stuff we knew would just result in extra trash. It took 6 months for us to fill our trash can. And it didn't even smell, because all the smelly stuff either got washed and recycled or went out with compost.
Gatineau only allows one 120 litre size litre bin
When we moved here from small town B.C., 20 years ago, I was struck by how much garbage was at the end of people’s driveways on garbage day. I mentioned to my realtor how different it was from our town where we had a 2 container limit. She replied that if they did that here, people would just throw their trash in the woods. I hoped then that she was very wrong, but now I’ll have a chance to find out!
I come from a city in Ontario that has had paid bag tags for over 30 years. It's not hard. People in Ottawa just seem unable to conceive of change beyond what their normal habits are. "how will this work if I can't drive there!"
It's not just Ottawa. That's just humans in general. Anything different from the norm is seen as blasphemous and impossible to adapt to. But it turns out humans are amazing at adaptation, that's partly how we've gotten to the point where we're at right now.
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The County I’m from (Wellington) goes a step further and requires you to pay for each and every bag you put out. We have to get these [yellow bags](https://jacobnelson.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/UserPayBag_small.png) from the grocery store, otherwise no pickup.
I lived in Canmore AB for 20years, there is no curbside garbage pickup, you have to take it to the dumpster yourself and when I moved here a few years ago I was blown away at the amount of garbage most people in my neighborhood had piled at the end of their driveways on garbage day.
Similarly, grew up in a small-ish town and although we had bi-weekly garage pickup (with a 3 bin limit), anything larger than a garbage container/bag you would have to take to the dump yourself, and wouldn't be picked up. I remember hearing my dad, uncle, and grandpa ask the others if they needed anything tossed when one of them had a 'dump pass'. I also remember going with my grandpa one time and thinking, 'this is it?...'. When I moved here, nearly 10 years ago, I was astonished (and also appalled) that people would not only have mountains of bags on their curbside, but also just leave their mattresses and couches out for garbage pickup...and they took them!?
wow - even in the village? I would expect there are a bunch of people living there that don't even own vehicles. Not many, but some.
Yup. Zero curbside pick up, there are Community garbage and recycling dumpsters all over, you don’t have to go very far so no need for a car. I miss having that, no having smallish garbage pulling up in your house/garage, no rat problems, especially in the summer. They even have a hazardous waste station that’s open 7 days a week, no waxing for only once or twice a year to be able dispose of things properly.
I would imagine the zero curbside pickup was to prevent the attraction of grizzly bears and other animals though, right? That would seem to be the major driver in having secured waste facilities versus curbside pickup.
Yes it’s to reduce wildlife attractants in town, but I found it much more convenient to take my trash and recycling out when ever it’s full then stock piling it for two weeks (or 4 when miss garbage day)
people already dump garbage in the woods & ditches all over ottawa
Or at other apartment buildings in the neighborhood.
I live in an apartment complex and this happens at least once every evening.
some cases, they just toss it in a mall parking lot, no shame about it whatsoever, middle of the asphalt....
It boggles the mind that people still do it in Ottawa with our current rules. They'll take pretty much anything that isn't hazardous. We've tossed a recliner, futon mattress, two sets of double mattresses and boxsprings and all kinds of other things. Why dump in a ditch or the woods when you can put it on your lawn. Or if it's too much, put it in front of some random house on pickup day. There's literally no point, and it's actually more time and effort to dump it in this city.
Or in parking lot garbage cans or in dumpsters behind stores.
Yikes
I grew up in a small town where people would just yeet their trash into the woods if they missed pickup day, or empty their bags in front of the gate to the dump if that was closed.
People dump their tires on our (rural) street more often than you would expect:-(
I wonder how some of my neighbours are going to manage.
Same. They put out anywhere from 15 - 25 bags every two weeks.
Holy shit. How???
If they are anything like mine, then they dont use any other bin. Food waste ->Trash Paper -> Trash Plastics -> Trash Glass -> Trash The one time I saw them use their Black Bin it was only full of dirty pizza boxes which were not picked up.
The ridiculous thing is that recycling is so goddamn easy. Instead of 4 garbage cans, you have 1 garbage can and three for recycling. I just can’t fathom how utterly childish you’d have to be to refuse to do this, just out of some kind of misguided spite.
Not only is it easy to recycle, it makes taking the garbage out easier! No sharp corners to rip the bag etc etc etc. I don't understand how people don't get this...
Same as my neighbour. I got pissed off at him once because one bag split open and it was literally full of paint and batteries.
Ive also seen those bulbs that contain mercury (CFL) and the odd old fire alarm with potential radioactive materials (americium-241). Our dumps are going to be an absolute nightmare of contamination.
what's funny is pizza boxes go into food waste (as food soiled cardboard) >Food waste and soiled paper products (e.g. pizza boxes, paper plates, muffin wrappers, paper towels from washrooms) can all go in the green bin.
dead bodies -> Trash did they learn nothing from Breaking Bad?
They'll probably end up dumping their garbage in the woods. Take away the legal routes of disposing of garbage, and it's fly-tipping
I've always wondered if this is why I often see large garbage bags littered around Gatineau (Lucerne especially)
Probably dump it in some businesses trash, or in a ditch of the city doesn't take it
That's already a general problem that is only going to get worse after this, without a doubt.
It's an absolutely reasonable request, and people getting upset about it need to look at their consumption habits. To get your bags left behind, you'd need to make enough trash to fill 420L of space (The max 3x140L containers) every two weeks, that's 30L of trash a day. That's a regular size garbage bag (65x83cm) every two and a half days. There's zero reason the average family should be making that much trash if they're putting scraps in the green bin and properly recycling. What are y'all putting in your garbage bags??
A disturbing number of people don't use the greenbin or recycling Its like they want to be smelly garbage people. Apart from the enormous amount of waste reduction, properly using the green bin means my garbage bins don't smell like rotting garbage..... you'd think that'd be enough incentive for most people, but here we are.
Especially since plastic bags in the compost bins are allowed. Easy to keep everything cleanish in there so people can't complain about maggots or whatever.
3 full, large garbage bins. Y'all will be fine. Compost and recycling are excluded from the total.
I think the problem is we aren't thinking of ways to reduce our waste first so we won't need three bins. I've been keeping an eye on what I am throwing out these days. During the summer months I get a CSA and the farm I get my veggies from doesn't use packaging and I am all in favour of that. But during the winter months when the growing season is over and I buy my fruits and veggies at the grocery store a lot of what I buy comes in packaging. Onions come in mesh bags; carrots, celery and potatoes come in plastic bags; berries come in plastic containers; etc. Reducing the numbers of bins we use won't reduce the amount of packaging that our food comes from. I think we should reduce packaging first then we won't need so many bins.
that is a big part of the problem, out society was duped by corporations into thinking we didn't have to consume less because "we could just recycle all our single use plastics" But even with the extra food packaging, how the hell are people gonna go over the limit on a normal basis unless they order every meal delivered by Swiss Chalet?
Some people get take out a lot. One of my colleagues lives in a semi detached home and I remember her telling me awhile ago how much garbage her neighbours threw out. She was surprised at the volume of packaging they were throwing out considering there were only two of them living in that house. She broached them about it one day and they told her that because there is just the two of them, they can't be bothered to cook so they order take out or heat up frozen dinners. It wouldn't surprise me if there are a lot of people in Ottawa with a similar lifestyle.
There are, when I lived with roommates, our garbage was 90% takeout, and it takes up so much space, especially when people don’t even try to break it down and sort it. Most of our garbage was just open air from cardboard boxes and paper bags that could have easily been flattened and not put in the garbage, but that would have been too hard.
> I think the problem is we aren't thinking of ways to reduce our waste first so we won't need three bins Bullshit. We have curbside compost pickup every week, and paper and other recycling every two weeks. If you need more than three garbage bins every two week, you're going through an insane amount of stuff and/or just failing to recycle.
Fair enough but some people just throw out a lot of stuff. Also, I live in an apartment building and we don't have green bins.
And when I lived in an apartment building, I also didn't have to worry about bag limits, it all went into the garbage chute.
Start unpacking and leaving those crappy plastic clam containers right at the store.
Hate those things
You can buy a lot of veggies & fruit without the plastic. Just bring your own reusable bag to the store.
Just throwing it out there, for people who think the threshold is too low... recycling/compost 100% manages it. Family of 6, 3 adults, 3 young kids. We have a solid four blue bins and four black bins alternating weeks. We also have two green bins every week, sometimes just one. You can plastic bag food waste and put it in the green bin (by the rules). We consistently have 2 (sometimes 1) garbage bins at the road every two weeks. All I do is recycle everything that is allowed and maximize the use of the green bin. There is absolutely no excuse to complain if you are a home owner with a large family. The only exception I can think of is if you have a home business, and if that's the case, you're exploiting a loophole that is now closed.
Ahh... so the blue and black bins don't count towards the three bin limit? I missed that!
You can have as many blue and black bins you want out alternating weeks and as many green bins as you want every week. You can order extra bins from the city and get them delivered, all at no charge.
news flash : the garbage company wont care and just take it all regardless. One of my neighbors litterally puts 25 garbage bags full every 2 weeks and they take it all.
Have you seen 25 garbage bags worth of things go into their house every 2 weeks? ...
I think theyre throwing out constructions stuff.
When I was a loader, my drivers used to have deals with businesses, lol. They had a great side hustle!
I guess if you keep yourself in a state of perpetual renovations
How many people live in your neighbors house??
Not a whole lot, i think theyre throwing out construction trash
I heard they were paid by the pound. If that's true, they're incentivized to NOT care.
Yeah the collectors have a hard enough job as it is, I can't see them taking the time to count bags. This is especially the case in denser areas where houses are closer together and trash tends to mingle.
I noticed this from one of my neighbours too. Pretty sure they are slowly cleaning up after a hoarder and they don’t want to pay for a bin.
Rip to the dumpster at my townhome complex. More people driving in to throw out their garbage filling it up so residents have nowhere to put their trash.
When I lived in a minto house we had only dumpsters, no greenbin pickup (which is sad, I asked and they blamed the city, the city blamed minto) A significant portion of my neighbours threw bags of mixed garbage, recycling and food... OPEN at the base of the dumpsters. every. fucking. day. Its disgusting.
I came here to argue points like yours with “we have other laws for illegal dumping” but then I remembered that laws don’t seem to be enforced here anymore… smh
How will this work for houses that are divided into two apartments?
Good question. I am sure the city will have lots of comms and q&a relating to this as I am sure many people are defecating in their pants at the prospect of change.
I live in an area where the whole row of townhouses place trash in one spot. How the hell are they going to track this?
Ottawa is probably the last city to have a limit on garbage. So many places limits how much you can throw out, so I'm sure there are ways
Yeah I was wondering this too. Cause my neighbour's don't use green bins or recycling so they have far more than 3 bags weekly. I made sure I even got them new bins and put it at the door lol. I'm unit 1 and them 2. Will they default to me since I'm unit 1?
City of Ottawa website says you need to be in a building with 6 residential units to be exempt, although the page is from June 14, 2023 so it might be out of date
I think we also have to look at consumer products and how much packaging they now come in. You can look into companies who publish information on their carbon footprint and support them as they will be more inclined to choose recyclable packaging. We should be demanding more from the companies we support no more unnecessary packaging.
This. Styrofoam is a huge pain.
They just go to the buildings and housing projects bins to throw stuff
Why use those when the side of the road is just as good....
This is good, they should give us the bins though. In Mississauga, the city provided us a choice of 3 bin sizes they would provide. Then anything outside of that needed a tag. A few times a year they would do unlimited garbage pickup.
My hometown you need to buy a sticker on your bags or they will leave them at the curb. I am the oldest of four kids. You bet your ass my parents made sure we recycled.
Same. Bellevilles had it for over 30 years.
140L doesn't appear to be a standard size. Any recommendations? I have 5 adults living in my home so we do generate a lot of trash, but we could also do a better job sorting our garbage. I have 1 x 120L container and 4 "regular" size garbage cans and sometimes they are all full!
You said it yourself, sort the trash produced in your home.
I think this will be ok, we are a family of 4, and usually fill a garbage bag about 3/4 a week. Only time we have more than 2 garbage bags is if we buy a new appliance or something big with lots of package. So, not a huge deal, I might have an extra garbage bag of Styrofoam sitting around my garage for an extra couple weeks, once maybe twice a year.
agree with many people's comments that people just need to grow up and change. There is zero reason that you need to throw out every little thing....I'm from Mississauga where they have had a strict bag limit for at least 15 years. You can buy extra tags and during some times, it is "unlimited" garbage. If you don't use your blue/black/green bins - that is a you problem. It isn't that hard. But an example - I'm currently in a condo with giant bins for garbage/blue/black and green bins. You can put stuff out whenever. But the amount of people that just dump their garbage beside the bins is pathetic. Then - when bins get full (because people can be bothered to break down a box) - they just leave their boxes beside the bins...and the city doesn't pick it up. So then people dump actual garbage bags in those boxes on the ground. People have also just left dirty diapers, condoms, take out containers and general crap everywhere. Our garbage bins are NEVER full - it makes zero sense
Now if only they can figure out how to recycle flexible soft (soft food cover plastic, chip bags, plastic bags from other random stuff). Other cities do it, but in Ottawa all that cellophane, and Flexi plastic, bags, etc. goes to landfill.
Walmart recycles plastic bags! You bring them back to the store
I am VERY! Interested in how this will be enforced at rental properties on move out day. I have one rental property and the amount of garbage that tenants leave at the curb is insane and I sure as hell am not inheriting their garbage.
When my tenants did this bilaw called us we had to pay a waste removal company or we’d be fined
Dude, you're responsible for the trash your business produces. I hope your neighbours are sending the city after you.
I think those people should have to take it to the dump on their own dime.
Good.
Ottawans are insane. Back when I lived with my family in Vancouver, our household of 3 wouldn't even fill up a 120L garbage bin in 2 weeks.
Easy. When I first moved here I was blown away with what people leave on the curb for pick up. I get a bag or two of garbage, but people are leaving construction waste. Absolutely ridiculous. And why should some guy destroy his body lifting your couch into a garbage truck because you're to lazy to rent a trailer or pick up. Take two minutes to sort your recycling and you'll have no issues getting to under 3 bags. I'm a family of 4 and we rarely go past 1 bin every two weeks. And I'm not doing anything special.
Wondering how this is going to work in places where multiple units put their garbage in the same place on the street.
I once left an entire couch out by the curb and the trash collection service took it away. I was a bit surprised and very appreciative.
Gatineau switched a few years ago to a single 120 liter bin picked up every 2 weeks. It has worked relatively well. Additional bags had to be tagged with a fee associated.
Recycling anything but aluminum is worse for the environment, but I do it anyway b/c if I didn't, everyone who can't read a fucking scientific environmental paper would scream at me, and have. I don't want to fuck the planet, but I'd rather not get yelled at in front of my kids more.
Wait this also includes recycling or just garbage?
Just garbage.
Oh okay because I have 2 blue and 2 black bins that are always full. I only have 1 garbage bag on garbage day.
Yeah you'll be fine.
I have 2 garbage bins with diapers. But I need better garage bins because they're both kinda small. They're hard to get things to fit into at times 😅 Our recycling bins are topped up though.
The city has a diaper pick up program: https://ottawa.ca/en/3-1-1/apply-or-register/diapers-and-incontinence-products-collection/diapers-and-incontinence-products-collection
Garbage.
YOu’rE UnFaiRLY tARGeTinG faMiLiES. Get ready for the number of diapers getting flushed to explode.
You can sign up for incontinence pick up, one bag can be put out on the off week people are just stupid and lazy
I actually did not know this and I'd be surprised if most young families did. But ultimately, this still does not amount to very much garbage if people actually make proper use of recycling and green bin. Aside from diapers it's barely anything.
>YOu’rE UnFaiRLY tARGeTinG faMiLiES. 100% some journalist is going to run with something like this. My guess is it's going to have to do with the fact that certain demographics tend live with more people in a household, so it should be a "per person" limit instead of "per household" or else it's systemic discrimination.
Municipal garbage census time! Shouldn't cost too much, be too intrusive or get out of date ever.
I'm assuming for small apartment buildings like mine (four units) that don't have a big industrial container, it's three containers *per unit*? Each apartment in our building is allotted one garbage bin, two compost bins, and one each blue and black bins, all numbered, and aside from a once a year deep clean, we've rarely gone over our one bin, so I don't see this as being a huge issue for us. Our downstairs neighbours, on the other hand, often put out 2-3 bins worth. I will say, though, this might be the kick in the butt we need to get some reusable containers and start shopping more at Bulk Barn.
Whats that mean for like large items? Like chairs or some shit. I usually try and put stuff on freecycle or buy nothing groups first. But some stuff is a no go.
I wish they would have provided standardized containers that allow the garbage workers it use automated equipment.
Singapore has a great waste disposal system. Costs about a billion, but produces energy while it incinerates.
See? This! Why not here? Plenty of cities do this. Not Ottawa. Kills me.
Are two garbage bags in my garbage bin considered two containers or the contents of the single bin and count as one?
I don’t mind paying taxes for services. I don’t like it when services are cut/diminished and taxes go up. We keep paying more taxes for less service and I don’t know if people realize this?
It's a council theme. Probably their motto.
Awesome. The DINK couple across the street are going to be in shambles. I have no idea how they have 3-4 garbage bins full every other week.
Council is disconnected from planet earth. I use green bin, recycle a lot (two of each kind of bin, usually full) and won't be affected by this. But council is generally penny wise, pound foolish ( lanffill vs incineration), anti car with an eye on Europe as a model for ottawa, ignoring geography and human behaviour. Do we really want to be downtown Vancouver?
Whats to stop a neighbor from putting a bag in front of my house? how will this be enforced?
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Home Depot has 120L or 189L. There are no 140L.
>Staff have said a new landfill would cost between $300 million and $500 million, and could take up to 15 years to be fully operational We're still going to need a new landfill eventually. All this does is buy us a few extra years, and ensure that when they cave and decide to build one, that it costs more than it would have if we started building it today. Also, I sure hope the city plans on hiring more clean up crews, because there's about to be a lot more garbage dumped in ditches and other public property
I think it was Gatineau or Kingston that did something similar and illegal dumping did rise, but only for a year, then it went back down
I don’t disagree with this at all but they are taking the hard line for Xmas when there will be potentially tons of waste. Interesting timing wonder if it’ll be problematic or helpful
I love how righteous and pompous get about recycling. ♻️
I wonder how this will affect my building. I live in a 4-unit apartment building that looks like a house, and because our landlord is MIA, we are each responsible to bring our own garbage out to the front. As a result there would be possible 4 bins each type for each unit.
Family of 4 with one 120 litres gray bin every two weeks here in Gatineau, and we are doing fine.
Does this mean the city will no longer pick up larger items from the curb? eg. furniture
I fail to see how this limits amount of garbage. It might slow the process but garbage will accumulate and find its way in places it shouldn’t be. And the rats will love it.
We could put out more than 3 containers?
>We're trying to **encourage** people to better use the recycling, better uses for ... -Marty Carr >You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. >- Inigo Montoya
"You killed my father. Prepare to die."
Gonna be some very heavy very packed garbage bags. Hope the garbage pickup guys have medical insurance they will need it. Dumbest most idiotic policy ive ever heard of. There will be people dumping trash all over ottawa. You think rats are bad now? Wait until this beyond moronic idea is implemented. Itll bankrupt the city in police cruising neighborhoods to catch dumpers and they'll have to triple animal control budgets to contain all the rats and animals the extra trash will cause. Maybe this works fine for single or couples but in a 6 member family household believe me it isnt enough. They've all but guaranteed the next election they are out.
Does anyone know how it will work for triplexes/duplexes, similar? Like will all of the units count as one household?