Plastic bags?!? (Madison: apartment, buy, live in) - Wisconsin (WI) - City-Data Forum

Megan1967 · 12-27-2009, 07:01 PM

Okay. I now bow to those who feel Madison's laws are quirky or even intrusive. It is now illegal to throw out plastic bags, but they aren't picking them up with the rest of the recycling. No, now we have a mandatory law forcing us to collect and haul plastic bags to authorized collection agencies.

Seems a better and more enforceable law would be to ban retailers from distributing plastic bags in the first place!

http://www.cityofmadison.com/streets...gRecycling.cfm

shoff · 12-27-2009, 11:04 PM

Can you throw them away if they're filled with other garbage? We live in nyc and store bags are all we use for garbage bags in the bathrooms. I wonder what I'll do with the cat litter if they get rid of them here.

Megan1967 · 12-28-2009, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shoff

Can you throw them away if they're filled with other garbage? We live in nyc and store bags are all we use for garbage bags in the bathrooms. I wonder what I'll do with the cat litter if they get rid of them here.

You can throw them out if they contain trash.

Kitty litter is another matter. You can throw out clumps or non clumping litter, but you must remove the feces first, otherwise they won't take it. Maybe it's the same way in NY, but it was a shock for me when I moved from an apartment with a private trash company who would take the whole thing as long as it was double bagged in black trash bags.

ranger17 · 12-28-2009, 08:24 PM

funny thing up there, is when we used to ask for paper bags at times, we were frowned on by the clerks for not taking plastic. I know it's cheaper for them, but we actually recycled the paper bags easier then the plastic; ended up dropping those bags off at the area stores in the bins they provide ( or at least used to ). Weird on the cat litter, as they allowed us ( when we cleaned up before our move ) to use litter and sand in paint containers to solidify it--then they would take those as well. But they wont take litter with feces??

where do they now expect one to toss the little bags of dog doo after a walk? Can't always fling it over the neighbor's fence you know...

Megan1967 · 12-29-2009, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ranger17

where do they now expect one to toss the little bags of dog doo after a walk? Can't always fling it over the neighbor's fence you know...

Apparently, with the old trucks, the bags would break open and the workers would get showered with, well, you know. I wouldn't think urine clumps would be much better though.

The city says you either have to flush the feces down the toilet or - get this - bury it in your back yard! I don't know, maybe it's what I feed my pets, but their stuff always clogs my toilet. I also have a micro yard so burying isn't an option (not that I'd want to do so anyway...). I hire a company to come take away my bags of dirty litter and doggie "doo" twice a month. Of course I have 6 cats and a dog. If I only had one or two cats I might just try to hide the dirty litter in with other trash. I'd probably use all of those lovely plastic bags for that.

The clerks do give you dirty looks when you don't take plastic, but I always ask for paper when I don't have my own bag. I'm almost certain I'm paying for paper so why should I get stuck with a plastic bag?

ccjarider · 12-29-2009, 04:20 PM

Only in Madison - What an screwed up town.

ranger17 · 12-29-2009, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Megan1967

The city says you either have to flush the feces down the toilet or - get this - bury it in your back yard!

if memory serves me right ( like i've forgotten all about winter after 1 year ), the frost level is several feet down... so i'm sure i would have gone out and tried to dig a hole in winter to bury our dog's "treats"......
like the beer commercial says: BRILLIANT!

Megan1967 · 12-29-2009, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ranger17

if memory serves me right ( like i've forgotten all about winter after 1 year )

Sure.... Flaunt your escape from winter.

ranger17 · 12-30-2009, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Megan1967

Sure.... Flaunt your escape from winter.

Hard to flaunt it, when we have as they say a 'hard cold snap' coming... "bring the pets in, grab the heavy jackets, it's gonna be very cold" said the weather man...
lows in the 20's. if that's the worst of it, I'm still hardy enough to deal with it!

Now, if we were that cold when we were having the over 9" of rain that fell so far this month, it would bring back those memories of the 100"+ seasonal snowfalls back home. ouch.

Chelito23 · 12-30-2009, 01:27 PM

I was going to ask the same, how would they know if you put cat or dog feces (especially in the frozen form during winter) in the garbage? Couldn't you just buy a hefty bag and mix it with garbage? how would they even know? Or is this assuming you are using a flimsy store plastic bag that busts open?