03.19.08
City Sues Man
Since I have started reducing the amount of waste I create, I have very little trash to take to the curb every week. In fact, I barely have one bag a week. If it weren’t for trash pick up being attached to my water and recycling bill, I believe I could actually cancel this service with no problem. This led me to an article on Examiner.com about a man who was sued because he did just that.
Eddie House, a 53-year old bachelor lives alone with his dog and found that, like me, his sustainable habits left him with near-zero garbage, so he canceled his garbage service. As a result, the San Carlos Deputy City Attorney filed a lawsuit against him claiming he was in violation of not maintaining garbage service.
This man recycles paper, metal, and plastics. He hauls them to the recycling center in his pick-up truck. Backyard waste is ground into a powder in his wood chipper and larger items are sold or given away on Craigslist.
The city maintains that the problem was brought to their attention by neighbors complaining of the smell because House was burning his garbage, which House claims is simply firewood. My questions are: Was it really necessary to sue? Couldn’t it have been resolved in some other manner? What happened to individual rights? It makes me wonder if we have become a nation that puts law above common sense.
just a note said,
March 19, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Your link to the examiner article has a typo – it starts with http// – there should be a colon (:) between the http and the //
twhelan said,
March 19, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Fixed it, thank you
rmcartwright said,
March 19, 2008 at 9:12 pm
It seems so unreasonable that a city would sue an individual over something so trivial. My question is, did the neighbors approach House prior to contacting the city? You’re right Theresa when you address the common sense [or lack thereof] question. Are we as Americans so unwilling to find alternatives in solving the most minor problem(s)? Maybe things do smell badly; maybe House has neglected to take into consideration the community around him before endeavoring to recycle in the manner that he does. But for goodness sake; is it that serious that the city would need to be brought into it. I can see both sides reallu, but I really think another resolution could have been considered.
macoffeegrounds said,
March 20, 2008 at 1:55 am
I don’t know why, but your title calls to mind a “man bites dog” kind of story for me and called me to read it.
macoffeegrounds said,
March 20, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Check this out: http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/02/AR2008010202833.html?hpid=moreheadlines&tr=y&auid=3309895
What is this world coming to?
Gail said,
March 23, 2008 at 10:47 pm
oh, I definitely think we are a society that “sues first and talks later” or talks only through our attorneys. With all of our cell phones and modern technology we have basically forgotten how to talk to one another face to face! And if we have no garbage to throw out, why should we pay for garbage service??? crazy.
I have a neighbor who does not take care of their lawn – mows only twice a summer and has never picked up their dog’s poop in 4 years! It really smells! No, I”m not going to sue him, but I am determined to find a way to respectfully ask that he cleans up the yard.
Thanks for the reminder/
kathleen61 said,
March 24, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Wouldn’t it be great if city garbage trucks were somehow fitted with a sensor so that when it picked up your trash can it would scan a bar code identifying it as yours and then weigh it as it was dumped into the garbage truck? Then you would be billed according to the weight of your trash. I once had neighbors who were totally locked into the “golden arrow” of consumption:
http://www.storyofstuff.com/
Every trash day, I’d put out my can with whatever few things weren’t being accepted by the recycling center or the Goodwill while my neighbors, two adults in a similarly-sized house, put out a mountain of trash piled high above the container so the lid couldn’t shut. Much of it was clearly materials that could be recycled such as boxes for the latest gadgets, etc. It bothered me that they paid the same pick-up fee that the rest of us did when they couldn’t be bothered to redirect materials from our landfills.
I don’t think it’s feasible to eliminate a base fee for everyone since we all enjoy a clean, picked-up city. Allowing some to opt out could lead to people sneaking around putting their trash into other peoples’ containers or discourage people from picking up a stray cup on the sidewalk and putting it into their own trash can. There might still need to be a sense of shared responsibility until everything we buy can be eaten, composted or reycled effieciently and everyone, including my “golden arrow” neighbors, agrees.
Jeanette said,
March 25, 2008 at 12:42 am
I’ll admit I’m one of those people with a lot of garbage. I think if something like what Kathleen is suggesting would happen, I certainly would take a look at my waste management. It’s easy to just dump your trash in the dumpster when you live in an apartment–you don’t even have to wait for “trash day.” There’s not recycling service offered in Irish Hills. My parents have recycling in their neighborhood, so when I moved here and didn’t have it, I felt the twinge of not doing my part. It’s sad how quickly I got over that because of the convenience of the dumpster.
I don’t think I could ever be like this House guy, but I can do better.