Garbage

Of all subjects, I never thought I would need to write an article about garbage - but three requests from superintendents in high-rise buildings in one week has convinced me that they are in need of a little support.

For starters, putting your garbage in the garbage room on the floor is not acceptable. You must put your garbage in the chute and push it down until it leaves the chute. The garbage chutes in highrises are generally checked daily by cleaning staff in an effort to keep the room tidy. Even I have been shocked at the indifference of tenants who feel it's acceptable to leave almost anything rotting on the garbage room floor. Superintendents are clever individuals though and often resort to finding some rubber gloves and emptying the bag of garbage onto the floor looking for evidence that will identify the culprit - such as an addressed envelope. People have turned purple with embarrassment when confronted with their negligence. You would be surprised at how many people are caught.

Large green garbage bags are not really designed for garbage chutes. Grocery store shopping bags or the small white garbage bags are much more appropriate for apartment living. If the bag is full of mushy materials then you should kindly double-bag the garbage.

Many buildings have further taken the initiative to introduce recycling programs over the last five years. Large blue bins are generally placed in a conspicuous area where tenants may freely recycle their cardboard, paper, glass, and cans. Once again it is imperative that tenants properly recycle their products. I recently heard of a situation where a building's recycling privileges were taken away on the basis that the recycling area was not being properly utilized. The main problem was the lack of proper sorting of materials into the blue bins.

Poor garbage removal habits are costly for everyone. Rotting garbage leaves an unbearable smell, attracts both rodents and cockroaches, and creates a huge amount of work for maintenance staff. For all those people who are frustrating superintendent staff with poor garbage habits, please clean up your act.

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