Florence Lambert: Recycling thieves leave my neighborhood a mess

When the city of Merced started its recycling program, it was a pain in the rear. But it was for the best reasons – not just to help save our planet in small ways, but the revenue the city was getting from our recyclables would help keep our garbage bills within reason.

So, I made sure my gray can got only garbage and my blue can got only recyclables. I followed all the rules and suggestions made by the city – washing out every can, rinsing every milk carton, wine bottle and plastic mayonnaise jar.

While my gray can contains neatly tied garbage bags filled with coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable peelings, leftovers, etc., my blue can has absolutely nothing but recyclables.

So what has been accomplished?

I have made my garbage cans a target for people to rummage through every Thursday night and Friday morning. They steal the recyclables meant for the city and tear open the garbage bags full of wet garbage in search for more. They dump the contents into my large city can and leave trash all over the street.

This happens not only to my can, but to all the cans in my neighborhood. Most likely, it’s happening all over the city of Merced.

When I confront these people and ask them not to go through my cans, they tell me they can do what they want. They confront me, challenge me, scream obscenities at me and threaten me.

They roll into my area anywhere from 4 p.m. on Thursday to 8 a.m. Friday. Last week they carried the bags of garbage to a small grassy area, went through them, took what they wanted, then left the garbage bags strewn on the ground.

Months ago, I wrote to the chief of police and mayor, who forwarded my letter to the Disruptive Area Response Team. An officer contacted me, came by and said he would have units patrol my street.

We saw one unit the following Thursday afternoon and one Friday morning; none after that.

The officer told me to call the Police Department when these people began their trek down my street. But when I called, the dispatcher told me this was not important enough to dispatch a unit. When I advised her I had been instructed to call, she said units were dispatched if and when available. Evidently there has never been a unit available since those first two.

I followed up, but the DART officer told me the best he can do is have a patrol unit drive through the neighborhood.

So I called the garbage department. They explained that while the garbage cans are on my property, the contents belong to me. On the street, the contents belong to the city. Technically, it’s against the law for anyone other than me or the city to remove the contents from the cans.

Do I stop recycling, returning the blue can to the city, thus lowering my garbage bill?

We all know recycling is the right thing to do and I truly want to be part of the movement. But this is a real problem – and not just in my area.

The city should do something, but what? Can they put locks on some cans? Can the police get volunteers to patrol areas that have higher concentrations of recycling cans?

So far, the DART team officer hasn’t talked to me about my suggestions. But if the city wants me to continue recycling, it should help find solutions.

This story was originally published February 26, 2016 at 4:59 AM with the headline "Florence Lambert: Recycling thieves leave my neighborhood a mess."