After because of overfilled bins, I heard from people who are anxious about where to put those bins on collection day.
Because of tight spaces, hills, and parked cars, bin placement is proving to be a challenge for some residents.
The instructions that came with the new garbage and kitchen scraps bins, via pamphlet and Saanich municipality website, tell us this: 鈥淗ouseholds are asked to place their carts at the curb or in the mouth of driveways, oriented so the lids open toward the street on collection day and ensure they do not impede sidewalks, traffic and bicycle lanes.鈥�
Also, there is to be at least a metre of space on all sides of each bin. So, the bins must be at least a metre apart from each other.
All this precision is required because trucks with mechanical arms pick up and empty the newly-deployed bins. There鈥檚 one truck for garbage, another for kitchen scraps.
Those trucks and their drivers face plenty of challenges on Saanich鈥檚 narrow, hilly, curving streets, many of which don鈥檛 have sidewalks.
One person was concerned that his garbage wouldn鈥檛 be picked up because parked cars 鈥� not his 鈥� can block the bins on collection day. He has marveled at the high skill of the garbage truck driver, delicately swinging a giant truck into position between parked cars for pickups. But those parked cars can make for an impossible situation.
Saanich's new garbage truck. Photo is from the Saanich garbage pickup pamphlet.
In my own sidewalk-free neighbourhood, bins could also be blocked by cars. I put my bins on the edge of my lawn, next to the street, which is level with the lawn. I don鈥檛 put them at the driveway entrance because it slopes down, and the bins would tip over. Since the new bin system began in April, I haven鈥檛 had a problem. But it takes just one car parking in front of my house to throw things out of whack.
Another person mentioned that he had received a warning sticker saying his bins weren鈥檛 properly placed. He鈥檚 on a hill and the entrance to his driveway slopes; the bins tip if they are placed at the driveway entrance. So he鈥檚 been putting the bins on a patch of land next to the driveway entrance, with the driveway lip holding the bins in place. He鈥檚 not seeing a practical alternative.
More growing pains for the new garbage era. We鈥檒l eventually figure it out; a little flexibility and neighbourliness would help. One step: don't park in front of garbage bins on collection day.
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has instructions on how to place your bins, with illustrations. It also has a collection schedule.
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