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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Duck photo source: Lisa's Chaos
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Thanks for your visit and have a delightful day ;--)
Hugs and blessings,

Friday, May 2, 2008

Haiku Friday #35 - One person's trash ...

I created this post for 'Earth Day' and don't recall just how it didn't get shared, but in clearing out 'drafts' it surfaced ... and since nothing in particular is on my mind today, I've decided to go with it rather than 'dump' (or trash) it altogether ;--)


Once upon a time
two men in a single truck
collected our trash

once a week for the
'residences' and twice more
for apartments with

larger bins, but now
we 'recycle' and it takes
three trucks on 'trash day' ...

each one passes twice
down the alley collecting
only from the right

where mechanical
arms pick up our 'new' trash bins ...
So there's only ONE

person driving the
truck but what of gasoline
costs ... and pollution?



Redundancy or
progress ... the unintended
consequences have

caused the company
to rethink it's procedures.
Now the 3 trucks each

have been modified
and a two-man team collects
as they did before

so three trucks come through
once instead of twice ... and six
workers have a job.

I believe it's wise
to 'recycle' and 'reuse'
yet such transitions

seem to create new
problems to resolve ... and some
solutions are strange ;--)

* * * * * * *

Click for Haiku Volume #36 at Sacred Ruminations

For a Mr. Linky to other Haiku Fridays
go to A Mommy Story or
Playgroups are no Place for Children.

To see more previous Haikus,
click on the Haiku Friday label below this post
or in the sidebar under About Me.

Thought for Today
"I know a man who doesn't pay to have his trash taken out. How does he get rid of his trash? He gift wraps it, and puts in into an unlocked car." Henny Youngman

26 comments:

Kat said...

At least they are trying to look for a solution. I give them credit!
Great haiku!

Joyce said...

Good Morning, Storyteller,

That's a thought-provoking haiku series.

In our efforts to recycle, it's true that we are sometimes penny wise and pound foolish. I'm glad the trash collection folk are rethinking their methods. :)

Anonymous said...

it would be so nice if someone could just tell us exactly what and how to do it...

storyteller said...

Kathryn – Me too! When the program started, all we could ‘recyle’ were #s 1 and 2 on a list of 9 categories and that hardly seemed worth the expense involved; however now we’re recycling 7 categories out of the 9 so it seems more worthwhile.

Joyce – That phrase ‘penny wise pound foolish’ is so accurate … yet it is reassuring to observe the evolutionary process in our city and I’m glad the trash isn’t all going into landfills.

TransplantingMe – Definitely! If anyone actually ‘knew’ what to do, it could be helpful. I suspect we’ll be figuring it out for a long time to come.

I appreciate your early visits. I’ve been busy creating my 2nd ‘ku this morning … combining Haiku Friday with Pensieve’s new 40PC at Sacred Ruminations and think I’m pleased with the results. Now I need breakfast and more coffee … then I’ll check out other’s blogs. Hope you’re having a fantastic Friday!
Hugs and blessings,

Unknown said...

hmm, interesting. Our recyclables don't get picked up every week but a separate truck comes by for them too.

Ari_1965 said...

Recycling pickup is every other week, so we have two trucks coming through on that Wednesday.

My very nice neighbors with the two wonderful Siberian huskies don't recycle. I know this because their yellow-topped recycling bin is never put out on the Wednesday. I don't want to sound like I'm hassling them, but I would like to ask them why they don't recycle. Recycling and garbage are done by the same company and on the same bill. You must take both; you can't just choose only garbage pickup. So they're paying for recycling, but not doing it. Weird. And they really are nice people, too.

Akelamalu said...

Great Haiku and thought provoking.

Betty said...

Your thought for the day cracked me up. So funny.

We need to recycle more than we do. We used to take newspapers to a bin close by for recycling, but it got to the point when Ed nor Ed could lift those heavy papers that had accumulated.

I hope you are having a good day.

storyteller said...

Lisa Marie – We have 3 bins provided by the trash company now … one for trash, one for recyclables, and one for ‘green waste’ from the yard … hence the 3 trucks each week.

Ari – I’d probably do fine with alternate weeks … especially for green waster and recyclables, but from what I’ve seen … my neighbors need the weekly collection.

Akelamalu – Thanks ;--)

Betty – I thought it funny too … especially given the ‘serious’ tone of my subject matter today. I’m happy to generate laughter always! The one good thing about where I live is that there have been folks for a long time who pick up ‘stuph’ placed in the alleys … so I’ve given them my newspapers and cans for decades. The good thing now is that more items can be recycled easily without having to make a trip to a recycling center. I’m having a lovely day, thanks. I'm about to take Molly to Dog Beach ;--)

I’m glad I decided to ‘go with’ this topic as it’s generated some interesting exchanges here in comments. I appreciate each of you contributing to the discussion. Have a wonderful weekend!
Hugs and blessings,

MamaGeek @ Works For Us said...

Very clever and thought provoking ku storyteller.

Karen said...

This is making me think of-- recycling in Germany--in my aunt's little village, they have to recycle just about everything--and sort it themselves, too, into three separate bins. Garbage and recycling gets picked up on the same day--but it's only picked up every two or three weeks. It was so funny--the last time I visited (about two years ago with my parents), one huge bag was filled with empty champagne, wine and ouzo bottles from all the boozing we'd done. The recycling men probably thought my aunt was turning into drunk!

Again--very thoughtful entry. I love how you combine this stuff!

Anonymous said...

Nice haiku, and one that makes the mind think, too.

NicciN said...

I'm glad you saved these. I never thought about it this way -- how a change leads to other problems.

the planet of janet said...

funny, i never considered it this way. thanks for the food for thought.

Bren said...

What a great haiku! My little monkeys are very into recycling!

storyteller said...

Mama Geek – Thanks. I’d written the 1st half weeks ago when I created the collage … added the second half this morning before posting because it seemed unfinished. I do get carried away with haiku on Fridays ;--)

Karen – Interesting how this issue is being addressed similarly just about everywhere in the world! It’s about time I suppose. Funny how my mind and fingers flow poetically more easily that with other forms of writing! I’m grateful always but especially on Fridays.

Maggie – Thanks … I like to think I’m providing a ‘service’ from time to time at least.

Yertle and Janet – Oh yes. The law of unintended consequences occurred to me a long time ago as changes got implemented in schools … supposedly solving one problem only to create a new one … over and over ‘ad nauseum’ … the challenge is to pay enough attention to made necessary adjustments along the way.

Bren – It’s good for the young to pick up the habit early … and hopefully their creative minds will consider alternatives that might never occur to we older folk.

Thanks for all the positive feedback on my ‘ku today. I love stirring up thought! Hope you’re all having a great day!
Hugs and blessings,

Tina Coruth said...

Storyteller,

This is an excellent haiku! It's also wonderful to see that every once in a while, common sense wins out!

hugs,
Tina

Maude Lynn said...

Excellent point, Storyteller!

Mariposa said...

You are amazing...to tell such a story in a great 'Ku!

Your thought of the day blew me away!

Momisodes said...

You raise some very interesting questions. I often wondered the efficacy of those trucks too once we moved out of California. In MA they still have men picking up our trash the old fashioned way. Recyclables come every other week.

storyteller said...

Tina – Ah … if only ‘common sense’ WAS a ‘commonality’ these days!

Mama Zen – Happy you think so ;--)

Mariposa – What a lovely compliment. You know how I love writing ‘Ku on Fridays ;--)

Sandy – I think the new mechanized trucks work more efficiently in suburban neighborhoods where streets are wider … though as I type that I realize they have to do the same thing driving BOTH directions on each street rather than once down the middle. This week the ‘recycling’ and ‘green waste’ trucks missed my alley … so maybe our Waste Company is rethinking schedules too.

I appreciate each of you putting in your ‘two cents’ on this post and hope you’re all having a wonderful weekend. Thanks for stopping by ;--)
Hugs and blessings,

Phyl said...

Sad but true.

Hootin Anni said...

No kidding!!! Think about what the tax payers are paying out with this too. Wow.

storyteller said...

Phyl and Hootin’ Anni – Looks like you both commented shortly after I responded this morning. I’m glad I checked this afternoon. Thanks for stopping by and adding your thoughts. Hope you’ve had a delightful day!
Hugs and blessings,

Cathy said...

That's so interesting. Someone will probably make a truck with mechanical arms on both sides so that the truck can just park in the middle of the street and reach to either side to collect the trash. And then, yeah, 50% of the garbage workers would lose their jobs...

storyteller said...

Cathy – Yup … as Gilda Radner used to say, “It’s always something!” Thanks for stopping by last night. Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend!
Hugs and blessings,

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