Was your garbage unemptied last week?

I live the area between State and King, 83rd to 79th.  Our scheduled garbage pick-up is Wednesday, and Recyclables had recently been changed to Thursday.

However, the garbage was NOT picked up on Wednesday (Christmas Eve). I understand our recyclables not being picked up on Thursday due to Christmas. But since they hadn't been picked up the week before, I would have expected it to be done on Friday, Saturday at the latest.

Of ALL the weeks to NOT have service, this would be the worst. Due to boxes and wrapping paper, this would be the "ideal" time for recyclable pick up. And of course, garbage would increase, due to meals, preparation, and the like.

Is the garbage here still privately managed? If so, it's time for a new service!

And what will happen since a SECOND holiday is happening exactly a week later? Will they skip us again, or come today?

Please let us know if you have not had your garbage picked up, or if it was, did they come on time?

Important Streets and Sanitation Information

In a conversation with the Ward Streets and Sanitation office they are asking residents to  follow several request to help keep the ward clean and rodent free. With the new grid system coming these request will help  keep residents from getting sanitation code violation fines.


First the 6th Ward Clean and Green is April 20, 2013. Block clubs and other organizations are asked to call early to reserve equipment(no power tools). The flyer is below

The following are request

• Place trash inside the carts and close lids. keeps pest out of cans and trash off the ground

• Limit large items(chairs, bed frames, etc,) to one to two items per week. There are no more "Bulk" or "Junk" pickups and these items go on the regular truck.Also, place these items out as close to pickup date as possible to discourage salvage trucks from "stripping" mattresses and other cloth items for the metal frames. 

• You MUST call the Street and Sanitation office to schedule pickup for excessive large items and amounts of trash. If you do not call for pick up ( garbage truck personnel are not responsible for completing your "cleanouts") you may be subject to fines. 

• Call 311 and report fly dumping, cart additions or replacement.

• Please cooperate and move your vehicle when you see the signs posted for street cleaning. Street cleaning will resume the week of March 25, 2013. Streets from State to King Drive will start that week and King Drive to Cottage will start in April.

Other tips are:

• Cole Park will be accepting gently used sports equipment(baseballs, basketballs, gloves, soccer balls, etc). Please check with the park about exercise equipment.
• Recycle small electronic items( cell phones, MP3,game players,etc) at electronic stores such as Best Buy, Frye's, etc
• Do not put mail or other documents with personal information in trash. There will be paper shredding days coming up where those items can be shredded.

• Donate large working/non working electronic items, furniture, clothing to non profit organizations such as the Salvation Army(1-800-SA-TRUCK) or Zealous Good.

If you have problems with dirty alleys, excessive trash or any other sanitation problem call the office at 312-747-8776. Your ward sanitation superintendent is Mr. Paul Bryson. Mr. Bryson goal is to make the 6th Ward the cleanest in Chicago.

Tribune: Aldermanic power wasting away under new grid garbage system

I suppose this will come to our part of town at some point:

Mayor Rahm Emanuel's move toward the citywide garbage grid threatens to take much of the ward-level garbage control out of City Council members' hands.

The effort was launched in June in a handful of North Side wards then was expanded July 30 on the Northwest Side. Emanuel expects to save $20 million this year by freeing garbage crews from matching their routes to the often twisting borders of the wards.

But aldermen have been loath to give up one of their key powers.

Complicating matters further on the 4500 block of North Kostner is the fact that with the new map that officially takes effect in 2015, the street will become part of the 39th Ward, which Ald. Margaret Laurino represents.

In some cases, aldermen already have begun serving the people whose votes they need in their next election, but Arena said he plans to keep working to make sure the garbage pickup goes smoothly in his entire ward. The grid system, Arena pointed out, should make the ward irrelevant for trash collection purposes.

"We've only had a handful of complaints, and I hope that by next week we'll pretty much have the kinks with the new routes ironed out," he said.

Read the whole thing and then let us know what you think!

Couple found trapped by their own junk!

From Chicago Breaking News...of a couple who were trapped by their own junk!

An elderly couple who authorities described as hoarders were found buried alive under mounds of trash in their South Side two-flat Monday night and may have been there for as long as three weeks, authorities said this morning.

"It (the residence) was packed from floor to ceiling," said Police Lt. Dale Kingsley.

Police conducting a well-being check at the request of a neighbor about 6:30 p.m. in the 1500 block of East 69th Street in the Grand Crossing neighborhood detected an overpowering odor and called the Fire Department to make a forced entry, police said.

A fire official on the scene said couple had not been heard from for three weeks and the 75-year-old woman had injuries that resembled rat bites. Both she and her 76-year-old husband were taken to Jackson Park Hospital in critical condition, but a nurse there said this morning their conditions were improved, although they still were in intensive care.

(more on the website)

Thankfully, they are still alive!

However, it's a stark reminder that we need to know our neighbors, and check in on them every so often.

We complain about trash...but we need to be humble enough sometimes to ask for help, and be generous (and not selfish) to give things to people who may need them. Or, if you need the money, work with someone to sell things on e-bay!

Is Chicago throwing away $40 million?

Chicago is turning its back on $40 million in guaranteed revenue over the next 10 years -- and 25,000 free trash/recycling bins -- by ignoring an Aurora company's offer to install "Free Green Cans" bearing advertising across the city.


Steve Holland, founder of Free Green Can, said he was closing in on an agreement with City Hall after a test last summer that saw the company install 65 free containers at Taste of Chicago.

Chicago is ignoring an Aurora company's offer to install "Free Green Cans" bearing advertising across the city.

But no sooner had the experiment ended than Chief Environmental Officer Sadhu Johnston resigned to take a job in Vancouver. That stopped the deal dead in its tracks. Daley has yet to name a replacement.

Free Green Can is offering the cash-strapped city 10 percent of all advertising revenue for 10 years with a minimum annual guarantee of $4 million. The 25,000 free cans would save the city another $4 million-a-year

Complete story at
http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/2052848,CST-NWS-freecans17.article

How about this? Let a private company come in and place trash cans along 75th, 79th, 87th so soe of the trash we see can be placed in these cans.

Rodents overrunning an Avalon Park neighborhood

I know this is outside of the scope of this neighborhood, but I'm sure someone is getting some of the residuals of this problem that is just across Cottage Grove. Defender:

Improperly disposed trash is the root of an increase in rats in a South Side neighborhood, a multi-family property manager said.

Randy Nevels, a property manager of a 27-unit residential building in the 8200 block of South Drexel Avenue in Avalon Park, said he does what is required of him as a building manager but can’t seem to get rid of the rats that have set up residence in the building.

Nevels said residents in surrounding buildings aren’t disposing of the trash like they should, and the landlords aren’t enforcing that they do so.

“We have a private garbage disposal company to collect our garbage twice a week, and exterminators come once a month. I keep the building clean,” Nevels said.

He blames his neighbors for the rat problem.

“Garbage is thrown everywhere. It’s so rampant that I can’t keep the rats out of my building,” Nevels said.

Once again what a man with a camera can do. To add some context the church can't seem to get its act together on their garbage. As a result a video is posted on YouTube. When that video is posted sometimes the church will clean up their act. At least until another video is posted on YouTube because they slipped again.