Vienna Recycling Bins?

The brain power & physical labor I spend on putting my recycling on the curb is pretty much zero. Only in a community with too much money to spend (re: Town Green) would they suggest wasting more money & creating more waste with the bins. They are no added value for me.

My only suggestion for the Town regarding recycling is a collection for plastic bags at the community center. Currently, Safeway is the only place to drop-off plastic bags which pile up so quickly.

The blue bag concept was touted as first established in Vienna. The commercial contractor agreed to the system. Vienna demanded accolades when "their" system was adopted by other jurisdictions.

The system of containers vs. bags is discriminatory in that some garbage cans are emptied and others are not.

I had a garbage can full of blue bags that sat at the curb for an extra week. I had to pull it back on trash day because they would dispose of it. My next disposal consisted of ten blue bags dispersed at one-foot intervals at the curb.

Mainly I do not have these problems because I simply cart my recyclables to the dumpsters on Blake Lane in the County.

Now I wonder, was Ms. Cole testing the bins or was she afraid that her getting privileged service would be picked on when discovered.

Seems the issue of bins had been beaten to death in the past.

I agree with the entire post above, but most of all, I can attest to the risk of serious eye injuries from bungee cords, and most of them ending with severe loss of vision.

From an insurance point of view, if the TOV actually recommends these things, they are putting themselves up to liability lawsuits, let alone the obvious stupidity as mentioned in the post above:

They’re a common, everyday device, inexpensive and easy to use. They’re used in businesses, homes, and leisure activities, but they possess an inherent danger, one that has caused injury, and in some cases, permanent vision loss. What is this seemingly harmless device with a potential to cause lasting damage in the blink of an eye? It’s a bungee cord!

Bungee cords are made of elastic material with metal J-shaped or S-shaped hooks on each end. They’re used to tie down or secure equipment, restrain cargo, act as barriers, hold items in place, and can be conveniently locked or fastened to another structure. Bungee cord use is particularly attractive since the hooks are versatile connectors that can be easily applied with one hand. The usefulness of bungee cords is well known, but their potential for injury is not.

One of the characteristics of a bungee cord is its stored energy which can be suddenly released. The heavy elastic cords from which bungees are made contain tremendous force when they recoil, particularly when they’re stretched beyond their recommended limits. This sudden release of stored energy results in a high speed flailing hazard when:

-the hook pulls out of the user’s hand as it’s being stretched into place
-the hook disengages from the attachment point
-the attachment structure fails
-the hook straightens out
-the cord breaks
-the hook detaches from the cord

In each of these situations, the free end of the bungee cord can recoil at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour and produce significant injury or damage upon impact. The American Medical Association has called for warning labels to be placed on bungee cords, including information about the deterioration of the cords, which can cause them to snap unexpectedly. Cracks in the cords significantly increase the failure risks of the bungee.

The majority of bungee cord accidents involve the eye and are becoming an increasingly common cause of both severe and penetrating eye injuries. In one hospital study, more than half the patients seen in the emergency room for bungee cord-sustained eye injuries required hospitalization for treatment of their injury. Injuries included bleeding within the eye, lacerations to the eye, traumatic cataracts, and tearing or detachment of the retina from the back of the eye. Most victims with damaged eyes had a mild-to-serious loss of vision, some had no useful vision, and some had injuries that were so severe that their eye had to be surgically removed.

How can bungee cord injuries be prevented? Eye doctors who treat people with eye injuries recommend replacing bungee cords with less volatile devices. Possible alternatives to secure equipment are ropes, buckled nylon bands or industrial plastic shrink-wrap. If bungee cord replacement is not possible, then employers should INSIST that their workers use appropriate, certified face or eye protection, even for the few seconds it may take to attach a bungee cord.

If workers will be allowed to use bungee cords in the course of their job, they should first receive instruction in the safe use, and the consequences of misuse, of bungee cords. They should be trained to use bungees with caution, including:

-using extreme caution when stretching the cord over a load
-securing hook ends carefully
-never extending the cord beyond its capacity of length or load
-keeping the face and other vulnerable body parts away from the cord's rebound path
-never using bungee cords to hold a surface which reacts to wind or air movement

Bungee cord safety procedures should be strictly enforced or, in the blink of an eye, an individual could loose an eye. If a bungee cord accident does results in an eye injury, make sure the victim is seen by an eye care specialist or medical professional.

Recently, a truck driver won a $700,000 verdict against manufacturer of bungee cords for design defect and failure to warn. Truck driver had attached one end of bungee cord to secure tarp over his load. When he was hooking other end of cord to opposite side of truck, the metal hook on the attached end of the bungee cord bent and came free, whipped toward the driver and hit him in the eye, causing eye injury that blinded the driver in that eye.

Regarding plastic bags, I believe Whole Foods, Safeway, and Giant all collect them. But I just put them in with the mixed materials and let the Town collect them. The collection contractor is already processing these bags full of material... so they can surely manage a wad of empty ones. I trust they are being recycled.

I'm serious when I say, if you see a bungee cord with hooked ends, run the other way... they are an accident waiting to happen. And don't toss keys to people... walk them over. Tossed keys are at the top of the list for causing serious eye injury.

Let's use the bins to get rid of Maud!

Ok, I get that the whole bungee cord thing is dangerous -- really, I do. Goodness knows, what they would do to the older folks in Vienna. I can just imagine walking into the Magruder's and seeing all the old folks with bruises to their faces and eye patches on, as they try to navigate those crowded isles.

However, the thing that ticks me off so much is that Cole is prattling on and on about those dang blue bins, and we've got much bigger issues in this town -- traffic, the inability to plan for future growth and development, getting our business district out of the '50s, and our tax dollars and good land being thrown away on Maud's folly (AKA the Town Green).

Way to focus on the things that are important to Vienna, Laurie.

Re: Way to focus on the things that are important to Vienna, Laurie.

I agree. This town simply has much more important issues facing it and its future. None of us want to see it looking like Rosslyn with building heights so high, that Vienna's "architectural personality" changes from what is basically a neighborhood town to a city out of control.

Yet, Vienna really needs to allow all our family citizens to enjoy the full potential and benefits that we can share: such as a movie theater we can all walk to, better shops that offer us the choice not to have to drive elsewhere, better sidewalks throughout all Vienna, so all of us can use them, especially our children to use to walk to school safely, better traffic control along Maple Avenue during rush hour(s)... the list goes on... but to make much of this a reality, we need a total change in the personality of the Vienna town council.

When I have attended meetings in nearby local governments and places I travel to (I always make it a point to visit other local governments to see how they function) I have seen, for the most part, other governments that behave in a way, that we have never seen here in Vienna. While other governments behave in a mature, professional, respectful ways, our Town Council behavior is usually arrogant, pompous, narrow-minded.

Our elected officials have no "big picture" ability.

Vienna is now spawning more banks and nail salons than any other strip of road in all of Virginia! Maud is actually proud of this fact! When every corner in town is either a gas station or a bank, you have to be proud?

The personality of a town like this reflects the fact that it truly is a cut-through town. Vienna is the ideal commuter town: it has what every commuter needs to offer for someone who doesn't live in this town: banks and gas stations to stop at while driving to and from work when the traffic piles up, these commuters can take a break and gas up their cars, and cash their paychecks.

What fun this is for the residents and families who live in Vienna.

However, the thing that ticks me off so much is that Cole is prattling on and on about those dang blue bins, and we've got much bigger issues in this town --

Laurie Cole wants to spend $40k to buy bins and then spend more storing and reselling them to residents until the end of time. Why? Because LAURIE wants a tidy blue bin in her tidy new house. Where's the problem? Nobody is screaming for bins! Nobody has described a tragic flaw in the Town's recycling program! This is all about Laurie Cole. She shuffles around a cocktail party in her fuzzy pajamas whining about recycling litter that clutters up Bukontville and how nice it would look to put stuff in tidy blue bins. Now she's spending $40k of our money on bins and wasting everyones time when all she has to do is just allow residents to use their own trash container on recycling day... non-problem solved!

Laurie, buy yourself a blue bin and use it! The extra trip to the curb will do you some good.

Holly Chu, stop wasting time researching blue bins for Laurie Cole, and fix the intersection at Park and Locust. Construction is going to start there soon and you need to do something about what will become a four way intersection with only one stop sign! Blue bins for Laurie or preserve lives, property, and quality of life... set your priorities!

"She shuffles around a cocktail party in her fuzzy pajamas whining about recycling litter that clutters up Bukontville"

Can we simply stop all other discussion today and talk about only this topic. If I am to trust a public servant to take care of my community, I need to believe they can take care of themselves in the most basic fashion (I use this term loosely): get a good haircut, brush your hair, exercise, buy clothes that are flattering.

I may sound petty but in an area with people who are successful and well-kemped, I expect to see my representatives "keeping up appearances." Only George wears a suit to Town Council meetings. If you want the job, look like you DO take it seriously.

Town Council is a bizarre mixture of cartoon characters.

I say again:

VOTE!

Incumbent: if your seat is up in April, you might want to start packing your bags!
Not only do I pay the high taxes in town, I also VOTE.
You work for me! Not your self!

I appreciate the effort to recycle, helping to keep as much out of the regular dump as possible. After reviewing the regulations posted on the town web site, they seemed simple, straightforward, and easy to follow. Imagine my disappointment when, after preparing my recycleables according to the directions, they were not picked up.

I have lived in several different forms of recycling systems, from separating into no less than seven different colored containers to using one covered blue bin. That one bin was matched to an automated lift-and-dump that was the best for me (no separation whatever and covered from the elements) and best for those collecting (quick and no back-breaking lifting), but unquestionably expensive and suitable only for a town of over a million residents.

Personally, I would be happy if the Town of Vienna merely followed the directions on the official town web site rather than the haphazard, collect-if-I-feel-like-it method that seems to be in place. I can live with rules, but not if they are subjectively applied.