commingle(d) = 'stuff to recycle'

[George Thompson]

I was going to send this to Joel individually, on the thought that the art of garbage collection was a bit off-topic for ADS-L, but then, at the end, I wandered into a point of philology. . . .

Out here on the frontier, the trash is hauled -- ashes and all -- by private companies.  The one that serves me has just started "single stream", and picks up both garbage and recycling stuff in the same truck, on the same run.  The truck is pretty nifty -- I watched it being operated the other day.  The two containers are hoisted by a lift and turned upside down.  The receptacle is divided into 2 halves, and a flap is moved from one side to the other, to send the stuff into the proper half of the truck.

Meanwhile, back in NYC, we had to separate glass from plastic, &c., but then the various containers were always dumped by hand into the same truck, "democrats and republicans" (as my father used to express the idea of "all sorts mixed together").

GAT

George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
Date: Monday, July 19, 2010 10:48 am
Subject: Re: commingle(d) = 'stuff to recycle'
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU

> Victor is not fully accurate.  Arlington, Mass. (a suburb of
> Cambridge -- it was, after all, once the West Precinct of Cambridge),
> now permits paper -- details below -- to be mixed with metal
> (including foil and pie plates), glass (all colors), and plastic
> (with symbols 1 thru 7) in one container.  We call it (or actually
> the DPW does -- I'm too grumpy early on recyclable pickup morning to
> converse with my neighbors) "single stream".  Homeowners are allowed
> to use any container they desire; if it is not the standard,
> town-authorized and -sold barrel, the homeowner must label it on both
> sides with the word "Recycling".  The town offers free stickers so
> labeled for those of its residents who cannot write.
>
> NOTES:
> 1)  I suspect other suburbs also now "commingle" according to the same
> rules.

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