Talking Trash about Hoboken
12
May
5/12/2008:
Here is today’s reader mail segment on Hoboken411.
It has to do with the rubbish we have laying around, in addition to quantifying whether we have a sufficient number of trash receptacles in Hoboken.
“Litterboken” says:
“Hey 411,
Finally did this morning what I have been meaning to do for a long
time: count the number of garbage cans in the city. We used to have one on 3rd and Hudson, but it disappeared, and it got me noticing how few there are in certain areas of this city. Attached is a map of my findings.
GOOD things: there are multiple cans on every intersection of Washington. Many back by the high-rises on Jackson, and the areas from 11th-13th between Willow and Grand have abundant cans. Willow itself is quite well-populated, relatively, with about 9 the length of it. Also, there are at least a dozen in the waterfront Shipyard area, as well as along Sinatra Drive. And the parks themselves have plenty of cans, so kudos to the Parks dept.
BAD things: only one can on Bloomfield, at 1st. None on Garden. Only 5 on Hudson, 3 of those on 1st, one on Newark, one on 4th. Only 3 on Park, these all on 1st. There are huge swaths of very populated areas with none. Many of the places lots of people walk daily have none.
Maybe people think the number of cans is enough, but no one can deny that litter is a big problem here. Maybe having more cans will help lessen the littering, or even perhaps the same number of cans should be spread around to cover more ground. Can this city think about managing this issue better? Yes. I’ll paraphrase from a great book, NUDGE by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein: “There is no such thing as a “neutral” design. Seemingly arbitrary decisions will have subtle influences on how people act. Designers should make life as easy as possible.” If the city planners of Hoboken make it easier for people to throw their trash in a proper receptacle, isn’t this a good first step?”
Thanks,
Litterboken
(CLICK PICTURE TO ENLARGE)
21. Litterboken | May 13th, 2008 at 11:05 am
hobokenj wrote:
Thanks for thanks. There has to be priorities in any city budget. Our budget included horses and now segway scooters for the cops; perhaps that money could have been spent on more useful things like sanitation.
22. hobokenj | May 13th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Litterboken wrote:
Agreed their needs to be priorities but I would think the cost to have a truck go up and down every street in hoboken and stop on every corner or every other daily would be enormous.
23. Litterboken | May 13th, 2008 at 11:10 am
kal-el wrote:
Well, there IS a city website that tells people these rules. Obviously people aren’t reading it. Do they know about it? Maybe not. So let’s brainstorm, people: how do we (paperlessly?) inform newcomers about the rules? Maybe we need to include the real estate people in this.
24. bradykp | May 13th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Friedupright wrote:
i was in whistler, british columbia canada a few weeks ago and the town had a bunch of garbage cans that had doors on them to open and put in garbage. it was to prevent bears from getting into them, but it also would prevent people from scavenging through them. they also had recycling bins for people to use. if i could find a link to a picture, i’ll post. but they were pretty neat all around the town.
25. kal-el | May 13th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
LITTER I AGREE THE REAL ESTATES SHOULD NOTIFY PEOPLE WHEN THEY BUY
26. Friedupright | May 13th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
hobokenj wrote:
Once again, it’s all about priorities. Why can Manhattan do it and not little ol’ Hoboken? You seem to be willing to just give in to the fact that garbage is a given. I just wanted to provide a possible solution. You have never seen garbage cans on any of the corners in any residential towns? Get out much? Seriously, look around. Hoboken is unique. It is not a suburb, it is not a big city. I have lived here for nearly 20 years and can remember when garbage cans were on nearly every corner. I’m just trying to present a possible solution. Do you have a better solution? I’m all ears. If we can spend $20,000 on segways, why not $20,000 on garbage removal? It’s about quality of life. No one wants to live in a people littered, pet littered, town and so why not come up with some solutions to the problem? Garbage cans all around is a good beginning. The cost? Please. Hoboken spends. It just spends on the wrong things. This is simple. Clean up the freakin’ city. We aren’t talking about something so difficult, or even controversial. Everyone wants to live in a clean environment and providing the proper services and tools to make that happens seems preety damn simple to me. Flooding, coruption, dirty politics, back room deals? I’m just talking about garbage cans and poop receptacles. Now is that too much to ask?
27. Litterboken | May 13th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
monk wrote:
You know, I looked at my original map, and I had these marked, but with ?s, because I thought they were part of the apt complex. But I guess being part of the HHA would make this a city can, now wouldn’t it?? I have marked this on the original file. Thanks.
28. Litterboken | May 13th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Friedupright wrote:
Cut from the same cloth, you and I.
29. Unicorns United | May 14th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
matt_72 wrote:
Unless you live near a fast food restaurant, I find it hard to believe your can can accumulate enough trash that your own trash won’t fit…….unless it is your neighbors filling it up and not some random person passing by.
Newspapers, soft drink cups, dog crap, junk mail, soda/juice bottles. They accumulate quickly, they take up space. I live on a fairly high-traffic street and I’ve seen my can filled up almost halfway with this crap over the course of only 2 days. So yes, sometimes my own garbage doesn’t fit. Sorry you find it hard to believe.
But thanks anyway for attempting to be a jerk.
**elainetiger, thanks for the tip! Turning my can upside down might do the trick!**
30. bradykp | May 14th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Friedupright wrote:
i’ve got some ideas. here goes:
1 garbage can on every OTHER 4 corner intersection. maybe make it every 3rd 4 corner intersection. parks should have garbage cans on the sidewalk nearest the park, but not in the park, as they are not aesthetically pleasing.
some of those dog poop cans around town would also be nice, and they don’t even look that bad.
some nice looking ash trays on washington street, outside the bars. maybe require that the bars maintain them somehow.
increase littering fines and enforce them (including smokers’ cigarette butts).
advertisement - state or local level - on keeping new jersey beautiful. PA has had a campaign like this for years. maybe some activities for the weekend near earth day would be nice, like what NYC does in central park. it helps get the community involved.
just some thoughts. also, individuals need to do their part and reduce the amount of garbage we’re all producing. easier to do than people think….
31. Litterboken | May 14th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Need your help, 411 readers. I am going to send letters to all the council-people, indicating the number of cans in their particular wards and asking for their input on helping (trying to) solve the litter issue. I don’t mind getting the ball rolling, but they need to take the lead. What the heck else do they get paid for, beside showing up as support for Mayor McCheese?, and btw, how much DO they get paid?
I welcome ALL suggestions for the letters. Please post here, or email to litterboken@gmail.com
32. SWHotty | May 15th, 2008 at 7:30 am
So what can a person do if they see a corner that REALLY needs a bin?
33. ron mexico2 | July 15th, 2008 at 8:41 am
Anyone else notice that they are doing a tuesday morning recycling pick up in addition to the normal tuesday evening pickup?
Is this a padded city contract or is someone front running to get the cans and bottles with commodity prices where they are?
34. elainetyger | July 15th, 2008 at 9:34 am
I also noticed the Tuesday morning pickup last week or the week before, downtown on Garden or Bloomfield. I wondered how people would know to put stuff out then, since if a neighbor complains, you can get a violation for putting trash out too early in the day. Do they come back again Tuesday night to collect from all the people who follow the published schedule? Seems rather inefficient to me. We already have more trash collection than is necessary.
35. Red Haven | July 15th, 2008 at 9:55 am
ron mexico2 wrote:
Sure. The city has been doing this for quite some time now. It’s actually good management practice. It’s not technically a full pickup. It’s an arranagement between the Department of Environmental Services and some of the larger high-rise buildings in town.
On Tuesday mornings the trucks come around and pickup very very large piles of recyclables from the very large buildings. Though the pickup is designed specifically for these big buildings, if the truck isn’t full the guys reach in and pick up the cans of recylables from some of the surrounding smaller buildings as well.
I think it’s a great. Before they instituted this the big buildings would put out their recyclable mountains in the afternoon, where they would sit and be attacked by vultures for the next 12 hours before the trucks came to pick them up at night. It was a god awful mess before. Now it is a clean operation.
ron mexico2 wrote:
This is NOT a padded city contract, and frankly if the city gets more revenue from the tonnage, even better. Also, it saves money because the trash collectors don’t have to expend three times the effort cleaning up open bags of spilled recyclables all over the street and sidewalk after the trash pickers get through with the bags.
Sorry guys, I’m all for critcizing the city’s frequent stupidity, but this one is a win-win.
36. CharlieAParker | July 15th, 2008 at 10:20 am
What about businesses? It seems the city provides extra pick ups for them (and yes, they’ll take residential if they come across it). If that’ the case, shouldn’t the businesses arrange that privately?
37. Red Haven | July 15th, 2008 at 10:44 am
CharlieAParker, the debate about whether or not to charge businesses for trash pickup has raged for years if not decades.
As the script goes, a politician proposes charging for commerical pickup and the Bar/Restaurant industry (which generates the most trash and recyclables) cries foul until the idea goes away.
Roberts actually included a fee in his budget last fall, and — just like the floarting pool we were supposed to get for Pier C — the proposal died of neglect.
38. CharlieAParker | July 15th, 2008 at 11:33 am
There’s also the debate (never mind who’s actually paying) wether it should be city employees or an out sourced private contractor. IIRC Robert’s brought recycling back in house, what about garbage? I’m pretty indifferent all the way around on this one, no real complaint from me.