Garbage Cans canned in effort to reduce garbage; new desktop containers on the way

The hospital's 1996/97's Waste Management Plan calls for a 20% reduction in garbage volume. To help achieve that goal, office staff are losing their garbage cans. No garbage can, no garbage. Makes sense.

The fact is most of us do produce some sort of non-recyclable garbage, such as food items, muffin wrappers, and fruit peelings, so we'are getting mini trash containers for those items. The new containers, shaped like traditional garbage cans (like the one Oscar the Grouch lives in!), are about the size of a jumbo pop or popcorn container and come with a lid. They fit perfectly on your desk.

Patient care areas, lunch rooms, and lobbies will not be affected by the change. The new program will be phased in over the summer.

We know that a lot of people are emotionally attached to their garbage cans and we hope to make this transition as painless as possible. The new containers may seem small at first but most of the items that are now ending up in the garbage are recyclable, such as paper, cans and glass bottles. Those materials should be placed in the appropriate recycling containers, not in the garbage. In order to meet our reduction goal, we must put only those items that are truly garbage in the new containers.

The new system will not only reduce garbage, it'll save the Hospital money by reducing waste hauling fees and garbage bag purchase expenses. The hospital currently spends about $6,000 a month on bags.

So if there are no garbage bags in these new containers, who picks up the garbage? You do. You'll be asked to empty your container at a central waste collection area near you. There will be one large collection container for every 15 or so desks. If you put items which are truly garbage in the container, you'll only need to empty it once a week. If you are a coffee drinker, you might consider investing in a reusable mug.

The new containers will be supplied at no charge. However, a $2.50 charge will be levied to replace cans that disappear.

The desktop system has been implemented at all government offices since 1992 under their recycling program. The program has resulted in tremendous waste reduction and cost savings for the government.