Celeste Amato is the woman with answers. The media and communications director for the Department of Public Works apologized for the problem in my neighborhood and promised that it would be remedied quickly. (We'll see.) She pointed out that both workers and residents were in for big adjustments in their routines. After decades of doing things a certain way, it's not easy to switch gears overnight.
"The citizens and the city are both adjusting to a major change," she said. And encouraging people to recycle more of their waste is actually the least of the city's problems at this point; the bigger deal is managing the landfill-bound garbage. No one likes the thought of their chicken bones and crab shells sitting around for almost a week waiting to be picked up, especially in the heat of summer. That's where the importance of using garbage cans with lids that seal properly comes in.
There have been problems this week, Ms. Amato acknowledged, in what she tactfully describes as "some of our more trash-challenged communities." People are dumping bags of garbage in alleys - a big no-no - and often on the wrong day. If they keep it up, they can expect a citation.
Ms. Amato points out that almost all cities of Baltimore's size pick up trash once a week, and she insists that "everybody can manage their trash, even the stinky, sticky stuff."
She imagines a whole city full of people like ... well, like me: making sure their newspapers and other paper products go in the recycling bin, checking the Web site (cleanergreenerbaltimore.gov) if they're not sure what items can be recycled. Ms. Amato expects it to take a good three months for people to alter their behavior on a large scale.
"There are plenty of complainers, but there are also plenty of people happy about getting their recycling picked up once a week," she points out.
Count the mad recycler as one of them.
- Michael Cross-Barnet
