I ordered a new blue recycling bin the other day from the city because my old one had nearly disintegrated. Because I am a geek, I was very excited to get it. The city just started recycling plastic grocery bags and styrofoam in addition to the old stuff. I’m a pretty low-impact kind of chick environmentally, so after separating recyclables, most of my trash is cat litter and Q-Tips. Anywho, the new one has this new sticker on it that says “scavenging prohibited” and threatening trash-pickers (they prefer “freelance recyclers”) with fines up to $500 and jail time up to 6 months. I guess it makes sense that the city wants to keep my trash in their revenue stream, but it’s a little scary that my garbage becomes property of the city as soon as I put it in the bin.
* Los Angeles Recycling program
* Los Angeles Recycling for Multi-Family building