Pick Up The Recycling

The last time I checked, recycling had become a mandatory part of trash pickup. At least in Philadelphia it is. We are supposed to separate our papers, cans and cardboard from the rest of the trash and place them in the blue bin that had been provided for all Philadelphia homes.

Well, I have run into a problem that has gone on long enough.



Each week, we place our recyclables in our blue bin and put it out front alongside the trash. A truck comes specifically for the bin. However, the men working with the truck either don't know what is qualified as being recycled or are just plain lazy.

Once the truck has gone I've come outside to get my bin and there will still be items inside of the can. This went on for several weeks. They would leave anything from water bottles to pizza boxes inside.

At one point when I would hear the truck on the block, I would stand outside and wait to see if they would empty the bin. On these particular days, they would empty it completely and I had no arguments. So after doing this for a few weeks I stopped, figuring they got the point.

Then one day they decided to once again leave pizza boxes. When I went outside to confront the workers they informed me that pizza boxes were not a part of what they picked up. Even though they had just picked up two others from neighbors. I found this to be odd. Nevertheless, I continued to place the pizza boxes in the bin when I had them.

Today was the final straw.

These "wonderful" city workers not only took the pizza boxes after not doing so multiple times, but left cans and plastic wrapping that is clearly recyclable. I don't know if they are being rude or they are honestly just plain dumb, however this WILL stop.

The Philadelphia Streets department needs to do something because there is NO WAY I am the only one who suffers from these worker's ignorance. To be completely honest, there are neighbors on my block who have similar stories.

I mean, really dude, if recycling is mandatory than the city NEEDS to find workers who are AWARE of the necessity of doing so and who will actually PICK UP the recyclables WITHOUT issue.

Have you or someone you know had a problem with your recycled goods not being picked up? Leave us a comment. We would love to hear from you.