I try to recycle as much as possible in order to minimize unnecessary garbage going into landfills. On any given week I tend to fill-up my puny 35-gallon recycling bin to capacity. When the bin begins to overflow I place the recyclables in cardboard box and cross my fingers that it will be picked too. Unfortunately, most times it does not get picked- up. Only the stuff in the recycling bin is taken away.
Today, I decide to request a larger recycling bin from Miami –Dade County 3-1-1. I was told that larger bins were not available for Miami residents and that additional bins were not available to purchase for $50. They only had bins available for residents which had their bins stolen or damaged. I was left with no other option but to lie. I told the very nice customer service lady from 3-1-1 that my bin had been stolen.
Why is it so difficult to recycle in this town? Why don’t we have larger bins? Why don’t we have extra bins available for purchase to encourage recycling? It should not be difficult to do the right thing. We need to facilitate the recycling process, not make it complicated.
We need larger recycling bins. If this is not possible, residents should get at least two recycling bins per household at no additional cost. If it costs $50 to do the right thing, many will not pay the additional cost. Effectively Miami-Dade County is encouraging people to dump recyclables in our landfills. This is not good.
9 Responses to Recycling in Miami
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I’ve also requested those “garbage can” sized recycling contianer small businesses get… but was denied. I was however able to obtain (no charge) more of those small bins without any problem.
I live in an apartment in brickell it’s older and there is no recycling. I have called 311 and asked for recycling but they always put it back on me a renter to contact the building owners and ask them to do that, even know there is a county and city ordinance to have all residential buildings have recycling. There are also no close places to bring it, so I either pack it up in my car and bring it to work, or if I have a friend coming over that has recycling they get a nice treat when they leave.
Flipped,
I am in the same predicament as a renter near Miami Gardens. When I called the county, I was re-directed to management, and they said that a recycling program will not be instituted any time soon. This happened about a year and a half ago.
Every Sunday afternoon, my apartment complex’s dumpsters become so over packed that the trash sometimes falls to the ground. If the bulky plastic bottles and other items could be separated, it would improve the situation tremendously.
I made that very case to management, but they basically blew me off. *Sigh*
I agree, and its even worse in Broward county. I needed a new garbage can, cause mine caught on fire, but they told me I had to pay for it with my monthly water & sewer bill. And same with the recycling bins they just dont care >:(
Mr. Zenha, thank you for your interest in recycling and your compliment of the 3-1-1 operator. It appears from the item you posted that you receive recycling service from the City of Miami’s Solid Waste Department, not Miami-Dade County. Miami-Dade County will indeed allow its recycling customers to request a recycling cart in a different size—up to 96 gallons—free of charge, or order a second cart for a one-time fee of $50. The City of Miami, as you know, uses recycling bins. Please contact Ms. Cindy Baez at the City of Miami at 305-960-2803 for further assistance with recycling issues in the City of Miami.
@ Rog in Miami Gardens, you can call 3-1-1 to open up a case on your apartment complex for non-compliance with the County’s multi-family recycling ordinance. You can do this anonymously. More information on the County’s Multi-family Recycling ordinance can be found online at http://www.miamidade.gov/dswm/apartments_condos.asp.
Gainesville has some pretty progressive policies when it comes to waste collection. You pay less per month if you use a smaller waste bin. This encourages you to throw away less and recycle more. The city provides two free recycle bins, one for paper and one for plastics/glass/metals. Waste collection will not collect bags placed next to garbage bins unless they are specially made bags sold in places like Publix.
A little off topic, but food waste is too valuable to give to the garbage dump. Save it up and once a day take it outside and bury it, so the worms can eat. They’ll pay you back by improving your soil tremendously. The birds love certain types of waste food too. Of course, if you stop letting others cook for you (restaurants and corporations), you’ll have a whole lot less packaging waste.
I agree with you about recycling down here. I am originally from CT and they are big in to recycling. Then, I came down to Miami and it is like a different world. Just to get the bins to my house was a pain. Now you have to pay for the larger bins?
I just read your post and comments. I love how Miami Dade Dept of Solid Waste posted a comment. It would be great to see them start to put recycling as a larger priority.