San Francisco Community Recyclers
Haighteration reported yesterday that Safeway (2020 Market Street) is evicting San Francisco Community Recyclers from the Southeast corner of the grocery store's parking lot. Many community members are happy and even gleeful to see the business leave due to noise and safety issues and the "ass holes," "thieves," and "chronic inebriates" that the recycler attracts. Others are crying foul that this is just another way for developers and Supervisor Scott Wiener (who advocated and voiced support for the eviction) to push the problem of homelessness out of the neighborhood.
Haighteration asked Supervisor Wiener what he would say to people who rely on the recycling center as a means of income,
“We can still allow low-income people to redeem recyclables without enabling the recycling theft criminal enterprises that plague our city and that often pay less than full value to the poor and homeless people who collect recyclables. The Department of the Environment has been advocating a more dispersed model of accepting recycling, with reverse vending machines and the like spread throughout the city and not concentrated in just a few neighborhoods. It’s not fair that these neighborhoods have had to bear the brunt of the recycling centers’ impacts.”
Here are a few comments from Haighteration's post that illustrate both opinions.
Justin Garret
"beyond thrilled with this news!"
Joshua Willis
"Glad to see this happening. Wiener continues to be the only supe in this town who seems to care about his district."
Ron Williams
"wiener is a champion of gentrification, in the pocket of real estate interests and the wealthy."
arp
"This city spends 10s of thousands a year per homeless person, not to mention the money charities spend. There is a lot of help out there for people if they choose to take advantage of it.
However, a lot of us are sick of the anti social behavior that goes on day to day. People digging through our garbage, crapping on the side of our house, harassing people trying to go about their lives etc...
These large recycling centers are encouraging the large enterprises that are recruiting the addicts and the desperate and paying them little to steal recycling."
JSC
"I work at a non-profit where we provide direct service including case management. No. No, there is not alot of help out there. There are not enough resources. We are constantly referring clients to shelters and/or other services and a majority of them are at full capacity.
That sounds immensely frustrating about being harassed, having your home be an outdoor toilet, and having your garbage sorted through. It seems these day to day experiences can make one become not only angry, but lack empathy to people who do those things.
I think it's a larger problem than recycling centers and I'm sad to see them go.
Recycling centers helped my family back in Los Angeles. 3 kids. Single mom. Scrimp and save and hustle. I know that extra $30-50 every few months went a long way for my mom in her budget.
I scrimped, saved, and hustled my way into higher education, but damn, it's hard out there for folks who don't have anything. I think we need more empathy."
DuboceDrifter
"I hear you guys about the trash spillage, but want to note that for the most part the recycling guys are unproblematic compared to the crusties who now sit in front of Safeway all day. Many of the recycling guys are just poor, and though some make a mess they don't tend to harass anyone. The crusties drop their trash where they're sitting instead of using the trash cans that are right there...or the toilet that's also right there...And they aren't friendly to passersby. One guy that's always there now carries a club."
David Troup
"People in the neighborhood, myself included, have been complaining about the recycling center, and the activities its presence encourages, for years. I know it's been on Sup, Wiener's radar since he took office. I sincerely doubt the developer of Linea had anything to do with it."
Melanie Lawson
"I have lived here for 24 years and have no problem with the recycling center. Must every thing be sanitized? This is San Francisco everyone is welcome I don't want to be segregated in a 'good' neighborhood."
Aaron
"The real solution is to repeal the laws regarding bottle/can deposits & refunds. This is an outdated system that was supposed to incentivize individual consumers to return their beverage containers for recycling, back when we didn't have curbside recycling. Currently, the vast majority of consumers simply pay the CRV deposit when they buy the beverages and never get it back. It has become the business of low-income people to rummage through trash and troll through parks to scavenge bottles & cans that they didn't buy, just to get a lousy refund. If you want to get rid of the stinky recycling centers in the grocery store parking lots AND the bottle & can scavengers who patronize them, remove the incentive. Then and only then will it all stop."
Justin Garret "beyond thrilled with this news!"
Joshua Willis "Glad to see this happening. Wiener continues to be the only supe in this town who seems to care about his district."
Ron Williams "wiener is a champion of gentrification, in the pocket of real estate interests and the wealthy."
arp "This city spends 10s of thousands a year per homeless person, not to mention the money charities spend. There is a lot of help out there for people if they choose to take advantage of it. However, a lot of us are sick of the anti social behavior that goes on day to day. People digging through our garbage, crapping on the side of our house, harassing people trying to go about their lives etc... These large recycling centers are encouraging the large enterprises that are recruiting the addicts and the desperate and paying them little to steal recycling."
David Troup "People in the neighborhood, myself included, have been complaining about the recycling center, and the activities its presence encourages, for years. I know it's been on Sup, Wiener's radar since he took office. I sincerely doubt the developer of Linea had anything to do with it."
Melanie Lawson "I have lived here for 24 years and have no problem with the recycling center. Must every thing be sanitized? This is San Francisco everyone is welcome I don't want to be segregated in a 'good' neighborhood."
Aaron "The real solution is to repeal the laws regarding bottle/can deposits & refunds. This is an outdated system that was supposed to incentivize individual consumers to return their beverage containers for recycling, back when we didn't have curbside recycling. Currently, the vast majority of consumers simply pay the CRV deposit when they buy the beverages and never get it back. It has become the business of low-income people to rummage through trash and troll through parks to scavenge bottles & cans that they didn't buy, just to get a lousy refund. If you want to get rid of the stinky recycling centers in the grocery store parking lots AND the bottle & can scavengers who patronize them, remove the incentive. Then and only then will it all stop."
